As we returned for the spring term last week, news broke that the new Ofsted chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, had paused inspections until January 22 so that inspectors could undergo emergency mental health awareness training.
It was in response to the damning coroner’s ruling from December’s inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
The inquest ruled that the November 2022 inspection of Ruth Perry’s school “lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity”, was at times “rude and intimidating”, and had “contributed” to her suicide.
The coroner issued a prevention of future death notice which requires Ofsted to set-out what it plans to do to mitigate the chances of something similar happening again. The notice identified seven areas that the coroner wants Ofsted (and or the Department for Education) to address.
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