Ofsted ratings need to be 'looked at', Michael Gove says

Ofsted ratings need to be ‘looked at’ following Ruth Perry’s death, Michael Gove says

• Mr Gove said the watchdog plays a ‘vital role’ in assessing school performance
• Ms Perry took her own life in January after an Ofsted inspection at her school 

Ofsted ratings should be ‘looked at’ after a headteacher who took her own life following an inspection by the watchdog, Michael Gove says.

The Levelling-Up Secretary said while Ofsted plays a ‘vital role’ in assessing school performance, it needs to look at how schools can be rated inadequate overall if they only fail in one area in an inspection. 

It comes after Ruth Perry, the principal at Caversham Primary School in Reading, killed herself in January while waiting for an Ofsted report which downgraded her school to the lowest possible rating, her family said.

An inspection report, published on Ofsted’s website earlier this month, found Ms Perry’s school to be ‘good’ in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be ‘inadequate’.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mr Gove paid tribute to Ms Perry, saying she was a ‘talented, passionately committed person’. 

Michael Gove (pictured) said while Ofsted plays a ‘vital role’ in assessing schools, the way it grades them should be ‘looked at’

Ruth Perry (pictured) took her own life in January after being told Ofsted were going to downgrade her school to inadequate

Mr Gove said the four grades used by Ofsted: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, are ‘important’.

READ MORE HERE:  ‘Deeply sorry’ Ofsted chief vows to carry on with school inspections despite backlash from teachers over death of head Ruth Perry who killed herself after visit

The cabinet minister went on: ‘But there is one issue which I do feel we need to reflect on and look at which is that if a school is found to have failed its safeguarding criteria, then that is what is called a limiting judgment and if a school is found inadequate in that area, that means it is inadequate overall, even if it has strong teaching and learning and its other areas are good as well.

‘Safeguarding is the set of rules that govern the wellbeing of children within the school, the health and safety and protection and so on.

‘I do think we need to look at the way in which a limiting judgment as it’s called, a technical term, means that a failure in one area means failure everywhere else – but that is not a criticism of Ofsted.

‘Ofsted do a great job, the Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman is someone absolutely committed to supporting teachers to do better.’

Ms Spielman has acknowledged the debate about reforming inspections to remove grades ‘is a legitimate one’ but insisted school checks aim to raise standards and should continue.

The death of mother-of-two Ms Perry has sparked calls for overhaul at Ofsted, with some teachers signing a petition calling for it to be replaced.

Mrs Perry was the principal of the Berkshire school for 12 years, and it had been ranked ‘outstanding’ since 2009, before three Ofsted inspectors arrived last November 15.

Inspectors from Ofsted rated Caversham Primary School (pictured) as inadequate, despite it being ranked as good in four out of five categories 

National Education Union (NEU) members stand outside Parliament before delivering a petition calling for reform at Ofsted

It was Caversham’s first inspection in 13 years as previously those which had been ranked so highly were exempt. Her sister Julia Walters has since called on parents of schoolchildren to ‘destroy’ the power of Ofsted by ‘refusing its legitimacy’.

Protesters also descended on Westminster on Thursday to hand a petition calling for Ofsted to be axed – signed by 45,000 people – to the Department of Education.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) were pictured carrying photos of Ms Perry while holding up signs reading: ‘Time’s up for Ofsted’, and ‘Ofsted not fit for purpose.’

READ MORE HERE:  Stress caused by Ofsted inspections was cited in coroners’ reports on the deaths of 10 teachers over 25 years, research reveals 

The petition brands Ofsted an ‘unfair and unreliable inspectorate’ before quoting a 2017 report from the National Audit Office, which reads: ‘Ofsted does not know whether its school inspections are having the intended impact: to raise the standards of education and improve the quality of children’s and young people’s lives.’

It claims the watchdog’s rulings ‘discriminate against schools in deprived areas’ – by ‘awarding ”outstanding” grades to four times more secondary schools with better-off pupils than schools with students who are worse off.’

The document also accuses Ofsted of deterring teachers from working in disadvantaged areas as they fear lower rankings could negatively impact their career.

It then lists three demands, including replacing the body with a ‘school accountability system which is supportive, effective and fair.’

It also calls on the government to ‘work with teachers and leaders’ to establish a ‘commission to learn how school accountability is done in other high performing education nations.’

But the Department for Education maintains inspections are ‘hugely important’ and ‘a legal requirement’.

It says they hold schools to account for their educational standards and ‘parents greatly rely on the ratings to give them confidence in choosing the right school for their child’.

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