At this time of year, it is not difficult for me to recall Ruth Perry – the coat she wore to defend herself from harsh, inclement weather at the start and the end of the school day. Standing in the playground, moving around, talking to staff and parents in those days before Covid when parents were still free to roam and were not corralled into designated zones (a habit the school maintained after the end of the pandemic because it made things flow more easily).
When I picture Ruth, I ‘see’ her as I usually encountered her. At the back of the hall grinning at the Christmas production or leading the final applause at the end of a school concert. Operating the popcorn stand at the summer barbecue or announcing the raffle at the winter fair. On the numerous video assemblies she created during those long months of lockdown home-schooling.
Last summer, while collating images to share with the yearbook editors, it was nice to see the familiar silhouette of Ruth Perry appearing again and again in the background and on the edge of so many photographs of all the landmark events in my youngest child’s primary school journey – the sports days, school trips, assemblies and special events.
On the anniversary of Ruth’s death, these are the images I hold in my mind. Others will be familiar with another image of Ruth, a photograph of her looking happy and professional in a school setting, children out of focus in the background.
I find that image difficult to look at now because it has taken on a different meaning. News media use this image as a totem to represent the ideological battle over Ofsted reform. I have seen it used in articles that have nothing to do with Caversham Primary or Ruth but as a representation of Ofsted ‘issues’ in general.
Two years on from Ruth’s death, and I am still working with Ruth’s sister, Julia Waters, to try to ensure that what happened to Ruth will not happen to anybody else.
Since Julia spoke out about the effect an Ofsted inspection had on Ruth, we have seen a lot of changes at Ofsted. Watching Sir Martyn Oliver address the new education select committee yesterday, it was frankly amazing to hear him say, “in a high-performing system, high accountability is a core part of this, but we’ve got to do it in a way which is proportionate, fair and transparent”.
Ofsted still appears to be institutionally complacent
If Sir Martyn’s high ideals were matched by the actions of the organisation he oversees, then Ofsted would no longer be a concern for Julia and me. But for all the good that is being done there are still things that undermine my confidence in Ofsted’s program of reform.
As much as Sir Martyn may have adopted the language we have used to articulate our hopes for reform, as much as he may say he has addressed the issues highlighted by Christine Gilbert’s review, the select committee inquiry and the regulation 28 prevention of future death report issued by the coroner, there is still a disparity between the faults identified and the fixes proposed.
To begin with, and this was clearly in evidence at yesterday’s hearing, Ofsted still appears to be institutionally complacent. There continues to be an alarming lack of intellectual curiosity in learning anything from events at Caversham Primary and an ongoing failure to accept that any part of the inspection was ‘wrong’.
Trust remains a significant issue as Ofsted has essentially the same staff and has even promoted personnel involved in the Caversham Inspection to roles meant to lead reform initiatives, which further undermines confidence in the promised changes.
The regional director in charge of the Caversham Primary inspection, for example, is now in charge of inspector training at the ‘Ofsted Academy’ and chairs the ‘teacher wellbeing’ steering group.
Yesterday, Helen Hayes evoked another institution that failed those it should have protected when she reminded Sir Martyn of the mess the Church of England has got itself into by resisting independent scrutiny in its complaints process. Ofsted’s commitment to transparency and independence in handling complaints is completely hollow. Independent oversight is restricted to reviewing random cases.
There can be no confidence in the system if there is no possibility for challenge to be independently assessed and to result in a change of inspection outcome. Ofsted is still “marking its own homework”.
Merope Mills spoke so movingly on Radio 4 recently about the impact on patient outcomes for hospitals that have implemented Martha’s Rule, the mechanism by which which patients or their advocates can have their treatment independently reviewed if they suspect that something has been missed.
Merope pointed out that her pride was tinged with regret that it needed someone to continually relive the worst thing that ever happened to them in order to affect common sense change.
It is January the eighth, and Julia Waters has to relive the worst thing that ever happened to her. She will undoubtedly continue to regard every eighth of January in this way, but I do hope that, at some point, she will not be forced to relive the events of that day for the rest of the year as well. I hope that common sense change will come sooner for her than it did for Merope Mills.
Today I think about Ruth and the difference she made to my children’s lives. I am thankful for all those memories she made, and I look forward to a time when I can celebrate her life without being forced to deal with the reason she died.
Ofsted may be reforming, but it has not reformed.
