Reading headteacher's sister meets education secretary
The meeting to discuss school inspections took place earlier this week
Calls to reform state schools inspector Ofsted are gathering pace as the bereaved sister of headteacher Ruth Perry met with the education secretary.
The education secretary called the death of Ruth Perry, the former headteacher of Caversham Primary School ‘a tragedy’.
Ms Perry’s sister Professor Julia Waters said that her sister took her own life in January after her school received an ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted rating.
Her death has led to calls for school inspections carried by Ofsted and its rating system to be reformed.
To that end, professor Waters, Lisa Telling, the chairman of Reading Primary Heads and Caversham parent Edmund Barnett-Ward visited the education secretary Gillian Keegan in a meeting facilitated by Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading East.
Mr Rodda said:
“I am grateful to the Education Secretary for meeting me, Ruth Perry’s sister, Julia Waters, and other campaigners and for spending some time listening to our concerns about Ofsted.
“I am pleased that the Government is starting to listen, however, it is important that Ministers now take action and reform Ofsted and reform should include ending single word judgements on Ofsted Reports.”
The meeting took place at the Department for Education offices in London.
Mrs Keegan, education secretary and Conservative MP for Chichester said:
“Ruth Perry’s death was a tragedy that has brought attention to how Ofsted inspections are carried out and the impact on teachers’ mental health and wellbeing.
“I’m grateful to Ruth’s family and members of the Caversham community for the opportunity to hear their concerns directly .
“Following the meeting we will work together to make sure we have an inspection system that works for children, teachers, school leaders and parents.”
Ofsted currently has four ratings for state schools: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’.
The Labour Party has plans to scrap these one word ratings in favour of a ‘report card’ for parents.
Back in 2019, Angela Rayner Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, then the Shadow Education Secretary announced plans to abolish Ofsted altogether and replace it with a new ‘inspectorate for education’ which would be staffed with full time and expert inspectors.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has also called for Ofsted to be reformed, arguing the current system is ‘too blunt and reductive.’
Caversham Primary School was rated ‘Inadequate’ following an inspection in November last year.
Although the school was rated ‘Good’ in the areas of the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes and personal development, it was rated ‘Inadequate’ in the area of leadership and management, which led to an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’.
The inspection report was published in March this year, over two months after Miss Perry’s death.