Two unions representing school leaders in England have called for a halt to Ofsted inspections to allow time for concerns raised by the inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry to be properly addressed.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the decision by Ofsted to suspend inspections for just one day on Monday to bring together lead inspectors for a briefing did not go nearly far enough.
The two unions have now written a joint letter to the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, and the outgoing chief inspector of schools in England, Amanda Spielman, formally requesting “an immediate pause” to inspections of schools and colleges to give space for proper consideration of the issues raised by the coroner.
“This is necessary for schools and colleges to have even a modicum of confidence in the inspectorate,” said the NAHT general secretary, Paul Whitehouse, and the ASCL general secretary, Geoff Barton.
The senior coroner for Berkshire, Heidi Connor, concluded last week that Ofsted’s inspection of Perry’s school, Caversham primary in Reading, which was subsequently downgraded from outstanding to inadequate, had contributed to her death by suicide.
The two unions said the coroner had raised seven areas of concern at the conclusion of the inquest, including how safeguarding was inspected in schools and its impact on overall effectiveness, a lack of Ofsted training or published policy in key areas, and a lack of additional support for schools and colleges graded inadequate.
“It is important that we have clarity from Ofsted about a plan and timetable to address each area before further inspections take place,” the joint union statement said. “This is vital in reassuring schools and colleges that appropriate steps are being taken to protect and support the welfare of education staff.”
This week is the final week for inspections this term ahead of the Christmas break. An Ofsted spokesperson said under its existing deferral policy, headteachers would be able to request to defer their inspection to the new year, if they preferred not to go ahead this week.
“It’s important that school inspections continue, in the interests of children and parents – but we are determined to work sensitively with headteachers and their staff,” the spokesperson said.
“We recognise and understand the strength of feeling in schools, following the inquest into the tragic death of Ruth Perry. We are immediately introducing a number of measures that we described last week and talked through with our lead inspectors today.
“And we are developing new training for all inspectors, to include external experts, that will take place in early January. These measures address several areas of concern set out by the coroner. When we receive the coroner’s report we will urgently address all remaining issues.”
Keegan, speaking during education questions in the Commons on Monday, refused to be drawn on whether Ofsted’s single-word judgments should now be scrapped.
She said: “I will be working very closely with the new HMCI (His Majesty’s chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver) when he starts three weeks today to see what more we can do. But we must remember that Ofsted do play an important role to keep children safe and to keep standards high.”
