Ruth Perry’s deputy headteachers have told an inquest that there was a “direct link” between their school’s damning Ofsted inspection and her death.
Headteacher Ms Perry, 53, took her own life months after Caversham Primary School in Reading was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” after safeguarding concerns were raised during an inspection by the school’s watchdog in November last year.
On the third day of an inquest into her death, senior coroner Heidi Connor asked Jo Grover and Clare Jones-King, who were both deputy headteachers at the time, about the role of Ofsted in Ms Perry’s deteriorating mental health and death.
“Do you see a direct link between the two?” she asked the pair, who are now co-heads at the primary. Ms Jones-King replied: “Yes, absolutely I do.” Her colleague Ms Grover agreed.
Chair of governors Neil Walne also told the court that he believes the inspection contributed to Ms Perry’s declining mental health and subsequent death.
Giving evidence at Berkshire Coroner’s Court, the deputy headteachers who had both worked with Ms Perry for many years, said they had no concerns about her mental health prior to the inspection.
In her witness statement, Ms Grover described the extreme pressure of the Ofsted inspection on Ms Perry and the senior leadership team.
“We all felt under extreme pressure and were operating under such high levels of stress I don’t think I have ever felt such stress physically and mentally for such a sustained period of time,” the court heard.
Pictures of Ruth Perry at a vigil (Jonathan Brady/PA)— (PA)
Ms Jones-King described one meeting she joined with Ms Perry and lead inspector Alan Derry as “tricky” and “unpleasant”. When she arrived the meeting had already begun but Ms Perry was crying, her makeup was smudged and she looked “physically upset”.
“You absolutely expect a level of challenge in meetings. I was aware that an incident had been discussed. I did however feel that it wasn’t a… professional conversation – I wasn’t being listened to. Ruth became incredibly upset.”
Ms Jones-King said she was interrupted and, at one point, Mr Derry held up his hand to stop her speaking.
She added: “At one point there was a sneer. And then Mr Derry said very loudly ‘I beg to differ’ which pretty much stopped that conversation in its tracks.”
The deputy head said the Ofsted inspection process felt lacking in “compassion and kindness”, adding that she was saddened to hear comments previously made by inspector Gavin Evans at the inquest on Wednesday, where he suggested it was normal for headteachers to cry during an inspection.
She told the inquest: “As a team, we were all clearly struggling. Listening to the comments yesterday from Mr Evans where he said that, in his experience, in inspections more people cry than not cry really saddened me because I thought that perhaps our experience was a particularly awful experience, but that tells me that perhaps this is more than what we were aware of.”
The teacher said there was a “noticeable difference” at the school’s subsequent reinspection in June, which upgraded Caversham Primary’s rating to “good”.
The teachers said they were offered regular welfare checks and breaks. “It did feel like a more compassionate inspection. It felt kinder,” Ms Jones-King added.
Ms Perry feared losing her job if her school was downgraded— (PA)
Ms Perry’s local authority contact Alice Boon, strategic lead for school effectiveness at Brighter Futures for Children, owned by Reading Borough Council, described Caversham Primary as incredibly popular and “highly regarded”.
But she noted that lead Ofsted inspector Mr Derry was “focussed and pedantic”. She told the inquest: “I had a conversation myself with Mr Derry which had been a difficult conversation but I felt it was brusque and sharp.”
In the aftermath of the inspection, Ms Boon said colleagues were focussed on supporting Ms Perry, but they collectively decided not to challenge the inadequate grading.
“She was an amazing headteacher and an amazing person and actually what we wanted was for her to remember that she was those things,” she said.
“When the team rang me to talk about their worries that she had had dark thoughts and she wasn’t herself - that to me was a flag for immediate medical attention. When I spoke to her she downplayed slightly how she was feeling to me but I begged her to speak to ger GP and get help. I said please do this, if not for yourself, for your friends who desperately want you to get help.”
On Wednesday Ms Perry’s husband revealed the headteacher had felt that the lead inspector was a “bully” who had an agenda.
In a statement read by senior coroner Heidi Connor, Jonathan Perry described his wife of 21 years as “resilient and positive” but said “all that changed from the start of the inspection”.
She told him her first meeting with Mr Derry on 15 November was “horrendous”. “I tried to reassure her that he couldn’t have made up his mind already and that she shouldn’t worry too much. I remember her saying, ‘I think I’m going to lose my job.’”
The week after the inspection, Ms Perry confided to her colleagues that she was feeling suicidal and they urged her to contact her GP, while they notified the local authority and school governors.
Her death in the following January sparked an outcry among headteachers across the country and led to widespread calls for Ofsted to revamp its one-word school ratings system.
Caversham Primary was graded as “good” in all areas apart from leadership and management after inspectors spotted safeguarding issues with the school’s record keeping. This led to an overall grading of “inadequate” and would likely have led to the maintained primary school being forced to become an academy.
Mr Derry previously said the safeguarding concerns could have been addressed within 30 days, but insisted they were “significant”.
The inquest continues.
