‘Tearful’ headteacher Ruth Perry told Ofsted inspectors ‘it’s not looking good is it’ and said she ‘couldn’t show her face again’ before taking her own life after inspection, inquest hears

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A ‘tearful’ headteacher who took her own life after a critical Ofsted report had told an inspector ‘it’s not looking good is it’, an inquest has heard. 

Ruth Perry ‘looked like she was in pain’ as she broke down in tears in a meeting, the watchdog’s lead inspector said. 

She told inspectors she ‘couldn’t show her face again’, a coroner’s court heard yesterday.

The headteacher’s family claim she took her own life after her school, Caversham Primary School in Reading, was downgraded from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.

Her death sparked widespread calls from school leaders for the watchdog to overhaul its school rating system.

Lead inspector Alan Derry told the coroner that Ms Perry, 53, was ‘tearful’ and kept saying ‘it’s not looking good is it’ when he met her during the inspection.

Ruth Perry, 53, was headteacher at Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, and took her own life before a negative Ofsted inspection on the school was published

Ms Perry’s family say she took her own life after a report from the watchdog downgraded her Caversham Primary School (pictured) in Reading from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns

He told Berkshire’s Coroner’s Office in Reading: ‘She became very upset, very tearful. She looked like she was in pain and I think it was at that point, saying things about she felt she couldn’t show her face again.

‘I think it was the physical pain that she was in over that aspect.’

The coroner heard how on the morning of the first day of inspection, Mr Derry held a meeting with the Ms Perry to discuss his concerns about the school’s safeguarding record-keeping.

He said it was clear the headteacher found the meeting challenging and she started to repeatedly say: ‘It is not looking good is it?’

Senior coroner Heidi Connor then quoted from the witness statement of Nicola Leroy, a member of staff at the school, who saw Ms Perry in the immediate aftermath of the meeting.

Ms Leroy said that Ms Perry was ‘unable to speak coherently’ after leaving the meeting and said that she ‘needed to leave’ the school.

The teacher added: ‘We had never seen Ruth in this way before.’

Julia Walters, the sister of Ruth Perry, said she had experienced ‘the worst day of her life’ as a result of the inspection

Ms Connor also referenced a statement given by fellow teacher Clare Jones-King, who said the Ofsted meeting was ‘very unpleasant’ and described inspectors as ‘mocking’.

Mr Derry said he was ‘very disappointed’ that that was how someone would view him as an inspector or as a person.

But he admitted that he had made ‘mistakes’ in understating the severity of safeguarding issues to governors.

Asked by the coronor if he had changed the way he conducts inspections since his inspection of Caversham, he added: ‘I think that by the nature of what I have been through it has changed me.

‘So it would make sense to think that the way that I have conducted inspections has changed as a result.’

Ms Perry had been a pupil at the school previously, before returning in 2006 as deputy headteacher and being promoted in 2010.

But after the school received its Ofsted inspection, Ms Perry became ‘an absolute shadow of her former self,’ according to her sister.

She described the inspection, across two days in November 2022, as the ‘worst day of her life’, and was unable to talk about its findings for months due to confidentiality rules.

After widespread backlash against the watchdog, the Commons Education Select Committee earlier this year announced an inquiry into the use of one-word ratings.

Ofsted also announced a series of changes, including launching a consultation on reforms to the complaints system and giving schools more information around the timing of their inspections.

Caversham Primary School was reinspected on June 21 and 22 and a fresh report, which did not mention Ms Perry, rated it good in all categories.

The family of Ms Perry have said they hope her inquest will prevent further ‘avoidable’ deaths

The report said that the school’s work to address ‘previous weaknesses’ had been ‘swift, thorough and effective’.

Earlier in the inquest, Christopher Russell, national director for education at Ofsted, insisted that the watchdog was not responsible for the welfare of headteachers.

He said: ‘Inspectors are expected to manage an inspection so that it runs smoothly and so that you minimise the stress and anxiety of the headteacher and other members of staff in the school.

‘Ofsted’s responsibility is to reduce the pressure on the headteacher, but the responsibility for the welfare of the headteacher lies with other organisations – such as the school’s governing body and the area’s local authority.’

Opening the inquest, Ms Connor had criticised senior Ofsted officials for ‘surprisingly insensitive public comments’ made prior to the inquest.

While she did not specify which comments she was referring to, it comes after Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman last week said the head’s death was used ‘to try and discredit’ Ofsted.

Ofsted inspector Alan Derry told the inquest at Berkshire Coroner’s Office in Reading on Tuesday that he led the inspection at the school.

He said that he first spoke to Ms Perry on the phone at 1pm the day before the inspection. He said she came across ‘very professional’ and that she ‘presented the school and the work that it does very well’.

Christopher Russell, the national director for education at Ofsted, told the inquest into Ruth Perry’s death that the watchdog is not responsible for the ‘welfare of headteachers’

The inspectors arrived the next day at 8am and were greeted by Ms Perry. However, Mr Derry said the headteacher seemed less confident in person than she had seemed on the phone. ‘This was an exception to how leaders usually present,’ he said.

At 10.40am, Mr Derry held a meeting with the headteacher to discuss the school’s safeguarding policies. He said it was clear that Ms Perry found the meeting challenging and she started to repeatedly say ‘it is not looking good is it?’

He added that the headteacher was ‘tearful’ and she held a tissue in her hand. He said he asked Ms Perry if there was someone she could talk to, and if she would like to pause the meeting. After pausing the meeting, they then ended it.

The court heard that Ms Perry remained in the school, and she met again with the inspector in the afternoon, this time to discuss the behaviour of pupils at the school.

The inspection continued, with a number of further meetings held between Ms Perry and Ofsted. At the end of the following day, a final feedback meeting was held.

Mr Derry said that Ms Perry looked like she was in ‘physical pain’ during the meeting. ‘She was very upset,’ he said. 

‘She was very, very tearful. She looked like she was in pain. At that point she was saying things like she could not show her face again.’

Coroner Connor also asked Mr Russell about the consequences of an Ofsted inspection – particularly if a school is graded ‘inadequate’, as was the case with Caversham prior to Ms Perry’s death.

Read more: Coroner slams ‘insensitive’ comments made by Ofsted chiefs ahead of inquest into headteacher Ruth Perry who took her own life after ‘tearful’ inspection

Mr Russell said: ‘Schools can be turned into academies following ‘inadequate’ reports by Ofsted’. ‘If this is the case,’ Ms Connor said, ‘would the headteacher – and other teachers at the school – be at risk of losing their jobs?’

Mr Russell confirmed: ‘Yes, that can happen. We understand this can cause concern.’

Clarifying the results of Caversham’s inspection by Ofsted, Ms Connor said: ‘Safeguarding was judged to be ineffective – and therefore leadership and management was judged to be ‘inadequate’.’

‘Everything else was judged to be ‘good’, but inspectors concluded there were ‘serious’ weaknesses and therefore the likely result was academisation. Correct?’

‘Correct,’ Mr Russell said. He then concluded his responses to Ms Connor by remarking: ‘I would like to reiterate, as set out in my witness statement, the profound sadness that we at Ofsted felt at Ms Perry’s death.’

This comes after Ofsted previously denied, whilst speaking at a pre-inquest review in July, that the manner in which the school inspection was carried out had contributed to Ms Perry’s death.

Ms Perry’s family have previously blamed the inspection for her death.

Following Ms Perry’s death, there were widespread calls for Ofsted to update its school ratings system, with headteachers leading the backlash.

In response, the Commons Education Select Committee announced an inquiry into concerns that the one-word ratings that Ofsted hands out to schools may not be conducive to helping schools improve.

Ofsted also announced a series of changes, including launching a consultation on reforms to the complaints system and giving schools more information around the timing of their inspections.

The family of Ms Perry have said they hope her inquest will prevent further ‘avoidable’ deaths.

The inquest continues today.

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