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An Ofsted inspection “likely contributed” to the death of head teacher Ruth Perry, an inquest has ruled.
Senior coroner Heidi Connor said the inspection “lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity” and was at times “rude and intimidating”.
Mrs Perry, 53, took her own life in January while waiting for the Ofsted report to be published.
Her death led to a debate about how school inspections in England worked.
Caversham Primary School, in Reading, was downgraded from outstanding to “inadequate” due to safeguarding concerns after the Ofsted visit in November 2022. The school has since been re-graded as “good”.
The inquest looked at four questions – who was Ruth Perry and when, where and how she died.
The decision behind the grading the school received is not something that fell within the scope of the inquest but Ms Connor said it was important to have a “clear understanding of how it works and the effect of that system on Ruth”.
The coroner said she took into account the conduct of the inspection, the current Ofsted one-word system – where a school which fails in one area and one which was “dreadful in all respects” are treated the same and judged inadequate – the confidentiality required before the Ofsted report is published and the length of time between the inspection and final report.
Ms Connor said a prevention of future death notice will be issued and she “very much hopes” the results of the inquest will be used by the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into Ofsted and how it works. She added that she hopes Education Secretary Gillian Keegan does not ignore her report.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said last month Mrs Perry’s death had been used to “discredit” the schools watchdog. Referring to these comments, Ms Connor said this suggests a lack of learning from this case.
Ms Connor noted that there was a marked difference in how the council gave testimony compared with Ofsted.
“[The local council were] open and accepting with a clear wish to improve matters, but I remain concerned their new “proactive” approach to Ofsted needs to be in written guidance and there was no internal review following her death,” she said.
If you’re affected by the issues in this report, you can find support from BBC Action Line.
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