The sister of a headteacher who killed herself following a negative Ofsted report has added her voice to growing calls for the Government to postpone planned changes to school inspections.
Ruth Perry died in January 2023 after her Caversham Primary School in Reading was downgraded to the lowest rating due to safeguarding concerns.
In an open letter addressed to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Ms Perry's sister, Professor Julia Waters, has joined a chorus of school leaders, national organisations, and former inspectors expressing "real concerns" that the proposed changes could exacerbate pressure on education professionals, potentially leading to further ill-health and stress.
The letter, released on Monday, argues that the new system risks perpetuating a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of staff and affecting students' school experiences.
“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,” the letter read.
“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, Professor Waters said the proposed new system was “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 conference in Harrogate earlier in April 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 in 2024 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 per cent) feel inspection negatively affects their mental health.
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