Ofsted is set to introduce major changes to the school inspection system after the death of school headteacher Ruth Perry.
The changes announced on Monday include new funding for wellbeing support for teachers and school leaders, but stop short of banning controversial single-word ratings.
Perry died by suicide in January this year, after a report from the inspectorate found that Caversham Primary School in Reading was “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.
Ofsted has been under pressure from unions and Labour, who have joined calls for one-word Ofsted assessments to be abolished in the wake of Perry’s death. Education secretary Gillian Keegan has defended the system as clear and easy for parents to understand.
The watchdog’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman insisted Ofsted is listening to the concerns raised in the wake of Perry’s death and has been “thinking carefully about how we can revise aspects of our work without losing our clear focus on the needs of children and their parents”.
Ruth’s sister, Julia Waters said that the move was “a start” but more changes were needed as they do not “adequately address the many problems that the system creates”.
“I am disappointed that no mention is made about removing harmful and misleading single-word judgments,” she said.
