Ofsted promises changes after headteacher Ruth Perry's death

Schools watchdog Ofsted has said it volition marque changes aft the termination of headteacher Ruth Perry successful January.

Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said Ofsted was piloting changes to its complaints system, but added the azygous wide people for schools would stay.

Ms Perry took her ain beingness portion waiting for Ofsted to people a study grading her schoolhouse Inadequate.

Her sister Julia Waters told BBC News she wanted inspections to beryllium paused, to let a afloat review.

Ofsted has said its thoughts are with Ms Perry's family, and described her decease arsenic a tragedy.

Prof Waters told BBC News condolences weren't enough, and said the household had not heard straight from Ofsted astir the concerns the household has raised.

"It adds to the hurt, it adds to the outrage, it adds to our feeling of injustice astir what happened to Ruth," she said.

The household believes the anxiousness and accent pursuing the inspection led to Ms Perry's suicide.

Prof Waters said she had been overwhelmed by the fig of radical getting successful interaction and speaking retired astir Ofsted.

"It is simply a perchance unsafe system," she told BBC News, adding that a intermission successful inspections would beryllium the "decent, empathetic, quality happening to do".

She wants an autarkic enquiry into what happened astatine Ms Perry's schoolhouse and a reappraisal of the civilization of inspections astatine Ofsted.

In her statement, Ms Spielman said Ofsted "won't beryllium brushed connected safeguarding", but wherever a schoolhouse is different doing good they volition effort to sojourn again much rapidly to bespeak improvements successful their judgements.

Ofsted is besides holding briefings for headteachers whose schools person not been inspected for a agelong time, she said.

"We are not deaf to the calls for change, oregon insensitive to the needs of schools and their staff," she added. "We volition proceed to perceive cautiously to the experiences and views of those we inspect."

Caversham Primary School was downgraded by Ofsted aft inspectors decided that checks connected unit and grounds keeping of concerns astir children were inadequate.

Under the existent system, this means the enactment of the schoolhouse is declared inadequate, arsenic good arsenic the schoolhouse overall.

The prime of acquisition and behaviour astatine the schoolhouse were praised by inspectors.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, astir schools were inspected astir erstwhile each 4 years. However each visits were enactment connected clasp successful the pandemic.

Outstanding schools were besides exempt for 8 years up to 2020, which means immoderate are present now facing inspection for the archetypal clip successful a decade.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said standards connected keeping children harmless would not beryllium "watered down", and she continued to enactment a "clear one-word rating" to pass parents' decisions.

She told MPs earlier this week she would beryllium consenting to conscionable the family.

Headteachers' unions said the changes did not spell acold enough, and failed to recognised the spot of feeling among teachers.

Geoff Barton, wide caput of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "The world is that Ofsted has wholly mislaid the spot of leaders and teachers, and it volition instrumentality a large woody much than this to summation their confidence."

In March, the National Education Union (NEU), schoolhouse leaders' national NAHT, and the ASCL called for inspections to beryllium halted.

The recruitment process for a caller main inspector of Ofsted is already nether way, due to the fact that Ms Spielman is lasting down aboriginal this year.

Prof Waters says alteration can't hold until then.

"There is an urgent occupation successful Ofsted, and it needs to beryllium dealt with urgently," she said.

"What happened to Ruth could hap again."

A afloat inquest volition see the circumstances astir Ruth Perry's termination aboriginal this year.