Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
Colleagues of Ruth Perry said they had never seen the Reading headteacher so upset as when she came out of her first meeting with an Ofsted inspector, the inquest into her death has been told.
A member of school staff said she encountered Perry leaving her first meeting with Alan Derry, Ofsted’s lead inspector, “looking extremely distressed and upset”, and was unable to speak coherently only a few hours into the inspection.
The inquest at Berkshire coroner’s court in Reading is investigating Perry’s death earlier this year, which occurred shortly after Ofsted’s inspection of Caversham primary school, where Perry was headteacher, downgraded it from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.
Under questioning by Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire, Derry agreed that an experienced headteacher such as Perry would be aware that an inadequate grade meant the school would convert into an academy and that Perry would most likely lose her job.
Derry said in his initial phone conversation with Perry, the day before the inspection, that she had sounded positive, saying she came across as “really strong and confident”.
But that confidence quickly dissolved and Derry said he paused his first meeting with Perry because she appeared tearful when confronted with shortcomings in the school’s safeguarding records.
Witness statements from staff say Perry said the meeting was stopped because Derry was dissatisfied with the records available and that there was no benefit in continuing.
A statement by the school’s business manager said: “Ruth was very distressed and she clearly felt completely overwhelmed. She mentioned not being given the opportunity to think straight.”
By the final meeting the following day, when the school’s inadequate grade was confirmed, Derry said: “[Perry] was very upset, very tearful, she looked like she was in pain and, I think, at that point saying she couldn’t show her face again, and the physical pain she was in.”
A member of the school’s staff described Derry as “very unpleasant”, saying his manner in meetings was “mocking and unpleasant”. Asked to respond, Derry said: “I’m very disappointed that was somebody’s view of me as a person.”
The inquest is not examining whether Ofsted’s decision to downgrade the school was correct. Perry was headteacher at the school for 13 years. A subsequent Ofsted inspection in June raised the school’s rating to “good”.
The coroner began proceedings with a stern rebuke for Ofsted’s leadership over “surprisingly insensitive” comments about the circumstances around Perry’s death, and warned it was “not appropriate” for parties to make statements linking Perry’s mental health and her death.
Connor said: “This is a matter for the coroner alone. This, together with some surprisingly insensitive comments from the most senior levels of Ofsted just a few short days before this inquest, leads me to conclude that I need to remind all advocates … that no person may address the coroner or the jury as to the facts of who the deceased was, and how, when and where the deceased came by her death.”
Perry’s family discovered late last week that its bid for legal aid had been rejected by the government. It launched a crowdfunding effort that by Monday had received more than £63,000 in donations.
The inquest is scheduled to continue for a further four days. Officials from Reading borough council and the Berkshire Healthcare NHS foundation trust will also be questioned as interested persons.
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
