School inspections in England are in crisis after a damning report into a school leader’s suicide.
England’s schools inspectorate has long been viewed by suspicion by teachers, largely due to what many perceive to be an unduly punitive approach to holding schools accountable.
But matters have come to a head following a coroner’s report into the death of a school principal – and the inspectorate’s mishandling of the aftermath – prompting school leaders to declare that the existing inspection system is “untenable”.
Ruth Perry, 53, head teacher of Caversham Primary School near Reading, killed herself in January while waiting for the publication of a report by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), which downgraded the judgement on the school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, the lowest of four possible ratings.
A coroner’s inquest earlier this month found that the inspection had contributed to Mrs Perry’s death, while in a follow-up report this week coroner Heidi Connor castigated Ofsted for its response.
As well as failing to carry out a review into its processes following Mrs Perry’s death, Ms Connor said the inspectorate provided almost no training on what should be done if school leaders were distressed during an inspection, and was unable to say what support it provided to school leaders.
It’s lack of action meant there was a risk of further deaths, according to the coroner, who gave Ofsted 56 days to respond to her concerns.
The coroner also criticized the head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, for her “surprisingly insensitive comments” ahead of the inquest, after the chief inspector claimed some people were using Ms Perry’s death to try to discredit the inspection system.
Ofsted’s decision to suspend inspections by just one day following the inquest and run a 90 minute training session have also been seen as inadequate.
Now school leaders have dramatically raised the stakes by calling inspections “untenable” and calling for a complete halt to future inspections until action is taken to safeguard the health of education staff.
“We cannot see how inspections can continue to take place in schools and colleges after such a serious risk to the health and safety of education staff has been highlighted,” said Geoff Barton and Paul Whiteman, general secretaries respectively of the Association of School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers.
“It is our conclusion that Ofsted inspections are now untenable and should be halted until the actions advised by the coroner are undertaken by Ofsted and the Department for Education.”
While Ofsted has promised to introduce new training for inspectors next month – although even this is 12 months since Mrs Perry’s death – this did not address school leaders’ concerns, they said.
“We do not believe this goes far enough and that this situation demands a much greater sense of concerted action,” they added.
Ms Spielman has insisted that Ofsted has made changes in the way it works, with more in the pipeline, including providing school leaders with a number to call if they have concerns about an inspection.
But, for many, more fundamental reform is needed, not least a move away from the one-word judgement, which even a former chief inspector believes is an unhelpful way to describe a school.
Whether the government has an appetite for reform is doubtful, but with the opposition Labour Party expected to win a general election expected in the U.K. in 2024, there may be hope for critics of the existing inspections.
For many, this means moving to a system which aims to help schools improve, rather than offering a simplistic one-word verdict.
And it will take a lot more than a promise of extra training to restore school leaders’ faith in inspections.