Ofsted officials are trained to manage inspections in a way that “reduces stress” on schools, a director at the watchdog has told the inquest into the death of Ruth Perry.
The headteacher’s family say she killed herself after the watchdog’s report downgraded her primary school from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.
Ofsted’s national director for education Christopher Russell told Berkshire Coroner’s Office yesterday: “When we train inspectors, we certainly talk about how to manage the inspection in a way which reduces stress and, where people are getting anxious, how to manage these kinds of stress.”
But he admitted the organisation did not have written guidance on how to manage the stress of inspections on headteachers at the time.
Mr Russell also defended the policy of giving schools just 24 hours’ notice before inspections. “If we give lots of notice, we would have a situation where parents say, ‘Well, the school has known for weeks.’”
He added: “Giving a school more notice is potentially more stressful, I would argue.”
An inspection report published on Ofsted’s website in March found 53-year-old Ms Perry’s school, Caversham Primary in Reading, to be “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.
She died in January, two months after the inspection. Senior coroner Heidi Connor said she has made it clear that Ofsted’s rating does not fall “within the scope” of the hearing.
It is due to finish on December 7.
