Two unions representing school leaders in England have called for a halt to Ofsted inspections to allow time for concerns raised by the inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry to be properly addressed.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the decision by Ofsted to suspend inspections for just one day on Monday to bring together lead inspectors for a briefing did not go nearly far enough.
The two unions have now written a joint letter to the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, and the outgoing chief inspector of schools in England, Amanda Spielman, formally requesting “an immediate pause” to inspections of schools and colleges to give space for proper consideration of the issues raised by the coroner.
“This is necessary for schools and colleges to have even a modicum of confidence in the inspectorate,” said the NAHT general secretary, Paul Whitehouse, and the ASCL general secretary, Geoff Barton.
The senior coroner for Berkshire, Heidi Connor, concluded last week that Ofsted’s inspection of Perry’s school, Caversham primary in Reading, which was subsequently downgraded from outstanding to inadequate, had contributed to her death by suicide.
The two unions said the coroner had raised seven areas of concern at the conclusion of the inquest, including how safeguarding was inspected in schools and its impact on overall effectiveness, a lack of Ofsted training or published policy in key areas, and a lack of additional support for schools and colleges graded inadequate.
