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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Anna Fazackerley

‘My colleague had a heart attack in front of me’: horrific toll of Ofsted inspections

Parents Against Ofsted members Amanda Bentham (holding a sign reading
Parents Against Ofsted members, from left, Amanda Bentham, and George Binette and James Denny – holding photos of Ruth Perry – on 23 March, when the National Education Union handed in a petition for a new school accountability system. Photograph: David Levene/the Observer

Senior teacher Rob Dyson* says his last Ofsted inspection remains a “trauma”. Drinking tea in the staff room of the academy in the north of England after the inspector left, having delivered the verdict that the school had plummeted from “outstanding” to “requires improvement”, he says everyone was “ashen faced”. Noticing that the deputy head had turned a “terrible colour” and looked unwell, Dyson ushered him into the toilets.

“He started having a heart attack right there in front of me,” Dyson recalls. “It was absolutely shocking.”

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