Ruth Perry - OFSTED ‘contributed to death of Headteacher’

[JVJ24601]

The Coroner today recorded that OFSTED contributed to Ruth Perry’s death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-67612233

An OFSTED inspector - ALAN DERRY - and his lack of professionalism, his lack of fairness, contributed to another human being’s death.

That is not an opinion that is a fact as recorded by the Coroner.

The Coroner also found that “parts of the ALAN DERRY’S inspection were conducted in a manner which lacked fairness”.

Regulators like ALAN DERRY exist to ensure fairness and proper procedures are followed by others. Why did ALAN DERRY allow his inspection to be unfair?

Our children, teachers, support staff and headteachers need immediate protection from an inspection process so appalling that is has contributed to a person’s death.

The Head of OFSTED has announced a day of training next week to fix this issue.

A day of training.

A day of training to help Inspectors not contribute to a person taking their own life. If an organisation needs training so that its employees don’t contribute to the deaths of others - then that organisation is not fit for purpose and its leadership, culture and moral compass are either absent or so woeful and professionally incompetent that they are simply negligent in the duties as a public body.

I believe a crowdfunding page is being established this week to possibly fund and pursue a case of Corporate Manslaughter against OFSTED now that their role in Ruth Perry’s death has been established.

How awful that a system of school inspection has become such a deranged quango. All power and no responsibility is such a toxic mix - and one here that has contributed to the death of another person.

What if another Head or Teacher takes their life in the coming weeks or months because of OFSTED - how awful would that be? How culpable would that make those who do not make seismic changes now.

Unprofessionalism of this level will not be cured by a day’s training and some tweaks.

Only complete and immediate overhaul - led by the SoS for Education and the Government can ensure this tragic event is not repeated in the coming months.

If somebody doesn’t know the full reporting process for something at work they just ask a colleague with responsibility in that area or their line manager don’t they? It’s not ideal but does not mean children are at risk.

Having had Ofsted recently, where they ask that question and I said stressed and feeling sick, they paused and asked the question again. I’ll be honest, instead of putting up an argument, I just said okay as they clearly weren’t interested and they’d worn me and the staff down.
I had staff in tears and they told me I put too much on them but also later praised me as I didn’t have any accusations of bullying! They didn’t listen and when presented with evidence from other professional bodies that disagreed with their findings, they simply argued they had their own criteria.
It was soul destroying for the whole school community and does not reflect where we are or the journey we have been on. They repeatedly told me it was a two day snap shot but a two day snap shot with one word that we will have to live with until they return. They praised our progress but said it wasn’t quite enough.
They didn’t leave a school after their two day visit ready to continue on the journey of improvement which we had been on, they left a school with staff who were devastated and questioning if they want to go through that again. Thankfully, we are picking ourselves up again and we are continuing that journey despite their best efforts to undermine it all. We also continue to be fully supported by our LA, Governors and parents who disagreed with their outcome.
The arrogance of Ofsted is astounding - one day training! At the end they told me if I wanted to seek support for my mental wellbeing, I could. In what world is it okay that you know that you can cause such devastation that you need to add that in as part of your final blow!

I am not a teacher don't know any and don't even have children but I'm shocked by this. I keep thinking of my lovely, kind, calm and professional headteacher in primary school (in the days well before OFSTED). The thought that he might have been driven to something like this is horrific. And even if your school is less than perfect surely you need support, not vilification?

I live in the town that this this took place in. Absolutely awful and has effected every teacher in every education establishment in the town (they could be next.)

The school that Ruth Perry taught in is one of the most sought after in the area, people move house to get in. It has been so since my children were at school (they are in their 30s). Which beggars the question what did OFSTED see that no one else can? The person who conducted the inspection should be removed from the job (ideally dismissed) and OFSTED itself disbanded.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0gy5hwn/death-of-a-head

This is well worth watching. Especially for people that are seriously wondering if we really want Ofsted to be toothless. I hope most people are able to see there is a middle ground.

Inspections should be a consistent, fair professional dialogue.

Of course it sounds like the inspection wasn't carried out as it should but from reading the Ofsted report it would have always been inadequate wouldn't it? It stated that not all staff had pre employment security checks (DBS one assumes). I'd hope that'd always be an automatic inadequate. It was only inadequate in leadership and all other areas were classed as good.

I think there is a place for school improvement. If I could overhaul ofsted my plan would to make it like a school appraisal. The school already has a self evaluation in place. Ofsted comes in and verifies nothing has been missed. A school that is struggling will have a longer to list. There is no rating but simply agreed actions to take forward.

Sorry, meant to add that these could be published so parents could see what the school is doing well and where they need to make improvements. A school is always looking to improve just like any organisation.

I agree with your comments about an appraisal style approach being the optimal approach for school improvement. OFSTED has nothing to do with school improvement, it’s a political data game (like PSC, SATs, GCSEs, A Levels…)

I think when safeguarding is inadequate, support from a specialist team should be given from the next day to ensure safeguarding is effective as soon as possible. The report could then read something like ‘At the time of inspection safeguarding procedures were deemed to be inadequate, however the school has worked with us to redress this immediately and it is now effective.’ There is nothing more important than safeguarding.

Am I the only one concerned that the children at the school at the time will one day read that report and wonder if they were the child observed ‘flossing?’ That doesn’t sit comfortably with me anyway, irrespective of the events that occurred in this instance subsequently.

@NerrSnerr yes, no one has denied that the judgement was the only one possible within the framework. It's the framework that's at fault.

Leadership can be judged inadequate on the basis of some members of staff not knowing the exact reporting procedure for incidents. Those staff aren't necessarily missing incidents- they may be recognising them and sharing concerns but don't know the exact procedure.

Factor into that, that different schools use different management information and reporting systems. Factor in that many schools have inadequate IT facilities for reporting. Factor in that schools have large numbers of staff, often into the hundreds with all the support staff, lunch supervisors, cleaners, admin as well as teaching staff.

Of course it's not ideal that not all staff know a procedure. Of course it needs addressing. But it should be addressed through highlighting it and working with the school to rectify it rapidly in a supportive way. Slapping an inadequate label on the school which can then stay there for literally years, on a school where teaching and learning is good, where pupils are happy and safe and parents are happy - how the hell does that help anyone?

And as a pp pointed out, the absolute irony of the Ofsted framework believing this is an acceptable framework - that years of good work can be undone with a label which in no way reflects the reality - while simultaneously believing that their own inadequacies can be sorted with one day of extra training... it's disgraceful.

I feel really sad for Ruths family. As a person who works in an industry which is inspected in a similar way, with similar
Markers and outcomes I can attest to the stress of it, the feelings of worthlessness when you don't get a good result and when that result is not fair or reasonable it's even worse.
(CQC).

I see the need for regulation in various workplaces. But it should be done fairly and supportively and rethought where there are so many variables that make the difference between inadequate, good, outstanding minute.

There are hundreds of thousands of excellent teachers who won't consider teaching anymore. Ofsted have to own a big part of that

I got outstanding exam results year after year. I couldn’t cope with Ofsted, so l left.

I'm inspected in my professional role and it sounds nothing like the Ofsted experience. It's professionally done and respectful and there's a pragmatic recognition of the pressures we work under and the process felt like it was designed to help. It's so frustrating to hear these stories.

Furthermore, as a parent, I have long realised that an Ofsted report tells you little that's actually important about a school and so discount then when considering which school to pick anyway!

Ofsted could make a change not too difficult to do that would I think make a difference. End one word judgments.

A corporate manslaughter case is one I would support.

This appalling outfit must be held to account. Thank heavens I'm now finished with OFSTED, and during my time was lucky enough never to encounter a negative report, but it's often the luck of the draw and my heart goes out to Ruth's family and friends at hearing this. The organisation is totally inflexible and narrow-minded, whilst telling everyone that they should be the complete opposite. OFSTED hasn't been fit for purpose for ages - it's time it went. One day of training? Sitting in a room trying to justify themselves? Don't make me give a hollow laugh. They should hang their heads in shame.

Ofsted was brought in over 30 years ago to raise standards in education and by their own judgements they've failed spectacularly.

I've been working in education for almost two decades and feel torn on the matter because I and the vast majority of my colleagues are in favour of a schools being held accountable for what they do. We have no objection to a rigorous approach to this but would appreciate if it was done in a supportive manner.

However this is not ofsted. Ofsted move the goalposts constantly and what they are looking for rarely, if ever in my experience, seems to be evidence based. They are not meant to show bias towards certain methods of teaching but overwhelmingly do - Read, Write, Inc being a particular, yet unproven favourite. They ignore up to date research on how children best learn - particularly in regard to early year's education, often have conflicting preferences to the experts working within the local authority and ask for paperwork that we have been assured they are not allowed to ask for. Inspectors are incredibly poorly trained in their own procedures and find it impossible to hide their own preferences (British values being my least favourite).

The inspections I've seen in the last 6 months have been amongst the most heavy handed and stressful that I've seen in my entire career. The whole system needs to be completely changed before further damage is done.

I think it depends on your area but yes it does.

In terms of the school, parents are far less likely to send their kid to a school requiring improvement than an outstanding school - less children then equals less money in a time when all schools are desperate for money. It also becomes a bit self-selecting in that the children whose parents care about their education go elsewhere so you can (not always) end up with a more problematic cohort, and children who have been asked to leave other schools, which makes it harder to raise your rating again.

Despite knowing the children in your school better than an outside agency, your lose autonomy on how to best educate them. Often being pushed towards becoming an academy or being made to use certain methods of teaching (again read, write inc).

Senior leadership, especially heads, can have an entire career rendered meaningless as all that counts is that one word on their most recent judgement.

In terms of the wider community it does effect house prices too in that homes in the catchment of a previously outstanding school can drop in value. I can imagine the pressure of knowing you have negatively impacted the finances of families in your area being a huge burden for a head.

If you get a really bad rating you can be forced to become an academy, or if you are already an academy then you may be moved to another Trust.

A headteacher doesn’t usually keep their job after an inadequate grading, even as was shown with this school, some minor recording changes were the only things necessary for a good grading

It’s such a damning conclusion for OFSTED, things will have to change. Staff well-being has to be just as much a priority as children’s. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Unfortunately, the only thing that appears to have changed is a bit of ‘stress’ training for lead HMI next Monday and an agreement that heads receiving a bad result can now tell their family and medical professionals. Whoop.

I think until this government are gone, or current school leaders stop inspecting, so there are literally not enough inspectors left, little will change.

I’m not sure if the coroner has actually made any recommendations or actions in order to prevent future deaths-is that what the Regulation 28 part of the case was for? I would like to see those.

They won't change though because, as we see time and time again, public bodies prioritise their reputation above all else - I causing above people's lives. The NHS does it, the police do it, why would Ofsted be any different.

Ofsted's behaviour following Ruth Perry's death, during the inquest and in response to the findings has been deplorable - all focused on reputation management rather than truth or decency. Amanda Spielman's behaviour has been abhorrent.

And this verdict the same week as the Hillsborough Charter highlighted that exact same cultural problem in other public bodies.

They should be ashamed, but clearly they are not.

Yes, the coroner issued a prevention of future death notice.

I expect it will be ignored, frankly.

Is that somewhere online to read-I couldn’t find it?

The poor poor woman and her poor family. Two kids left motherless...

It's a fucking travesty.