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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National

Wellbeing of school staff is as vital as pupils’ progress

Members of 'Parents against Ofsted' hold photographs of the head Ruth Perry, who killed herself after her school was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, outside the Department for Education, 23 March 2023.
Protesters outside the Department for Education earlier this year holding photographs of the headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life after being informed that her school was being downgraded by Ofsted. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Regarding your editorial (The Guardian view on Ofsted: radical change is needed, 12 June), as a parent of two children who attended Caversham primary school until last year, I can attest to Ruth Perry’s dedication and strong leadership. Our children had an overwhelmingly positive experience at the school.

My view of the Ofsted system is that it is too focused on treating schools like service providers to “customers”, ie children and parents, and not concerned at all with the wellbeing and resource health of the school itself. If Ofsted’s objective is to care about educational quality and child safety, it should be as concerned about staff as it is about pupils – without the staff there is no school.

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