The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) have released a joint statement calling for an immediate pause to Ofsted inspections. This follows a recent coroner’s inquest into the death of head teacher Ruth Perry, which found an Ofsted inspection had contributed to her suicide in January.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman has apologised for the distress caused by the inspection and delayed this week’s inspections by a day. However, the general secretaries of the ASCL and NAHT have said that Ofsted’s response does not go far enough and an immediate pause is needed to allow for meaningful action to address concerns raised in the inquest.
This is the first time Ofsted has been listed as a contributing factor in a head teacher’s death. Caversham Primary School was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” after an Ofsted visit in November 2022, and Mrs Perry killed herself while waiting for the report to be published. The school has since been regraded “good”.
The coroner has also issued a prevention-of-future-death notice (PFD) to prevent similar situations and Ofsted has stated it is immediately introducing a number of measures to address the concerns. However, the ASCL and NAHT have called for clarity from Ofsted about a plan and timetable to address each area before further inspections take place
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