A learning review following the death of the headteacher Ruth Perry has warned that local authorities are “hamstrung” in their ability to support school leaders because of policy constraints and a lack of funding.
The review, commissioned by Reading Council, also calls on the authority to encourage the Department for Education to take a “new approach to the national and local leadership, coordination, regulation and oversight of schools”.
Last December, a coroner ruled that an Ofsted inspection “contributed” to the death of Ms Perry, after her school, Caversham Primary, was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, based on safeguarding concerns.
‘Folly’ of high-stakes accountability in schools
The review, which considers the actions of Reading Council before, during and after the Ofsted inspection of Caversham School, warns that the tragedy highlighted “the folly of the macho culture of high-stakes accountability” in schools.
And it calls on the council to challenge the idea that one-word judgements can adequately describe the quality of a school to parents.
The review was co-authored by Steve Crocker, a former director of children’s services for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight council, and Brian Pope, who was assistant director for education and inclusion for the same local authority.
The report outlines what the authors call a “policy complexity” in relation to the role of local authorities and staff in maintained schools.
It says that councils are now reliant on maintained schools choosing to “de-delegate” part of their budgets back to the local authority to fund the monitoring and intervention work with those schools. It also says that the local authority’s role in schools should be clarified and funded.
“In recommending this, though, we want to be clear that setting the bar according to the diminished options available to overstretched and underfunded local authorities would miss the central point: that such local authorities are effectively hamstrung in their ability to provide high-quality support for their school leaders by a combination of both policy and funding constraints,” the report adds.
Its authors conclude that they would have responded to support Ms Perry following the inspection “in the same way, and with the same intention, as the officers in Reading - that of trying to understand, help and do the right thing for the person concerned”.
The training of senior leaders in local authorities and schools to support employees who are distressed is “less well considered”, the report says.
Ofsted should consider conduct of inspection
The review calls for Ofsted to “look closely at the evidence considered and the conduct of the Caversham Primary School inspection”.
However, Ofsted’s review, which is currently underway, is only due to consider the actions the inspectorate took in response to the death of Ms Perry, rather than looking at the inspection itself.
The Reading report says the council should inform Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation that the idea that a one-word judgement can adequately describe the quality of a school to parents and communities is a “spurious notion”. It adds: “Limiting judgements are a blunt instrument and should be abolished.”
The review also questions whether school inspectors should be carrying out safeguarding judgements as part of school inspections.
It recommends that Reading Council help all schools “review their safeguarding governance arrangements” so that there is a “day-to-day challenge” from a third party.
The council should call for a national recruitment drive of school governors, which should go “hand in hand with a review of the role of governors in schools”, it says.
‘Worrying implications’ for staff wellbeing
The sister of Ruth Perry, Professor Julia Waters, said it was a “disappointing report” because it “fails consistently to address the concerns raised in the coroner’s report to prevent future deaths, issued following the inquest into the suicide of my sister, Ruth Perry”.
She added that the report’s “overriding conclusion is frightening”.
“It effectively highlights how local authorities lack the resources, power, authority and processes to look after their employees effectively, when faced with the trauma of a punishing Ofsted inspection.”
Professor Waters said the fact that the report indicates that this is the norm across local authorities “has profoundly worrying implications for the wellbeing of headteachers and staff of maintained schools across England”.
She added that it was “further alarming evidence” of a school inspection system that is “so contorted by educational underfunding and perverse incentives that state schools can no longer keep staff safe, with children and parents suffering the consequences”.
Ofsted review and Big Listen findings still to come
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Ruth Perry’s death was a tragedy and we are determined to do everything in our power to prevent such tragedies in the future. That’s why we accepted the HM Coroner’s report in full and responded to each of its recommendations.
“As part of this, we carried out a Big Listen consultation to help us build an Ofsted that is trusted by the professionals we inspect and regulate, as well as the children, learners, parents and carers we are here to serve.
“We [also] commissioned an independent learning review of our response to Ruth’s death, led by Dame Christine Gilbert. We will report back on the findings of both the Big Listen and the learning review in the autumn.”
Jackie Yates, Reading Borough Council chief executive, said: “While acknowledging the proactive approach taken by Reading in supporting schools before, during and after Ofsted inspections, including at Caversham Primary, the report also highlights a number of areas for further improvement, which we fully acknowledge and which we intend to measure progress against through an associated action plan.”
She added that the independent learning review recognises that “Reading finds itself in a unique position, through the most tragic circumstances, to make powerful representations to Ofsted, which we have done as part of the Big Listen consultation”.
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