It should shame everyone involved in the running and oversight of Ofsted that it has taken a coroner’s verdict at an inquest into the death of a headteacher to finally force the organisation to commit to proper change. The problems at Ofsted were known, long-term and addressable. And they were, until now, mostly ignored.
While we should be mindful that suicide is complex and that no single cause should be cited, it is a catastrophic judgement of the inspection system that the coroner still concluded it likely that the inspection of Caversham Primary School “contributed” to Ruth Perry’s mental health deterioration and death. Ofsted’s inadequate response - and insulting single-day pause to inspection - shows just how detached from reality that organisation now is.
But change at Ofsted isn’t enough. Ruth Perry’s death became a symbol of the inspectorate’s negative impact on the profession, and what was unfortunately lost in that movement was the wider context in which an inspection takes place. Ofsted is a product of the sector, it operates within the context of that sector, and therefore you can’t fix Ofsted without fixing the sector, too.
Ofsted and wider change
As a headteacher for 13 years, Ruth Perry would have known that more than most.
For it is headteachers who have had to shoulder the majority of the burden of running schools in increasingly intolerable circumstances, trying to make the impossible work while protecting their staff as best they can.
It is headteachers who, as Tom Campbell, CEO of E-Act, said to me last week, have become the only accountable figures for public services, who are thrust into the spotlight to defend the failures of a system they have no control over and often - in the case of social care, for example - no responsibility for, either.
As accountability increased, budgets were squeezed, teacher supply was decimated, leadership grew infinitely more complex, responsibilities expanded, expectations were raised and support vanished - nothing changed.
As we watched heads leave the sector in their droves; as research from the likes of Education Support repeatedly told us stress levels were intolerably high; as some leaders openly talked about the mental health problems they were facing - nothing changed.
And as heads’ white-knuckled grip desperately holding schools together began to slip - nothing changed.
System change required
We’ve failed to look after our headteachers. We’ve failed to give them anywhere near what they need to do their jobs effectively. We’ve heaped more and more on them regardless. And then we’ve sent in inspectors to pick them apart.
Just changing Ofsted won’t fix this. To do that only would be to fundamentally misunderstand the context within which headteachers are working.
If the movement Ruth’s death catalysed becomes about Ofsted alone, we would do her a disservice. There are around 21,600 headteachers like Ruth running schools in England and nearly 1 million people working within those schools who need - and deserve - much more than that.
Tes sends its deepest condolences to the Perry family and to Ruth Perry’s colleagues. You can call the Samaritans for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
This article originally appeared in the Tes Daily briefing, a daily newsletter from Tes magazine. Sign up for free here
