The sister of Ruth Perry has described the response of Ofsted to a coroner’s conclusion that an inspection likely contributed to her death as “woefully inadequate”.
Julia Waters said the inspectorate had apologised “for the distress rather than causing my sister’s death”.
Ms Perry took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her school - Caversham Primary School, in Reading - from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.
An inquest concluded on Thursday that the Ofsted inspection of the headteacher’s school “likely contributed” to her death.
Her family has demanded change to prevent other teachers from going through similarly “traumatic inspections”.
Following the coroner’s conclusion, Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman apologised to the family and friends of Mrs Perry for the distress the inspection had caused her.
She said that Ofsted has made changes to reduce pressures felt by school leaders and “will do more” to address concerns raised by the coroner.
Ms Spielman added that the watchdog was delaying next week’s inspections by a day and setting up a hotline for schools that have concerns.
A ‘catalyst for change’ to school inspection
Headteachers’ leaders have said that the coroner’s finding “must be a catalyst for change” to inspection.
And speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ms Waters said “pausing the inspections for a day to do some training is not enough”.
“I receive emails every day from teachers and headteachers and their relatives who’ve been through traumatic inspections. Things absolutely have to change,” she added.
Ms Waters shared notes handwritten by her sister before she died, one of which read: “I wake from restless sleep absolutely panic-stricken. Forty days are taking their toll on my skin and my nails, my stomach is wasting away.”
Concluding her inquest in Reading on Thursday, senior coroner Heidi Connor said: “The evidence is clear in this respect, and I find that Ruth’s mental health deterioration and death was likely contributed to by the Ofsted inspection.”
An inspection report, published on Ofsted’s website in March, found Mrs Perry’s school to be “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.
Ms Connor said: “I find that parts of the Ofsted inspection were conducted in a way which lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity.”
She added that a claim made by Ofsted during the inquest, that school inspections could be paused if the distress of a headteacher was a concern, was “a mythical creature”.
The senior coroner said she was “concerned to note the almost complete absence of Ofsted training” in situations where school leaders showed distress during an inspection, and around whether inspections could be paused in such cases.
She said that she intended to issue a Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths in this matter and that she hoped this would assist the parliamentary inquiry into Ofsted inspections.
