Ofsted inspectors have been 'refused entry' to a school after the headteacher's death, it's been reported. Ruth Perry, who was headteacher at Caversham Primary School in Reading, took her own life in January while waiting for a negative Oftsed report.
Ms Perry, 53, had been told that her school was being downgraded from 'Outstanding' to 'Inadequate' after experiencing the "worst day of her life" when inspectors visited on November 15 and 16 last year. Flora Cooper, Executive Headteacher at the John Rankin Schools, Newbury, now says she has told inspectors not to turn up for a scheduled inspection, reports BerkshireLive.
In a tweet, Ms Cooper said: "I've just had the call. I've refused entry.
"This is an interesting phone call. Doing this for everyone for our school staff everywhere!"
On Saturday (March 18), Ms Cooper shared a statement from Ms Perry's sister. In response, one person asked for Ofsted to be abolished to which Ms Cooper replied: "But what could they do if we refused them?
"I'm taking a stand. I don't do things for Ofsted (as you know), but I will take a stand to change the system.
"It must change now. We cannot allow it to continue, it should not have taken this. Who's in? I am."
In a series of tweets, Ms Cooper called for other people to join her at the school on Tuesday (March 21) morning at 8am. So far, thousands of people have liked, retweeted or replied to the message with most of those being in support of her decision.
A petition has also been launched in light of Ruth's death. The petition, calling for an inquiry into the Ofsted inspection, has already been signed by almost 40,000 people.
When asked about the death of Ms Perry, her sister, Julia Walters, previously told BBC South that inspectors said a boy doing a flossing dance move, from the video game Fortnite, was evidence of the sexualisation of children at the school. Ms Waters went on: “Ruth took her own life on January 8, all during that process every time I spoke to her, she would talk about the countdown.
"I remember her clearly one day saying ‘52 days and counting’, every day she had this weight on her shoulders hanging over her and she wasn’t officially allowed to talk to her family. I remember the very first day I saw her, rather than just speaking to her on the phone, a couple of days after the end of the Ofsted inspection, she came, she was an absolute shadow of her former self."
The report, which was published last week, found the school to be Good in every category, apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be Inadequate, the lowest rating. Inspectors said school leaders did not have the “required knowledge to keep pupils safe from harm”, did not take “prompt and proper actions” and had not ensured safeguarding was “effective”.
