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By Charlotte Mair
Following the death of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who took her own life following her school’s damning Ofsted report, is there still a place for the government’s regulatory body in today’s education field?
Perry’s suicide came following an Ofsted inspection of Caversham Primary School, in which the school had been downgraded from “good” to “inadequate”. Subsequently, her death has empowered other teachers to come forward to tell of their experiences of Ofsted, and how their negative reports have massively impacted their life.
More than 2,000 teachers responded to a tweet from a headteacher asking for their experiences of Ofsted. A teacher told the Guardian newspaper that they watched a fellow colleague suffer a heart attack following a plummeting Ofsted report which took their school from “outstanding” to “needs improvement”.
Not an accurate reflection
Ofsted carries out school inspections across the nation, judging schools on everything from the quality of teaching to student behaviour. Many parents choose schools based on Ofsted ratings, which some say do not adequately reflect the way a school is actually run.
Due to Covid and other circumstances, some schools that were previously marked “outstanding” had not been inspected again for more than a decade. Schools often know when they are due for an inspection, and ingrain within the teachers the requirements an inspection will demand.
“We are always reminded of the standards we need to achieve which is empathised throughout the course. We are constantly reminded to prepare to provide evidence and explain our role as a teacher,” said Ellie Robinson, 20, a second-year Primary Education student at Northumbria University.
She said she was surprised when she heard of Perry’s suicide, but said: “I think there always has and always will be pressure when it comes to Ofsted inspections.”
She added: “Teachers often feel pressured to change their personal pedagogy in order to please Ofsted inspectors, which can come to the detriment of everything they’ve done in a year.”
Ellie has been on placement in an early year classroom, which is required for her degree. “In early years you can’t work alongside Ofsted’s expectations, the other teachers told me that,” she said.
“They found the expectations too linear and not suited at all to the needs and realities of children.”
When she asked her placement mentor about this she was told: “I just do what I normally do as I know what’s best for my class without consideration of Ofsted.”
In support of Ruth Perry, many schools have removed their Ofsted ratings from their website. A memorial GoFundMe page has been set up in memory of her to support teachers’ mental health.
Michael Gove, the former Education Secretary told Sky News: “I do think, however, that Ofsted plays a vital role in providing information about how schools are performing well, which we can learn from, and which schools are not performing well, and therefore need help and intervention.” He added that he would need to “reflect” on the judgements made by Ofsted.
But another Primary Education student, Hannah Fenwick, said: “I do not think that it should have taken a teacher taking their life for this issue to arise with the pressure that comes with Ofsted.”
“Some schools can take on board the information given by Ofsted to improve and try to do better following an Ofsted inspection. However, in areas where there is little support for schools and numerous behavioural issues among pupils, there can’t comply with the Ofsted tick list. This is when issues arise.”
They added that she believes that schools should be given as much support as possible before Ofsted grading is complete.
“There needs to be a better framework for grading schools Ofsted have not changed their grading system to comply with changes to schools,” They said.
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