‘Some change needs to come of this’: Call for new school inspection system after headteacher’s suicide
A friend and colleague of Ruth Perry has told Sky News her death must lead to change in the way schools are inspected.
Ruth Perry, head teacher at Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, killed herself after finding out that Ofsted inspectors had downgraded her school.
Sophie Greenaway, headteacher at nearby Thameside Primary, worked with Mrs Perry for many years.
Speaking of the impact on Mrs Perry’s family, she said: “They’ve lost their mum, they’ve lost their wife, and us speaking out now can’t bring her back but she has to not have died for no reason.
“Some change needs to come of this because this can’t happen to anyone else.”
Mrs Greenaway described Ofsted inspections as being like “the biggest interrogation of your life”.
She said that, from the moment of being informed her school would be inspected, “immediately it’s anxiety, worry and it’s so intense”.
Schools are contacted the day before a two-day inspection.
‘I’m so scared of letting people down’
“I’m so scared of letting people down, of letting my school down by saying the wrong thing,” Mrs Greenaway said.
“And that’s what’s so terrifying – that you can say something and it can be taken the wrong way and then your entire school judgement for the next five years on a piece of paper can be reliant on that one thing.”
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‘They had a dedicated, caring and expert headteacher’
She said that once an inspection is complete, a small number of school leaders are called together by the inspectors.
“You get the word told to you that you are going to be judged on and defined by for four years, five years… and then you’re told in no uncertain terms that you cannot share that outside that room.
“Otherwise you do risk a reassessment of that judgement being taken away from you.”
That grading can only be shared with staff and parents once Ofsted’s assessment is published.
Mrs Perry had killed herself in the period when only she knew that her school had been downgraded.
“That pressure to keep it within you from your family and from members of staff is intense,” Mrs Greenaway said.
A ‘high-stakes single judgement’
Under the current assessment system schools are awarded a rating of outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate.
Ofsted data show on their last inspection in England 72% of schools were judged as “good”, with 17% given the top rating and just 12% rated in the bottom two categories.
The National Association of Headteachers is calling for the system to be reformed, arguing inspections currently give a “high-stakes single judgement” of a school.
Teaching unions have been calling for Ofsted inspections to be paused following Mrs Perry’s death.
Read more:
Devastated family blame headteacher’s death on ‘deeply harmful’ pressure of Ofsted inspection
School which ‘refused entry’ to Ofsted over headteacher’s death is facing inspection
‘Our aim is to raise standards,’ Ofsted says
But Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman has resisted those calls, saying: “I don’t believe that stopping or preventing inspections would be in children’s best interests.
“Our aim is to raise standards, so that all children get a great education.
“It is an aim we share with every teacher in every school.”
She said: “Ruth Perry’s death was a tragedy.
“Our thoughts remain with Ruth’s family, friends and the school community at Caversham Primary.
“I am deeply sorry for their loss.
“The broader debate about reforming inspections is a legitimate one, but it shouldn’t lose sight of how grades are currently used.
“They give parents a simple and accessible summary of a school’s strengths and weaknesses.
“They are also now used to guide government decisions about when to intervene in struggling schools.”
Ofsted inspections are like ‘the biggest interrogation of your life’, says Sophie Greenaway
‘It’s absolutely agonising waiting for the call’
Lisa Telling, the executive head at Katesgrove Primary, another school close to Caversham Primary, knows her school will be one of the next to be visited by Ofsted, as its inspection is overdue.
“It’s absolutely agonising waiting for the call. It’s stomach churning,” she said.
“Sunday night I don’t sleep.
“I start to get that anxious feeling in my tummy.
“Monday I come to work and every time I jump… I instantly think Ofsted.
“We’re just on tenterhooks all the time and it’s genuinely wretched.
“We need to have a consistent system that when the inspectors come through the door they’re going to work with you.
“We’re asking for a pause after Ruth’s death to re-look at this.
“As leaders, as Ofsted inspectors, we all want the same thing.
“We all want the best education for our children, the same as our parents.
“We can do this together.
“Let’s just stop. Let’s not be adversarial, let it be together, because actually together we can achieve more.
“Let’s work together.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
“It has been a success.”
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
Read more
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Activists target grave of Charles Darwin
77 year old JSO activist recalled to prison
As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.
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