There was a “direct link” between Ruth Perry’s death and the Ofsted inspection that rated her school inadequate, the chair of the board of governors has told an inquest.
The school’s two deputy headteachers also told the inquest in Reading there was “absolutely” a link between the inspection and Perry’s subsequent mental deterioration and death earlier this year.
The inquest is investigating the circumstances around Perry’s death, which occurred shortly after Ofsted’s inspection of Caversham primary school in Reading where Perry was headteacher. Ofsted downgraded the school from “outstanding” to “inadequate” over ineffective safeguarding, with Perry’s family saying she took her life as a result.
When asked by Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire, if he saw a link between the inspection and her death, Neil Walne, a former army officer and the chair of governors at Caversham school, said: “In my opinion, yes.”
Witnesses told the inquest that Perry appeared traumatised by the inspection visit by the Ofsted team, and that she was concerned an inadequate judgment would force the maintained school to become an academy and that she would lose her job after 13 years as headteacher.
Clare Jones-King, one of Caversham’s deputy heads at the time, was asked if Perry had shown any mental health problems in the 12 years they had worked together. “Absolutely not,” Jones-King replied.
But the school leaders detailed the anguish and distress that Perry appeared to experience during the inspection. Jones-King said she took part in an “unpleasant” meeting between Perry and the Ofsted lead inspector, Alan Derry, on behaviour.
Jones-King said: “I did not feel it was a professional conversation – I was not being listened to, the voice of others was not being listened to.”
Describing Derry’s approach in the meeting, Jones-King said Derry used dismissive hand gestures and tone of voice, interrupting speakers and not allowing them to complete sentences.
Jones-King said: “At one point there was a hand lifted up to stop me speaking, at one point there was a sneer, and Mr Derry said: ‘I beg to differ.’ And that pretty much stopped that conversation in its tracks.”
During the meeting Jones-King said it was “clear” that Perry was upset: “She was very red in the face, her makeup was smudged, she was crying.”
Jo Grover, the school’s other deputy head, said Perry’s distress was clear to other members of the inspection team. After the final meeting, Grover said one of the inspectors, Claire Wilkins, told her: “Make sure you look after Ruth.”
Connor asked Grover: “Do you see a direct link between the Ofsted inspection and Ruth’s death?”
Grover replied: “Yes, absolutely I do.”
Walne, the chair of governors, when asked a similar question, said: “In my opinion, yes.”
Both school leaders and Walne said they were not aware the school could have asked for the inspection to be paused. Jones-King said: “It’s very tricky that the person you raise any issues with is also at the centre of those issues.”
Walne said Derry told a meeting of the school’s governors that Caversham primary had a “robust safeguarding culture” and that no child at the school felt unsafe.
Walne said: “[Derry] certainly said pupils felt safe and that everyone knew who to turn to if they felt unsafe.”
But when it was revealed at the end of the inspection that Ofsted was going to rate the school’s safeguarding as inadequate – which in turn meant an overall grade of inadequate – Walne said he challenged Derry over his earlier comments.
Walne said: “[Derry] said words to the effect of: I should not have said that, I was wrong.”
In his earlier evidence, Derry told the inquest: “My response around safeguarding, and how I described it, was not as clear as it should have been.”
The inquest continues for two more days with the coroner’s final report to be announced on 7 December.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
