UK Headteacher took her own life after hearing Ofsted were going to downgrade
Caring headteacher, 53, took her own life after hearing Ofsted were going to downgrade her primary school from Outstanding to Inadequate - calling it 'the worst day of my life', her devastated family say
A headteacher killed herself while waiting for the publication of a negative Ofsted report about her school, her family have said.
Ruth Perry, who had been principal at Caversham Primary School in Reading since 2010, took her own life in January this year, after being told the school was being downgraded from Outstanding to Inadequate.
Her devastated family say the 53-year-old was left a 'shadow of her former self' as a result of the inspection, and that she had described it as the 'worst day of my life'.
It is claimed inspectors had decided after the first day of the two-day inspection to downgrade it, as well as making unfounded claims about the sexualisation of children at the school.
Ms Perry took her own life on January 8 this year, just over two months before the report was released, sparking an outpouring of grief from family, friends, colleagues and the school's community.
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Ruth Perry took her own life in January this year while waiting for the publication of an Ofsted report
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Ms Perry had been headteacher of Caversham Primary School (pictured) for more than a decade when Ofsted decided to downgrade it from Outstanding to Inadequate
Her sister Julia claimed the inspection, which took place on November 15 and 16 last year, devastated Ms Perry, who told her it was 'the worst day of my life' and the experience was 'dreadful'.
She told BBC South: 'I said "It can't be that bad" and she said "yes it is, it's about as bad as it can be".
Ms Perry claimed inspectors from Ofsted told senior staff and leadership at the school they had seen a boy doing 'flossing' - a dance move popularised on the video game Fortnite - and that this was evidence of the sexualisation of children at the school.
It's also alleged inspectors told staff they had seen child-on-child abuse, something that Ms Perry said was just a playground scuffle.
The inspection was the primary's first in 13 years, after rules exempting Outstanding schools from being looked at in-depth by Ofsted were scrapped.
The report, which was published this week, found the school to be Good in every category, apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be Inadequate.
The report criticised the school for poor record keeping, with gaps in employment checks potentially putting children at risk. This dropped the entire school to an Inadequate rating, the lowest possible.
Inspectors said that 'most pupils behave sensibly and rise to the staff's high expectations', adding: 'Pupils know who to turn to if they have a worry or a problem, feeling confident that they will get the help they need. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and supportive. Incidents of bullying are rare.'
But they added: 'Leaders do not have the required knowledge to keep pupils safe from harm. They have not taken prompt and proper actions when pupils are at risk. They have not ensured that safeguarding is effective throughout the school.'
The report states: 'Governors have an ambitious vision for pupils and staff. However, they have not ensured that they fulfil their statutory safeguarding responsibilities. Until the inspection, they were unaware of significant weaknesses in the school’s arrangements to keep pupils safe.'
It added the school doesn't have 'robust processes' to combat persistent absenteeism from some pupils and that leaders have a 'weak understanding of safeguarding requirements and procedures'.
Ruth Perry's sister says she was an 'absolute shadow' after Ofsted
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Ms Perry's sister, Julia (pictured), told BBC South the headteacher was left a 'shadow of her former self' by the Ofsted inspection
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Julia says her sister (pictured together) 'was a huge loss' and 'had so much more still to give'
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Inspectors from Ofsted said leadership and management at Caversham Primary School was Inadequate
Ms Perry's sister said there is a sense of 'complete injustice' about the process behind the inspection and the report.
She told BBC South: 'All during that process, every time I spoke to her she would talk about the countdown. I remember clearly one day her saying "52 days and counting".
'Everyday she had this weight on her shoulders hanging over her and she wasn't officially allowed to talk to her family. I remember the very first time I saw her rather than just speaking on the phone a couple of days after the end of the Ofsted inspection, she was an absolute shadow of her former self.
'This one word judgement is just destroying 32 years of her vocation, education was her vocation. 32 years summed up in one word, Inadequate. It just preyed on her mind until she couldn't take it anymore.
'She was a huge loss, she was my little sister and she was only 53, she had so much more still to give, so much more that she could do.'
Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading East, where the school is based, said: ''I've had a meeting with the school's minister and I've also raised this with the regional director of Ofsted.
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Matt Rodda, Labour MP for Reading East, said he had raised the issue with the regional director of Ofsted
'I think it's fair to say that there are local concerns about the way that the inspection was carried out. Also about the way that the Ofsted framework and other regulations affecting Ofsted effectively work, and the wider pressure on headteachers.'
In a statement to BBC South, Ofsted said: 'We were deeply saddened by Ruth Perry's tragic death. Our thoughts remain with Mrs Perry's family, friends and everyone in the Caversham Primary School community.'
Ms Perry was formerly a pupil at the school, before returning in 2006 as deputy headteacher and being promoted to principal in 2010.
In a statement released after her death, her family said: 'We are left devastated by the sudden loss of a lovely mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, sister-in-law and friend.
'She leaves a huge, aching gap in all our lives and, we know, in the lives of so many others who were lucky enough to know her.
'We are grateful to all our friends for their thoughts and support now and in the difficult years ahead. Ruth will be remembered as the kind, funny, confident, vivacious, caring person she was and for all that she achieved in life.
'We also ask those who did not know Ruth please to respect our privacy, as we come to terms with our unfathomable grief, and to consider carefully how their words and actions might impact on others.'
'As the many tributes to her from the broader school and Caversham community attest, Ruth cared deeply not just about academic results, but also about the general well-being and happiness of the pupils and staff whom she taught and led.
'Caversham Primary was a very happy school under Ruth's leadership and, despite the many challenges that always go with the role of Head, she was happy there too.
'Ruth was a dedicated headteacher and an excellent teacher. She loved the pupils and the staff of Caversham Primary School and was very proud to have been its headteacher for 12 years and previously deputy headteacher for four years.
'Ruth was a force for good in her life, and we want her to be a force for positive change after her death too.
'We would urge anyone who has been affected by her death to talk about their feelings and know that help is available. Local and national helplines, advice and support can be found on the Reading Family Information Service website.'
Inquest to examine Ofsted’s role in lead-up to death of headteacher Ruth Perry
Ofsted’s role in the events leading up to the death of the Berkshire headteacher Ruth Perry will be examined during an inquest later this year, a coroner has ruled.
Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire, named the schools inspectorate for England as “interested persons” as part of her inquiry into the death of the primary school leader, whose family say killed herself after a “devastating” Ofsted inspection.
The decision means Ofsted officials will appear at the inquest in person, to be questioned by the coroner and barristers for Perry’s family.
At a pre-inquest review at Berkshire coroner’s court, Connor said she was also considering whether to conduct an article 2 enhanced inquest into the wider circumstances surrounding Perry’s death in January. An article 2 inquest can be invoked when government agencies “failed to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk,” according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The inquest is investigating Perry’s death, which occurred shortly after an Ofsted inspection downgraded her school, Caversham primary, in Reading, from “outstanding” to “inadequate” over errors in safeguarding training and procedures.
Perry’s family have said she was “devastated” by the decision affecting the school that she had attended as a child. As a maintained school, an inadequate grade would have meant its management was taken over by an academy trust.
A subsequent Ofsted inspection carried out last month upgraded the schoolto “good”.
Connor said questions of whether an inadequate rating was appropriate would be a matter for the inquiry to be held by MPs on the education select committee. “What I am interested in is the nexus between the inspection and the impact on Ruth,” Connor said, adding that “the workings of Ofsted” were a matter for the parliamentary inquiry.
Perry’s sister Julia Waters said her family welcomed the forthcoming inquest.
“We trust that the scope of the inquest, as established today, will be both broad and deep enough to provide us, in due course, with satisfactory answers to the many questions we still have.
“We hope that, at the inquest itself later this year, the coroner will make recommendations to Ofsted to prevent further avoidable deaths like Ruth’s from occurring, so saving other families from experiencing the excruciating pain that we have experienced and that will never leave us,” Waters said.
“We miss Ruth every day and know that her many friends, colleagues and former pupils do, too.”
A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “Our sympathies remain with Ruth Perry’s family and colleagues. We are continuing to assist the coroner in her investigations.”
The coroner set preliminary dates for the inquest to begin on 28 November, with a decision provisionally scheduled for 7 December.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/11/inquest-to-examine-ofsteds-role-in-lead-up-to-death-of-headteacher-ruth-perry
Ruth Perry: Ofsted says inspection not to blame for head's death
Ofsted has said the way a school inspection was conducted did not contribute to a head teacher's death.
Ruth Perry took her own life in January after being told Caversham Primary School in Reading was being downgraded from outstanding to inadequate.
In a pre-inquest review, coroner Heidi Connor said she would hear evidence about Mrs Perry's interactions with the Ofsted team.
Mrs Perry's family has previously blamed the inspection for her death.
Her relatives said they hoped her inquest would prevent further avoidable deaths.
Ms Connor told the hearing at Reading Town Hall that wider issues about the safety of the inspection regime would be left to an inquiry by the Commons Education Select Committee.
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Image caption, Mrs Perry's had worked at Caversham Primary School for 13 years
She said she would not be investigating the "minutiae" of Ofsted's inspection process at the inquest.
"I have indicated the scope will include the Ofsted inspection and matters that flowed from that with regard to Ruth," she said.
Bilal Rawat, representing Ofsted, said: "The position of Ofsted is that the inspection that was conducted revealed serious safeguarding concerns and that informed the judgment.
"We want to be very clear about we don't accept the suggestion that it was the fact of the inspection that contributed to or affected Ms Perry's mental health or the manner in which done, it was what was found."
Lawyers for Mrs Perry's family asked the coroner to consider nine other deaths, possibly linked to Ofsted inspections.
But the coroner responded: "I think it is unlikely I will be looking at nine other cases I haven't had involvement with."
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Image caption, Mrs Perry's sister, Prof Julia Waters, spoke to the BBC following the pre-inquest review
The death of Mrs Perry, who had worked at the school for 13 years, prompted questions about the systems used by Ofsted.
Speaking following the hearing at Berkshire Coroner's Court, the head teacher's sister Prof Julia Waters said: "Ofsted are definitely an interested party in inquest terms.
"The coroner has expressed her wish to think about those kind of systemic issues - some of those concerns we've raised about single word judgements, the time lag between the inspection and the report coming out, the confidentiality agreement - they're all in scope for the inquest."
Ofsted has previously defended its one-word grades, which are not being scrapped.
A further pre-inquest review is due to take place on 27 October.
The inquest is currently listed for 28 November, with the coroner expecting to deliver her conclusions on 7 December.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-66167021
