Ruth Perry’s faculty upgraded to ‘good’ in new Ofsted inspection report
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fsted inspectors have rated as ‘good’ a Reading faculty previously run by a headteacher who took her personal life after it was given an ‘inadequate’ score.
Ruth Perry was headteacher of Caversham Primary School earlier than she died in January this yr following a report which downgraded her faculty from the best score – excellent – to the bottom over safeguarding issues.
The faculty, in Reading, Berkshire, was reinspected on June 21 and 22 and the contemporary report, which doesn’t point out Ms Perry, charges it ‘good’ in all classes.
Her sister, Professor Julia Waters, mentioned the upgraded score was a testomony to the work of Ms Perry and the employees she led for the reason that preliminary inspection in November final yr.
She mentioned: “The reversal of the previous judgement in a matter of a few months illustrates why schools should be given the opportunity to correct any technical weaknesses before the final report is published.
“An inspection should be about helping schools with independent scrutiny, not catching them out and publicly shaming them. Ofsted’s use of safeguarding as a ‘limiting judgement’, overriding all other strengths and complexities of a school, puts headteachers in that position of constant jeopardy.”
The new report has not but been revealed, however in a replica seen by the PA news company inspectors reportedly mentioned: “The school’s work to address previous weaknesses has been swift, thorough and effective.
“Straight after the last inspection, useful advice was sought from beyond the school. In particular, this helped leaders to understand fully the extent of the weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements and prioritise what needed to be done.
“Ongoing and determined work has ensured that the improvements made have gone beyond the essential changes that were needed.”
It is known the report has been despatched to the college earlier than being made public, with the college given an opportunity to object to what the inspectors have written.
Should the college not object to something within the report, it can take round eight working days for it to be revealed extensively.
There have been widespread calls for Ofsted to revamp its school ratings system – which uses summative words such as “outstanding” and “inadequate” – following Ms Perry’s loss of life.
Prof Waters mentioned: “That Ruth was left feeling suicidal as a result of Ofsted’s previous judgement demonstrates, in the most tragic way possible, the intolerably high stakes created by the current inspection system.
“Ruth was not the first headteacher or teacher to take her own life following an Ofsted inspection. I am determined that she should be the last.”
Earlier this week the watchdog’s chief inspector said inspectors who produced the initial report were “professional and humane” in their role.
Amanda Spielman acknowledged there have been points round accountability at colleges however reaffirmed her help for Ofsted’s present one-word scores.
Ofsted has introduced a sequence of modifications, together with launching a session on reforms to the complaints system and giving colleges extra data across the timing of their inspections.
Schools graded insufficient total due solely to ineffective safeguarding – however the place all different judgments had been good or higher – will probably be revisited by inspectors inside three months of a report being revealed as a part of the reforms.
Last month it was introduced MPs will probably be launching an inquiry into the college watchdog and whether or not they are often improved.
The inquiry – by cross-party MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee – will look into issues that the one-word scores that Ofsted offers to colleges will not be conducive to serving to colleges enhance.
MPs will think about the influence of Ofsted inspections on the workload and wellbeing of academics, faculty leaders and pupils as a part of the inquiry.
Ofsted declined to touch upon the brand new report when approached by the Standard, saying it solely feedback on revealed stories.