Ofsted inspection 'contributed' to head teacher Ruth Perry's death, says coroner
Katy Morton
Thursday, December 7, 2023
An Ofsted inspection ‘contributed’ to the death of head teacher Ruth Perry who took her own life in January, an inquest has ruled.
Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire who carried out the inquest, which concluded today (7 December), said that the inspection of Caversham Primary School in Reading where Perry had been head teacher for 13 years, ‘lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity’ and was at times ‘rude and intimidating’.
The coroner's verdict was recorded as ‘suicide: contributed to by an Ofsted inspection carried out in November 2022.’
In her concluding remarks, Ms Connor said, ‘The evidence is clear in this respect, and I find that Ruth's mental health deterioration and death was likely contributed to by the Ofsted inspection.’
It is the first time Ofsted has been listed as a contributing factor in the death of a head teacher.
Perry took her own life in January before Ofsted published its inspection report of Caversham Primary School.
Ofsted inspected the school in November 2022, downgrading it from outstanding to inadequate due to safeguarding concerns. The school has since been re-graded to good.
The coroner, Heidi Connor, said her main areas of concern were ‘the conduct of the inspection, the confidentiality required before the Ofsted report is published and the length of time between the inspection and final report’, reported the BBC.
According to reports, she also highlighted the current one-word Ofsted grading system, where the same judgement of inadequate can be given to a school which ‘is dreadful in all respects’ and another which is good but with issue which could be remedied by the time the report was published.
Connor also spoke about the ‘lack of training or guidance given to Ofsted inspectors on the impact that inspections have on the mental health and wellbeing of school staff. She concluded that Ofsted had ‘no policies at that time that allowed inspections to be paused or suspended in cases of staff distress.’
Professor Julie Waters said her sister's death 'laid bare the imbalance of power that exists' within the education system.
The National Education Union (NEU) said that ‘lessons must be learnt from Perry’s inquest’, and ‘there must be significant change.’
The National Union of Head Teachers (NAHT) said that the verdict of the inquest ‘is a clear and damning inditement of an approach to inspection that has done massive harm to school professionals.’
It added, ‘We have heard in detail just how bad the impact of Ofsted inspection can be on school leaders’ mental health- something NAHT has been warning about for many years. This tragedy should never have happened.
‘We now need urgent change.’
