School leaders in the North East have welcomed the end of one-word gradings used by Ofsted after headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life after her school was branded “inadequate”.
The Government announced on Monday it had ended the use of single-phrase inspection judgements in England with immediate effect.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said a rating of ‘outstanding’, ‘good’ ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ cannot capture “the entire essence of a school”.
It comes after Reading headteacher Ruth Petty died by suicide after an Ofsted report downgraded her school, Caversham Primary, from the highest ‘outstanding’ grade to the lowest ‘inadequate’ rating over safeguarding concerns.
At an inquest, Coroner Heidi Connor said: “I find that Ruth’s mental health deterioration and death was likely contributed to by the Ofsted inspection.”.
The move, welcomed by the National Education Union and Mrs Perry’s sister who said the system was “fundamentally flawed”, has also been met with approval by Schools North East.
Director Chris Zarraga said: “Schools in our region have long expressed concerns about the impact of one-word judgements.
“The current inspection regime has put significant workload pressures on school staff, especially impacting the wellbeing of school leaders whose jobs can all too often depend on a one-word judgement.
“Concerns have also been raised by schools in our region working in the special and alternative provision sector about the impact of negative Ofsted judgements on inclusive practice.
“The end of one-word judgements is welcome. Future reforms of the accountability system must ensure that reports reflect the full breadth of work schools do, and not just a snapshot. Crucially, the accountability system must focus on delivering the right support to schools following an inspection, to drive school improvement collaboratively.”
For inspections this academic year, the Department for Education (DfE) said parents will see the four grades – outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate – given across existing sub-categories but not as a headline for the school overall.
Report cards will be introduced next September, which will “provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing and ensure that inspections are more effective in driving improvement”, it added.
The Education Secretary said the Government could intervene this year if a school is rated as “inadequate” in any of the sub-categories – and they could be forced to convert into an academy.
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Ms Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I want to make sure we drive up standards, that we make sure schools are getting the support they need to make improvement.
“I won’t hesitate to take action if schools are not making that improvement because our children only get one chance when they’re at school, one chance, and we have to get that right."
She added: "Single headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing – that’s what our report cards will provide.”
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