Watch: Ruth Perry tells colleagues to ‘show each other compassion’ in previously unseen video
Headteacher Ruth Perry told colleagues and pupils to “take care of yourselves and each other” in a previously unseen video.
The family of Mrs Perry, who killed herself after an Ofsted inspection, shared the video with teachers at the National Education Union (NEU) conference in Bournemouth on Friday.
In the video, which was recorded during the pandemic, Mrs Perry told Caversham Primary School colleagues and pupils: “You will have good days and you will have bad days.
“But I know that you are strong, that you will show each other compassion, one of the school’s core values, in your home, and that makes me feel really proud.”
She added: “Talk to the people you love, be kind to each other, be hopeful, take care of yourselves and each other.”
Ofsted has come under greater scrutiny in the past year following Mrs Perry’s suicide in January last year, after an inspection in which the school was downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” over safeguarding concerns.
In December, a coroner concluded the Ofsted inspection of Caversham primary in Reading in November 2022 was at times “rude and intimidating” and “likely contributed” to the death of Mrs Perry.
Prof Julia Waters, Mrs Perry’s sister, told teachers at the NEU conference to “get help” and “think again” if they are having thoughts about ending their lives.
She said: “If you feel anything like how Ruth felt, I really feel for you.
“She saw everything she had stood for in her career and her community destroyed in a moment by an unfair Ofsted decision. She was offered no way out.
“But let me tell you, suicide is always a terrible, wrong-headed option.
“Ending her own life was the worst thing Ruth could possibly have done.
“That desperate act devastated our family, her colleagues, the hundreds of her pupils and a whole community in Caversham and beyond.
‘As Ruth said, show compassion’
“We shall all live with the devastation of Ruth’s appalling, preventable death for the rest of our lives.
“So if you are having thoughts about ending your own life – please, think again. Get help.”
Speaking after the video was released, Prof Waters told teachers: “As Ruth said, be kind, show compassion. Talk to each other. Be hopeful that change is coming.”
On Wednesday, delegates at the NEU conference voted for a “public facing” campaign calling for Ofsted to be abolished to be launched by the union.
‘Make the system better and kinder’
But Prof Waters called on the NEU to stop campaigning to abolish Ofsted.
She said: “Instead, put your considerable energy into this unprecedented opportunity for real change now, and work together with others to make the system we’ve got better and kinder.”
Last month, Sir Martyn Oliver, the new chief inspector of Ofsted, launched the watchdog’s Big Listen public consultation that will seek views about Ofsted.
Prof Waters suggested there was a lot of “passing the buck going on between government and Ofsted” and “unnecessary delay” with reforms.
She said: “How many more children will lose another dedicated headteacher to a forced resignation, a nervous breakdown, or worse?
“Delays and obfuscation put more lives at risk.
“It’s not acceptable to play politics with people’s wellbeing.”
Prof Waters, who believes that one-word judgments such as “good” and “outstanding” should be scrapped, said she hoped parents understand that the grading system is “simplistic” and “misleading”.
She said: “One word, whatever that word is, can never ever give an accurate sense of what the school is.
“I’m sure parents realise the way to find out if the school is right for their child is to go and visit the school and talk to other parents.”
Concern over ‘kudos’
Parents who think there is some “kudos” in getting their children into an “outstanding” school are “lazy”, she suggested.
She said: “I just don’t believe really, that parents… either they don’t really understand what an Ofsted judgment means, what it is judging, or there is some kind of kudos - ‘Oh, I got my child into an outstanding school’. But it’s lazy.”
Prof Waters also said the one-word judgment system only applied in the UK to state schools in England, but that did not mean that regulation of private schools or institutions in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland was a “Wild West”.
At the start of the year, Ofsted inspections were paused in England to ensure inspectors were given mental health awareness training.
The watchdog also published new guidance for schools on how to request for an Ofsted inspection to be paused if staff show signs of distress.
For mental health support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at josamaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
