News

Ofsted: A 'different tone' and 'more nuanced inspections' from January 22?

School leaders have welcomed a “different tone” from Ofsted and are expecting to see “more nuanced inspections” from January 22.
Image: Adobe Stock

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.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here