Ofsted has been urged to pause its inspections due to the strength of feeling after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the sector has now reached a “watershed moment” on inspection and that Ofsted visits should be put on hold for a week.
Meanwhile, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has called for Ofsted to undertake “an immediate review of the impact of inspections on the wellbeing of school and college leaders and staff” and to instigate a “pause in the inspection cycle”.
And Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, also called for inspections to be temporarily halted, calling Ofsted “insensitive” for continuing with visits this week.
This follows the death of Ms Perry earlier this year, after a visit from Ofsted to Caversham Primary School in Berkshire.
Ms Perry’s family said that she took her own life after the inspection. The school was downgraded to “inadequate” in the inspection report published after her death.
These events have led to a strong reaction across the education sector.
In a written statement calling for inspections to be paused, Mr Whiteman said: ”Ruth Perry’s death is an unspeakable tragedy and it is clear that school leaders across the nation have been deeply affected by the news.
“Having spoken with Ruth’s family, we know they are determined that something like this should never happen again. It is important that everyone listens to what they have to say.”
He added that it was “clear that school leaders up and down the country are placed under intolerable pressure by the current approach”, saying: “Whilst it should never take a tragedy like this to prompt action, this has to be a watershed moment....Given the strength of feeling and the need for a period of calm reflection, Ofsted should pause inspections this week.”
Dr Bousted said: ”Given recent events and widespread concerns about leaders’ wellbeing, it’s the height of insensitivity for Ofsted to be going into schools or colleges this week.
“Ofsted should pause all its inspections and reflect upon the unmanageable and counterproductive stress they cause for school leaders, and the impact on leaders.”
Mr Barton said that ASCL would be seeking urgent talks with Ofsted.
As well as calling for a pause in inspections, he said that the inspectorate must also “commit to giving urgent consideration to reform of the inspection system to make it fairer and less punitive”.
In particular, he said Ofsted must look at replacing the current system of graded judgements, which “reduce everything that a school or college does to a single blunt descriptor”.
Negative outcomes “are devastating to leaders, staff and communities”, he added.
Ms Perry’s death has prompted a wave of anger on social media. This morning one executive headteacher, Flora Cooper, of John Rankin School in Newbury, publicly announced that she planning to refuse to take part in an inspection due to take place at her school on Tuesday.
However, the Department for Education issued a statement, saying it is “a legal requirement for schools and nurseries to be inspected by Ofsted” and that the inspectorate has “a legal duty to carry out those inspections”.
A DfE spokesperson added: “Inspections are hugely important as they hold schools to account for their educational standards, and parents greatly rely on the ratings to give them confidence in choosing the right school for their child.
“We offer our deep condolences to the family and friends of Ruth Perry following her tragic death and are continuing to provide support to Caversham Primary School at this difficult time.”
West Berkshire Council has said today that the Ofsted inspection at John Rankin School would be going ahead ”following discussions between the parties involved yesterday afternoon”.
Elsewhere Suffolk Primary Headteachers’ Association has written to Ofsted calling for it to halt inspections and outlining a range of responses that it is considering, including displaying a photograph of Ms Perry, starting inspections with a minute’s silence and wearing black armbands throughout.
These were all suggestions made by Ms Perry’s sister, Julia Waters, in a post on Facebook.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for an inquiry into the inspection of Caversham Primary has already attracted more than 100,000 signatures in the space of just over three days.
Matthew Purves, Ofsted’s regional director for the South East, said: “We were deeply saddened by Ruth Perry’s tragic death. Our thoughts remain with Ms Perry’s family, friends and everyone in the Caversham Primary School community.”
Ofsted has said it will not be commenting further.
