Headteacher Ruth Perry broke down and looked like she was in “physical pain” after learning her school would be downgraded by Ofsted inspectors, an inquest into her death has heard.
Ms Perry, who took her own life after Caversham Primary School in Reading was regraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, feared she “couldn’t show her face again” after being given the news on the second day of an inspection in November last year.
After the final feedback session, she had a “strong physical reaction” and broke down in tears, a hearing into her death was told on Tuesday.
Giving evidence at an inquest, lead inspector Alan Derry said: “She became very upset. Very, very tearful. She looked like she was in pain and I think was at that point saying things about she felt she couldn’t show her face again.”
Ms Perry’s sister Professor Julia Waters previously described the headteacher’s experience with the school’s watchdog as the “worst day of her life”. The family has said the mother of two, took her own life when she died aged 53 the following January.
Her death sparked an outcry among headteachers across the country who led widespread calls for Ofsted to revamp its school ratings system.
A photo of Ruth Perry attached to the fence outside John Rankin Schools in Newbury, Berkshire— (PA)
On the first day of an inquest, Berkshire Coroner’s Court heard Caversham Primary was graded as “good” in all areas apart from safeguarding after inspectors spotted 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.
Despite the concerns, Mr Derry told the chair of governors in a separate meeting that the school had a “robust safeguarding culture” and children “felt safe”. But he told the coroner he “wasn’t as clear as he should have been” with the chairman over the safeguarding concerns.
Mr Derry, who had become a lead Ofsted inspector just over six months earlier, admitted he believed the safeguarding concerns could be addressed within 30 days, by the time his Ofsted report was published.
He said Ms Perry had sounded “confident” and “ready for inspection” during a phone call the day before inspectors arrived. However, they were forced to halt a meeting on day one of the inspection after she became distressed when concerns were raised over safeguarding.
“It was clear early on that Ms Perry was finding this meeting challenging. I think the first point I wanted to reach out to her as a colleague was when Ms Perry started to say ‘it’s not looking good is it?’ And at that point that became a bit of a repeated phrase,” he said.
A school staff member described her as “flushed, shaky and unable to speak coherently” after she left the meeting.
Worried colleagues said they “had never seen Ruth this way before” as they tried to console the distressed headteacher, who told them she needed to leave the school. However, Mr Derry said she appeared to be engaging with the remainder of the inspection, until she broke down again at their final meeting.
He raised concerns about her wellbeing with Ofsted’s duty desk after the final day, noting that she was “blaming herself”.
However, Ofsted’s director of education Christopher Russell denied that his inspectors were responsible for Ms Perry’s welfare during their inspection.
Giving evidence, Mr Russell said inspectors would work with school leaders to ensure an inspection “runs smoothly” and to “minimise the stress and anxiety for the headteacher”.
However, asked who has responsibility for the headteacher’s welfare, he told senior coroner Heidi Connor: “My understanding is that our responsibility, of course, is to manage the inspection itself, to do everything that we possibly can to reduce the pressures on the headteacher… but the actual responsibility for the welfare of the headteacher sits with others.”
He said the responsibility would be shared by the governing body and the local authority.
“We would expect them to be working together to be supportive to the headteacher. They have the ongoing relationship,” he said.
Ruth Perry’s sister Professor Julia Waters— (PA)
Under questioning from lawyers for interested parties, including Ms Perry’s family, he insisted inspectors were trained in handling difficult situations with headteachers, but admitted there was no written guidance for inspectors to spot signs of acute stress.
He also said he was not aware of Ofsted having carried out any risk assessments over the impact of the inspection process on teachers’ mental health.
At the start of the hearing on Tuesday, the coroner warned Ofsted about “surprisingly insensitive public comments from senior members of Ofsted just a few short days before this inquest”.
She urged the body not to make “position statements” over the alleged “causal connection” between the Ofsted inspection and Ms Perry’s deteriorating mental health and death.
The inquest started just days after Ms Perry’s family were forced to launch a last-minute crowdfunding campaign to pay for legal advice and representation after their legal aid bid was rejected.
The inquest, scheduled to last six days, continues.
