Ruth Perry’s sister joins calls to halt proposed Ofsted reforms
The open letter, signed by a coalition of education professionals, has urged the Education Secretary to halt the rollout.
The sister of a headteacher who took her own life has joined calls for the Government to delay proposed changes to Ofsted school inspections.
Ruth Perry took her own life in January 2023 after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading to the lowest overall effectiveness rating over safeguarding concerns.
In an open letter to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson released on Monday, her sister Professor Julia Waters joined school leaders, national organisations and former inspectors who said there were “real concerns” the proposals could drive “excessive pressure, ill-health and stress for the profession” for education professionals.
“We believe the proposed new system will continue to have a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of education staff and hence on students’ school experience,” the letter read.
“In particular, we believe the proposed new report cards and the new grading system fail to address the recommendations of the coroner following the tragic, preventable death of Ruth Perry.
“They also fail to address the recommendations of the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into the work of Ofsted, which was launched as a result of wider concerns highlighted by Ruth’s terrible death.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prof Waters said of the proposed new system: “It’s not safe.
“It’s the same grade-based systems, the same risks that were identified in the system that had such a devastating effect on my sister and has on other headteachers are still there.
“It is still a system that’s based on shame, it’s still a system that’s based on competition rather than support.”
A Department for Education spokeswoman said reforms play a “central” role in work to raise school standards.
“The system this Government inherited was high stakes for teachers but low information for parents, which is why we’re removing single-word judgment and introducing school report cards,” she said.
“Both Ofsted’s and the department’s consultations have provided an important opportunity for everyone to have their say and both organisations will carefully consider all responses before finalising the approach.”
A motion passed at the National Education Union (NEU) conference in Harrogate earlier this month called on the union’s executive to renew its campaign to “expose the harm, damage and cover-up” from the watchdog, and to instead call for an “effective and fair” school improvement system with no “ranking and shaming”.
It added that members who “take action to protect themselves to keep safe where they have evidence that Ofsted is placing them in serious and imminent danger of harm or death” should be supported.
The Government announced last year that headline Ofsted grades for overall effectiveness for schools in England would be scrapped.
Previously, Ofsted awarded one of four single-phrase inspection judgments: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
The move came after Ofsted faced criticism following Ms Perry’s death.
In February, Ofsted launched a consultation on its plans to introduce a report card system for grading schools in England.
Schools could be graded across eight to 10 areas of a provision, including attendance, inclusion and behaviour, using a colour-coded five-point scale.
They would receive ratings, from the red-coloured “causing concern” to orange-coloured “attention needed”, through the green shades of “secure”, “strong” and “exemplary” for each area of practice.
A survey of more than 12,000 NEU teacher members in English state schools, released at the union’s annual conference, suggests the majority (57%) feel inspection negatively affects their mental health.
