New report upgrades Ruth Perry’s school to good

As reported by the BBC, the school run by a head teacher who took her own life after a critical Ofsted report has been rated as good after a new inspection

Ruth Perry died in January after being told Caversham Primary School in Berkshire was being downgraded from outstanding to inadequate.

The school was re-inspected after Ms Perry’s death, which prompted an outpouring of anger about the system.

Ofsted has defended its one-word grades, which are not being scrapped.

The head teacher’s sister Prof Julia Waters said it was a “very bittersweet moment”, but confirmed “what anyone who knew Ruth and the school knew all along”.

She said one-word grades do not give an accurate reflection of the strengths and weaknesses “of a complex organisation like a school”.

Her sister’s case showed how it is “terribly, potentially fatally dangerous to try to sum up everything in one word”, she told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight programme.

Her loss has been “absolutely devastating to so many people” she said, adding: “The ripple effect of her death is immeasurable. The harm done by that one word is absolutely immeasurable”.

Ofsted inspected the school again in June in line with government guidelines to monitor schools that need to improve – and not as a result of Ms Perry’s death.

In their latest report, seen by the BBC, the watchdog said: “The school’s work to address previous weaknesses has been swift, thorough and effective.”

The primary school was initially inspected in November 2022 and subsequently rated inadequate after concerns were raised over leadership and management.

Ms Perry’s family said the inspection process caused her significant distress.

The new report said useful advice was sought from beyond the school straight after the last inspection.

“In particular, this helped leaders to understand fully the extent of the weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements and prioritise what needed to be done,” the report said.

In a statement, the head teacher’s sister Ms Waters said staff at the school who had worked with or been trained by Ms Perry had never been anything other than “excellent, caring and professional”.

She added: “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.”