Ruth Perry

The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
Secretary of State for Education
Sanctuary Buildings 20 Great Smith Street Westminster London SW1 P 38T

Heidi Connor
Senior Coroner for the Coroner Area of Berkshire
Berkshire Coroners Office
Reading Museum and Town Hall
Blagrave Street
Reading RG1 1QH

19 January 2024

Dear Mrs Connor,

RESPONSE TO REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

This is the Department for Education’s (the Department) response to your report
made under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and
Regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, dated 12
December 2023, following the tragic death of Ruth Perry on 8 January 2023.

Thank you for your conduct of the inquest and for your identification of a number of
matters of concern, which are set out in the Report. The Department accepts your
findings in full.

Ruth’s death shocked the Department — Ministers and officials alike. The loss of
Ruth, and the circumstances surrounding that, have had a profound effect on us. Our
hearts go out to her family and friends. She remains in our thoughts.

Ruth was a dedicated professional who was absolutely committed to her pupils, staff
and the whole community around Caversham Primary School. No one should lose
their life in this way. We will strive in every way to prevent this from happening again.
We owe that to Ruth, to her family and to the profession.

The accountability system, including the Office for Standards in Education,
Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspections, plays a vital role in making sure
children and students experience the high-quality education they deserve, and are
kept safe. Ofsted inspection provides an independent assessment to identify
schools’ strengths and areas that need to improve. Its reports highlight success but
also, where necessary, trigger support and intervention where that is needed to bring
about improvement for the benefit of children.

 Ofsted inspectors perform an essential service and do a difficult job. It is critical that
they have the right training and support. It is because inspection is so important that
the system continues to evolve and develop.

While it is absolutely right that our focus should be on children, this should always be
accompanied by a regard for the welfare of the professionals who have chosen to
take on the responsibility of school leadership. School leaders want to do the right
thing! and the Department, along with others, has a responsibility to support them in
doing so.

Over the last year, we have had the privilege of working with Ruth’s sister,

, a local headteacher who knew Ruth well; and

, a parent at Ruth’s school. to look at the accountability and inspection
arrangements, and to engage with Ofsted and the sector on making changes.

A series of changes to the inspection arrangements were announced in June 2023.
These were an important start but, as evidenced by the Report, did not go far
enough. Ofsted’s response to the Report, which DfE officials and I have discussed in
detail with
, Ofsted’s new Chief Inspector, sets out fully the changes
to inspection that were made prior to the inquest and, importantly, subsequent to the
inquest. These include immediate steps taken pre-Christmas and the important
inspector training that has taken place at the start of January 2024.

The Department’s response does not repeat these changes, but it is important to say
that we support all the actions taken to date and will continue to work with
on all the changes to come, including those that will be generated through Ofsted’s
Big Listen programme.

The Big Listen will provide an opportunity to enable Ofsted, and through it the
Department, to hear directly from parents, teachers, leaders and professionals,
about the strengths of the inspection approach and where improvements are
needed.

The Department’s response to the Report focuses on two matters of concern raised
in the Report, specifically concern 1 and concern 7, as these closely relate to our
direct responsibilities. As noted above however, we acknowledge all the areas of
concern highlighted and have engaged with
those.

on Ofsted’s response to

Matter of concern I

The first of these relates to my hypothetical schools A and B point, referred to above.
I am concerned about the impact on school leader welfare that this system may
continue to have. Transparency and ease of message to parents is not currently
weighed against teacher welfare. The current system allows a school which is
inadequate in all areas to receive the same overall label as a school which is good in
all areas, but with some safeguarding issues which can be repaired by the time the
report is published.

2

 The Department accepts your conclusion that a school that is performing well (good
or better) in all regards, with the exception of safeguarding, should not be treated in
the same way as a school with wider problems, both in relation to the inspection
process, and the approach taken by the Department following an inspection.

Keeping children safe is an essential part of providing a high-quality education. In a
situation where failures of safeguarding process are identified, the overriding priority
is to ensure that they are addressed and are shown to have been addressed quickly.

The Department has worked closely with Ofsted to make improvements to its
inspection of safeguarding. These changes, which are set out in detail in Ofsted’s
response, include: schools now having the opportunity to attend to minor issues
during the inspection itself, such as administrative errors in paperwork, avoiding an
impact on their grade; inspector training to reinforce the need for consistent
inspection practice; a new Ofsted national safeguarding duty desk to ensure that
consistency; and blogs and webinars to make sure schools are aware of Ofsted’s
approach to inspecting safeguarding, understand how judgements are made and
how the process has changed in the last year.

State-funded schools1 udged inadequate solely for safeguarding

One significant change, announced in June 2023, and now in place, means that a
school that is good or better in its general provision but is judged inadequate solely
on the basis of ineffective safeguarding, is now re-visited by inspectors within three
months. This provides an opportunity for the school to make the improvements
necessary, and for those improvements to be reflected in the removal of the
inadequate grade. This means that a headteacher in Ruth’s position would know that
a judgement made purely on safeguarding could be changed rapidly if the issues
identified were satisfactorily addressed within three months.

The Department has reviewed its regulatory approach to structural intervention in
schools in this position. In such a situation, the critical issue is to ensure that the
safeguarding concerns are rapidly addressed. In particular, the timetable for
intervention allows for reinspection to take place with a view to minimising burdens
on school leaders. If the safeguarding issues are addressed at the point of the three
month re-inspection, the process of intervention will not progress further. We will
continue to explore opportunities to refine our regulatory approach in order to provide
further clarity and reassurance to headteachers.

Going further

We will work with Ofsted through the Big Listen to examine options for further reform
of the inspection arrangements around safeguarding. This will include considering
whether safeguarding should be separated out from the leadership and management
judgement, and other options to improve the inspection processes, including giving
schools greater scope to improve safeguarding practice ahead of the inspection
process concluding.

1 Independent schools which are not academies are inspected against the independent school
standards, and operate within a separate regulatory regime that is not reflected here.

3

 Improving communication with schools eligible for intervention

The Department accepts the need to take account of schools particular
circumstances, and to prioritise headteacher welfare where schools are subject to
adverse inspection judgements. We have reviewed the way we engage and
communicate with schools in circumstances where intervention is being considered
or implemented. with a view to making sure that all contact is undertaken sensitively
and with full consideration of the possible impact on school leaders.

Training has been delivered to all officials in the Department’s Regions Group, which
is responsible for interacting with schools’ Responsible Bodies, on how to manage
difficult conversations, and thereafter any engagement officials have with school
leaders. The training focuses on how to pick up on signs of distress and how to
respond. It includes case studies to help officials understand the situations school
leaders might face and the concerns they might have.

This training is also in the process of being rolled out to relevant officials in the
Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), given the involvement of that Agency
in intervention cases relating to financial matters, and the pressure a trust or school
experiencing financial difficulty might feel.

In addition, Regions Group has reviewed the way it writes to schools and trusts
which are eligible for intervention, to make sure communications are sensitive to
recipients and acknowledge the pressures that they may be under. Regions Group
will redouble its efforts to minimise burdens on school leaders in terms of the
information it asks them to provide.

Similarly, the ESFA has refocused the way it engages with schools and trusts, with
support for the system being one of three strategic outcomes in its strategic plan.
Initiatives such as the ESFA’s financial oversight simplification programme will help
ensure its frameworks and oversight meets the needs of schools and trusts, and
removes unnecessary pressures or burdens, whilst continuing to ensure high
standards of accountability and transparency. The Agency will continue to review all
engagement to ensure it is delivering strong and supportive engagement with
schools and trusts.

The impact of the training and communications approach will be actively monitored
and kept under continuous review. Further work is planned, for example, by Regions
Group, on tone and style of communications relating to legal matters, including
termination warning notices’.

Review of the Department’s safeguarding guidance

We have worked closely with Ofsted on the changes made to its handbooks so that
inspection practice mirrors the duties and responsibilities placed on schools and
colleges in the statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping Children Safe In Education.
We also supported Ofsted with the content for its webinars and blogs by identifying
and agreeing the prevalent topics to be covered. We will be launching a call for
evidence in the spring to build our knowledge base on where we need to consider

4

 further changes so that we can further support school leaders to be effective in
relation to safeguarding. It is important that this runs alongside Ofsted’s Big Listen so
that collectively we are drawing up and responding to a wide range of views and
expertise from across the education sector.

We plan to make small technical or points of clarification changes in September
2024 with any fundamental changes made in 2025.

Matter of concern 7

In an Ofsted publication dated 12th of June 2023, the Secretaty of State for
Education was quoted as follows: “We must ensure our school leaders have the
suppod they need, which is why today we are significantly expanding our wellbeing
suppod. This expansion will help make sure headteachers have access to support
whenever they need it”. The Ofsted witness was not able to clarify what form this
additional support has taken.

The Department recognises the pressures that school leaders face and is
enormously grateful to them for their strong commitment, professionalism and
service to their pupils. The Department will work with Responsible Bodies to ensure
they are able to support school leaders and can access high-quality support.

Broader staff wellbeing is crucial to our commitment to recruit and retain more
teachers and support teacher quality. We are committed to promoting a whole-
school approach to mental health and wellbeing, and to ensuring that staff wellbeing
policy is integrated within schools culture. The Department has worked in
partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to create the
Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which we are encouraging schools to sign up to
as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing.

We have also published a range of resources to help schools address teacher
workload issues, prioritise staff wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible
working practices.

Supporting school leaders’ wellbeing

The Department is funding the charity, Education Support, to provide professional
supervision and counselling to school and college leaders. Over 1,400 leaders have
benefitted from the support so far and in June 2023, we announced the expansion of
the programme, by doubling places for this year, so that more school leaders can
have access to this valuable support. School and college leaders working in state
funded schools and colleges can access support by visiting Education Support’s
website. This programme will end in March 2024 and will be replaced by a new
programme.

On 15 January 2024, the Department announced a new £1.5 million investment to
procure a contractor to deliver a new three-year professional supervision and
counselling support package for school and college leaders from April 2024. The
new programme will have the capacity to support at least 2,500 leaders and will
enable school and college leaders to continue to receive this valuable support. The

5

 new investment was announced as part of measures by government to boost
recruitment and retention of teachers and leaders.

The programme gives leaders a safe and confidential space to talk about and
process what is going on for them at work. It enables leaders to work with qualified
and experienced supervisors to focus on their mental wellbeing and develop new
coping strategies to feel more fulfilled and in control in their role. Counselling is
available for non-acute cases where a person is identified as potentiafly benefitting
from additional support with a qualified counsellor.

For anyone requiring acute emergency intervention, the Department signposts
to other sources of support, including Education Support’s free, confidential 24
hour helpline for staff working in education, the NHS urgent mental health helpline,
Samaritans and Shout. In addition, we know some trusts and local authorities
provide access to an employee assistance programme or similar intervention for
their staff.

Awareness of programmes

To increase awareness and take up on the programme, the Department and
Education Support have worked with stakeholders, including the Local Government
Association, National Government Association, and education unions, which has led
to a significant increase in registrations. The Department will continue to promote the
programme through our networks and sector led communication channels.

As set out in Ofsted’s response to the Report, the Department has engaged closely
with Ofsted on the support offer, and the inspectorate recognises that it has an
important role in making sure there is strong awareness of the wellbeing support that
is available. Ofsted has committed to using its ongoing training as a mechanism for
reminding inspectors about this. We also welcome Ofsted’s commitment to make
sure information about the support available is contained within documents Ofsted
shares with schools and other providers as part of the inspection process, and to use
its other channels of communication to share information about the support
available.

Within the Department, Regions Group will ensure all officials are aware of the
expanded wellbeing support and will proactively share information about this with
Responsible Bodies as part of our business as usual engagement with local
authorities and academy trusts.

Duty of care

School leaders play a vitally important role, and it is the responsibility of all agencies
— the Department, Ofsted, governing boards, local authorities and academy trusts to
ensure that they receive the right support.

The primary duty of care to school leaders rests with the employer — and that will be
either a local authority, an academy trust or a governing board, and to provide
support in fulfilling this role effectively, the Department will write to all Responsible
Bodies, attaching this response to your Report, and that of Ofsted. We will set out

6

 the responsibilities of each of the bodies in the school system, and commit to
working closely with local authorities and academy trusts to ensure that school
leaders are well supported in all circumstances, and particularly following an adverse
inspection result. We will also set out in full the Department’s support offer to
headteachers.

Where a school faces an adverse inspection judgement, DfE officials will ask the
Responsible Body of the school to ensure that appropriate support is in place to
support the headteacher and broader school’s workforce.

Once again, we would like to take the opportunity to thank you for highlighting these
matters of concern, and for giving us the opportunity to respond. We will continue to
work with Ofsted to make sure we have an inspection system that supports schools
and teachers, and ultimately secures Ruth’s legacy.

Yours sincerely,

The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
Secretary of State for Education

7

Prevention of Future Deaths Report 
(Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response 

19 January 2024 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents 

Introduction from His Majesty’s Chief Inspector ................................................................ 2 

Coroner’s concerns in relation to Ofsted and/or the Department for Education .................... 3 

Executive summary ........................................................................................................ 4 

Coroner’s concern number one ........................................................................................ 6 

Coroner’s concern number two ........................................................................................ 9 

Coroner’s concern number three ................................................................................... 13 

Coroner’s concern number four ..................................................................................... 15 

Coroner’s concern number five ...................................................................................... 17 

Coroner’s concern number six ....................................................................................... 18 

Coroner’s concern number seven ................................................................................... 19 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Introduction from 
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector 

As a fellow headteacher, I was shocked and saddened by the death of Ruth Perry. 

As His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Ruth’s 
family and friends and apologise sincerely for the part our inspection of her school played in 
her death. As the new HMCI, I will do everything in my power to help ensure that 
inspections are carried out with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect and with 
consideration for staff welfare. Such tragedies should never happen again, and no one 
should feel as Ruth did. 

We accept the Coroner’s findings. We intend to re-evaluate our internal policies and 
procedures in light of these findings, so that we can identify where changes need to be 
made. 

And in the weeks and months to come we will listen – to the professionals we work with and 
to the people we work for. As well as hearing from staff working in education and social 
care, the ‘Big Listen’ that I intend to launch shortly will hear from the parents, carers, 
children, young people and learners whom we serve. 

This is important because we must carry out our role in a way that is sensitive to the 
pressures faced by leaders and staff, without losing our focus on children and learners. Our 
critical work helps to make sure that children and learners have the highest quality of 
education, training and care. We cannot afford to shy away from difficult decisions and 
challenging conversations where they are needed in the interests of children. I am 
determined that we get this delicate balance right. 

Below, we respond to each of the Coroner’s areas of concern, setting out what we have 
already done, what we are doing now, and what we intend to do in the future. We have 
responded fully to every recommendation. We have already done much – but there is a lot 
still to do. 

The Coroner’s findings focused on inspection of schools, which is reflected in our response, 
but work is underway across Ofsted to make sure the changes we are making are reflected 
appropriately across the full suite of remits that we regulate and inspect. 

As the new HMCI, I can promise transparency and openness as we work to rebuild and 
strengthen the confidence of professionals and the public. I know how important it is for the 
sectors we work with, and for parents and carers, to trust the judgements Ofsted makes. To 
achieve that aim, we must go about our vital work with professionalism, courtesy, empathy 
and respect. 

HMCI 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Coroner’s concerns in relation to 
Ofsted and/or the Department for 
Education 

1.  The first of these relates to my hypothetical schools A and B point, referred to 
above1. I am concerned about the impact on school leaders’ welfare that this 
system may continue to have. Transparency and ease of message to parents are 
not currently weighed against teachers’ welfare. The current system allows a 
school that is inadequate in all areas to receive the same overall label as a school 
that is good in all areas, but with some safeguarding issues that can be repaired 
by the time the report is published.  

2.  There is an almost complete absence of Ofsted training or published policy in the 

following areas:  

a.  Signs of distress in school leaders during an inspection (this will be obvious 

to some, but not to all).  

b.  Practical steps to deal with such distress.  
c.  Pausing an inspection by reason of the distress of a school leader.  
d.  Who can attend meetings with the inspectors during the inspection process. 

3.  Absence of a clear path to raise concerns during an inspection if these cannot be 

resolved directly with the lead inspector.  

4.  The confidentiality requirement after an inspection. Some changes have been 
made already, but this is not yet written into policy. Given how long this policy 
has been in place, school leaders may fear discussing outcomes with colleagues 
outside of the school, and mental health professionals, unless this is expressly 
dealt with in written policy.  

5.  Timescales for report publication.  

6.  No learning review of these matters was conducted by Ofsted. There is no policy 

requiring this to be done.  

7. 

In an Ofsted publication dated 12 June 2023, the Secretary of State for 
Education was quoted as follows: ‘We must ensure our school leaders have the 
support they need, which is why today we are significantly expanding our 
wellbeing support. This expansion will help make sure headteachers have access 
to support whenever they need it’. The Ofsted witness was not able to clarify 
what form this additional support has taken. 

1   The Coroner defined school A and school B as follows: “Hypothetical school A is good in all areas, 
but there are safeguarding concerns which can be remedied quickly. Hypothetical school B is dreadful 
in all respects.” 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 Executive summary  

Ofsted accepts the Coroner’s findings.  

In this document, we address each of her seven areas of concern. We have described steps 
already taken, measures being introduced now, and considerations for the future. This work 
will require a sustained commitment to reflection and learning from everyone at Ofsted, 
which we are determined to make.  

We will act with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect towards those we regulate 
and inspect – not least because we all share a common goal: to put children and learners 
first.  

In this document, we describe actions related to schools – but it is our intention to also 
apply these measures appropriately to our work with early years, social care and further 
education providers.  

Our actions can be framed by four key themes: 

Training 

We set a later start date for school and further education (FE) inspections this term to 
enable us to provide mental health awareness training for all inspectors, in all the areas we 
work (inspections continued in social care and early years, where we are also the regulator). 
This training is not just about spotting signs of distress but also about how we work to 
reduce anxiety while carrying out our crucial duty. We recognise that any form of inspection 
is likely to be challenging, but it must be proportionate and carried out with care.  

We have made a commitment that all lead school and FE inspectors will have completed the 
training programme before they lead an inspection. The wider inspection workforce will 
complete the training before the end of March 2024 – anyone who does not complete the 
training will be unable to inspect. Going forward, this training will form an integral part of 
how we induct and develop our staff. 

New policies and practices 

A number of new policies and practices were introduced last year, and more are being 
introduced now. These include: 

• 

• 

Safeguarding: a rapid return to schools that have been graded inadequate solely due to 
ineffective safeguarding – allowing them to remedy issues and improve their inspection 
grade before formal intervention measures take place. 

Pausing inspection: a new policy to allow inspectors, or the responsible body for a 
school, to request a pause to an inspection, for example if it is necessary to provide 
additional support for a headteacher. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    4 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •  Confidentiality: a clear policy allowing headteachers to share the outcome of their 

school’s inspection with their personal support network. 

•  Complaints and communication: A revised, more responsive complaints process that we 
are determined is trusted by the sector, including enhanced communication between 
schools and senior Ofsted staff during inspection, if needed. 

Learning  

We will appoint an independent expert to lead a learning review of Ofsted’s response to the 
tragic death of Ruth Perry. We will respond to the recommendations of this review as part of 
our response to the Big Listen. 

At the same time, we will define clearly the circumstances in which a learning review will be 
commissioned in future and the procedures to be followed.  

The Big Listen 

We will undertake a comprehensive listening exercise, making use of independent expertise 
alongside our own work to seek the views of parents, children, learners and professionals 
within the sectors we regulate and inspect. This will allow us to explore what further steps 
can be taken in the future. Nothing is off the table; we are determined to be a modern 
regulator and inspectorate delivering for children and learners, their parents and carers, and 
the government.  

Underpinning our response to the Coroner is a commitment to transparency and partnership 
working. We will share more of our material with the education and social care professions, 
and we will work with representative groups as we continue to improve the way we carry 
out our important role in the best interests of children and learners. In doing so, we will 
build an Ofsted that enjoys greater confidence from the sectors it regulates and inspects, as 
well as the children, parents and carers we are all here to serve.  

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number one 

The first of these relates to my hypothetical schools A and B point, referred to above. 
I am concerned about the impact on school leaders’ welfare that this system may 
continue to have. Transparency and ease of message to parents are not currently 
weighed against teachers’ welfare. The current system allows a school that is 
inadequate in all areas to receive the same overall label as a school that is good in all 
areas, but with some safeguarding issues that can be repaired by the time the report 
is published. 

Keeping children safe is of paramount importance to Ofsted. We never want schools to fail 
on safeguarding, but every school must have effective arrangements in place to safeguard 
children and young people.  

We will do everything we can to help schools demonstrate their effectiveness. And we will be 
clear and transparent about what is expected of schools to help them meet the required 
standard.   

We agree with the Coroner that the same overall grade for school A and school B should not 
obscure the clear difference between them. We have taken swift action to address this.   

Where a school can correct safeguarding issues immediately, we give the school time to do 
this during the inspection before a judgement is made, so that fewer schools will be in the 
position of school A. Where the issues are more serious, but leaders have proven capacity to 
address these with the urgency needed, we have introduced the opportunity of a rapid 
reinspection within three months. This will allow the school to put matters right and have its 
grade changed swiftly.  

We are determined to explore what more can be done. Through the Big Listen, we will 
gather views from parents and professionals on safeguarding’s place within the inspection 
framework, including its interaction with other inspection judgements.  

Ensuring the safety of children will remain paramount for Ofsted. But we are mindful of the 
impact of an ‘inadequate’ grade on a school, its leaders and the wider community. Through 
the Big Listen’s consultation on safeguarding, we will explore alternative approaches to 
inspecting and reporting on school A, including how we can give more time for school A to 
resolve safeguarding issues, before any report is published. 

Action taken prior to the inquest: 

1.  The safety of children is our first priority. It is one of the first things we look at on 

inspection. We changed our handbooks in September 2023 to make it clear that 
providers have the opportunity to fix minor administrative issues while the inspection is 
ongoing. This is an important change that makes children safer and reassures teachers 
and leaders that easily fixable administrative errors will not adversely affect the outcome 
of their inspection.  

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2.  Where a safeguarding issue cannot be fixed on inspection, we want to provide 

otherwise good schools with the opportunity to do so as quickly as possible. This is in 
the best interest of children, families, and teachers. Since September 2023, our policy 
states clearly that we return to otherwise good schools (school A) within three months 
of the inspection report, enabling schools to remedy issues urgently and providing an 
opportunity for them to achieve a good or better overall grade. The first inspection 
under the new policy occurred in November 2023. The school’s overall effectiveness 
grade improved to ‘good’. 

3.  No headteacher should feel that the responsibility of an inspection and its outcome falls 

solely on their shoulders. In June 2023, we announced that we would look at 
depersonalising language used in inspection reports, the public-facing record of the 
inspection, so that we refer by default to ‘the school’ rather than to individuals. We also 
amended the contextual information within inspection reports to refer to all those with 
responsibility for a school. We implemented this change in September 2023.  

4.  We know that providers have concerns about consistency of inspection practice across 

our workforce. To further support inspectors to be consistent in making safeguarding 
judgements, we introduced a national safeguarding duty desk in April 2023. Since that 
time, all inspectors have been required to call the duty desk number if their emerging 
safeguarding evidence could result in an ineffective judgement, to receive support and 
challenge. In autumn term 2023, calls were made in relation to 269 schools, with 17 of 
them ultimately judged ineffective2.  We delivered national training to inspectors in 
September 2023 on the changes we made, to reinforce these changes and promote 
consistency of practice.  

5.  We understand the importance of being open and transparent about our practices so 

that leaders and teachers know and understand what to expect when we inspect them. 
We have published blogs and delivered webinars to explain the changes we made. Our 
webinar on ‘How Ofsted inspects safeguarding’ was presented live to 1,036 people in 
September 2023, with a further 7,007 individuals watching the recording on YouTube. 
Our safeguarding blog has also been read 6,000 times. 

Action taken immediately following the inquest: 

1.  We acknowledged that school leaders might have concerns about being inspected 

immediately after the inquest and so we offered schools with a scheduled inspection in 
the week commencing 11 December 2023 the opportunity to defer. 62% of 
headteachers opted to continue with their scheduled inspection.  

What we propose to do next: 

1.  We will conduct a comprehensive listening exercise, the Big Listen, across the range of 
sectors we regulate and inspect. This will allow us to hear directly from children and 
learners, parents, and professionals about the strengths and weaknesses of Ofsted’s 

2 For transparency: The remaining 252 schools would not all have been deemed ineffective without 
the existence of the safeguarding duty desk. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 current approach to regulation and inspection. We intend to publish details of the Big 
Listen by March 2024 and aim to complete it by June 2024. 

2.  We know we need to go further to continue to improve our processes and to rebuild the 
confidence of the sector in our work. Between January and March 2024, we will conduct 
a formal internal review of where aspects of safeguarding fit within the individual 
judgements of the education inspection framework, subject to challenge from an expert 
group. We will explore having safeguarding as a standalone judgement, decoupled from 
the leadership and management grade. We intend to complete this internal review in 
time to consult on options through the Big Listen, with the response to the Big Listen 
setting out our agreed approach to reform.  

3.  We will examine whether there are further changes we can make to give more time for 
improvement for a school with ineffective safeguarding but judged good or better in all 
other areas (school A). As above, the Big Listen will seek views from parents and 
professionals, with an agreed approach communicated through our response.   

4.  We will carefully consider and balance the different demands placed on us as a 

regulator (such as in early years and social care) compared to where we have an 
inspection duty only, shaping the most appropriate ways forward for each remit of our 
work. Similarly, our response to the Big Listen will set out our agreed response, 
following extensive consultation.  

5.  Where appropriate, we will instigate changes immediately. We will consult on any major 

changes that are announced through our response to the Big Listen and instigate 
changes during the 2024/25 academic year. We will aim to publish this consultation by 
September 2024. 

6.  Finally, we will look carefully at how we can better inform the sectors we work across 

about the regulatory requirements in relation to safeguarding, including highlighting 
expectations set out in ‘Keeping children safe in education’.  

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number two 

There is an almost complete absence of Ofsted training or published policy in the 
following areas:  

a.  Signs of distress in school leaders during an inspection (this will be obvious to 

some, but not to all).  

b.  Practical steps to deal with such distress.  
c.  Pausing an inspection by reason of the distress of a school leader.  
d.  Who can attend meetings with the inspectors during the inspection process. 

We understand the considerable pressures that inspections can bring for school leaders. The 
best inspections are those where inspectors work with the provider, making inspection a 
collaborative process that focuses on the education and well-being of children and young 
people. We want our inspectors to build positive relationships with leaders and staff, 
demonstrated through their professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect. Throughout, 
leaders and staff must be treated respectfully and sensitively even when inspection is 
challenging.  

The Coroner’s inquest made clear that Ofsted has relied too heavily on custom, practice and 
inspectors’ professional experience and expertise to support leaders’ well-being on 
inspection, instead of providing inspectors with clear, written guidance (2a and 2b). 

Inspectors should take steps to minimise stress and anxiety during inspection. They should 
be able to recognise signs of distress in those they meet and know how to respond. Ofsted 
will therefore immediately begin developing clear and robust policies and training to improve 
practice and enable inspectors to identify and respond to signs of distress in leaders and 
staff (2a and 2b). 

We have taken an immediate first step to ensure that every school and college inspection 
will be led by an inspector that has completed training that helps them understand and 
recognise mental health issues they may encounter on inspection – including how to 
minimise additional stress from the inspection process. In order to deliver on this 
commitment, we have taken the decision not to begin routine school inspections until 22 
January 2024.  

We know it is important that our entire inspection workforce completes this training. Over 
the coming weeks, we will ensure that all inspectors complete a full package of mental 
health training – with all school and FE inspectors completing this before they lead an 
inspection. All other inspectors will complete this training by the end of March 2024. Any 
inspector that has not completed training by 31 March 2024 will be prevented from 
inspecting until the training is complete (2a). 

But we need to go further. We will establish a long-term development programme for 
inspectors that helps them to support leaders’ well-being. We will publish our development 
roadmap for this in spring 2024.  

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Coroner is correct that there has previously been no clear, written policy for pausing 
inspections. Every inspector and every school leader must have clarity about when and how 
to pause inspections. We also want to give leaders confidence that a request for a pause will 
not affect adversely the judgements made about a school. In response to our consultation 
on complaints about inspection, we introduced a new process for pausing inspection in 
December 2023, using a national helpline. We have since developed and published a 
national policy on pausing inspections (2c). 

Through the Big Listen, we will ask the sector how to make it easier for leaders or the 
responsible body to ask for a pause to inspection or to raise concerns without fear of the 
consequences. We need to build the sector’s confidence that when something goes wrong or 
an inspection is not conducted with the professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect that 
we expect, we want to hear from them. As an organisation, we want to learn and do better. 
We set ourselves high standards – and we want to be held to these standards. Through the 
Big Listen, we will work with the sector to ensure our approach to resolving issues reflects 
our desire to meet the high standards we set ourselves (2c). 

Action taken prior to the inquest: 

1.  Building collaborative relationships based on professionalism, courtesy, empathy and 
respect should be at the heart of good inspection. In January 2023, we trained 
inspectors on ‘Seeing the Big Picture’, focused on maintaining an approach to inspection 
that does not place disproportionate weight on evidence collected from a small number 
of pupils, parents and/or staff. In September 2023, we built on this training by 
delivering a session on ‘Doing Good as You Go’ at our national conference for school 
inspectors. This session set out a step-by-step model for building positive relationships 
with leaders and staff. It equipped inspectors with practical strategies to manage 
anxiety and stress during an inspection (2a and 2b). 

2.  We have since added training content on ‘Doing Good as You Go’ into the induction 

materials for new His Majesty’s Inspectors and Ofsted inspectors in schools (2a and 2b). 

3.  We know that there was uncertainty around who could sit in on meetings between 

inspectors and school staff. In April 2023, we issued a statement setting out several 
changes, including that all headteachers and teachers could have a colleague from their 
school or trust join discussions with inspectors. We changed our handbooks to reflect 
this (2d). 

Action taken immediately following the inquest: 

1.  To begin the process of better supporting our inspectors to recognise and respond to 
signs of stress and anxiety, we did not begin routine school and FE inspections in the 
first few weeks of January 2024. This was in order to deliver immediate training to 
inspectors. The purpose was to promote consistency and highlight changes to our 
inspection practice to reduce providers’ anxiety and manage any visible signs of stress 
(2a and 2b). 

2.  Training alone cannot solve the issues identified by the Coroner. In December 2023, we 
introduced a helpline for managing concerns about the inspection process. This helpline 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ensures that all schools and other providers have an escalation point if they have 
concerns about the inspection, including if they need to consider a pause. We have 
shared details of this helpline with professional associations (2a, 2b and 2c). 

3.  To ensure this change becomes embedded and trusted by the sector, we delivered a 

briefing to school inspectors in December 2023 to explain the new system and reinforce 
that they must contact the national helpline to seek further advice from senior 
colleagues when they are concerned about the well-being of leaders or staff at the 
school. We are rolling these briefings out to all our inspectors throughout January (2a 
and 2b). 

4.  Since December 2023, all lead school inspectors have been required to request the 
contact details of the person responsible for leaders’ well-being and professional 
oversight – the responsible body. Inspectors must request this prior to the start of the 
inspection and explain that they will contact this individual if they have concerns so that 
the headteacher receives swift support (2a and 2b). 

5.  From December 2023, during notification calls, inspectors have been required to actively 

remind and encourage headteachers to have someone accompany them at end-of-day 
inspection team meetings. Inspectors emphasise that school leaders are invited to 
attend the meeting but are not required to, with no conclusions drawn if they do not 
wish to attend. We reiterated this in our December 2023 briefing to inspectors, helping 
to ensure that we see – and schools experience – consistent practice from our inspector 
workforce (2d). 

6.  As well as having a process in place when inspectors have concerns, we know we need 

to do more to ensure our inspectors are well equipped to spot signs of distress and work 
in a manner that reasonably minimises this. From January 2024, we began delivering a 
package of mental health awareness training for all our inspectors focused on how to 
minimise anxiety and stress on inspection, and how to respond to concerns about the 
welfare of leaders and staff. We have worked with experts to develop this package, 
which includes training by Mental Health First Aid England. Following the initial training 
for inspectors on 8 January 2024, inspectors are receiving more in-depth, small-group 
training, so that inspections can resume on 22 January 2024. All inspectors will be 
required to attend this training by 31 March 2024. In addition, we have committed to 
ensuring that no school or FE provider will be inspected until the lead inspector has 
completed the full initial package of awareness training (2a and 2b). 

7.  We have published a new policy on pausing an inspection of a maintained school or 

academy where a serious issue has been identified that requires substantial action to be 
taken. We have worked closely with the Association of School and College Leaders 
(ASCL), the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) and the Confederation of 
School Trusts (CST) to develop this policy, which will take effect on 22 January 2024.  

8.  We inspect to make sure that children are safe and receiving a high-quality education, 

so we will aim to resume inspections as soon as possible when a pause is necessary. 
This pause will allow the responsible body to put in place support for school leaders 
and/or ensure the school has alternative leadership in place, where necessary. In 
developing our pause policy, we were mindful that inspections can – and sometimes 
must – make difficult judgements where children’s safety or education are 
compromised.  

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9.  We have updated our handbooks and practice to make it even clearer that leaders can, 

where appropriate, be accompanied to inspector team meetings. Our handbooks now 
include greater detail about the purpose and nature of the inspection team meeting, and 
attendance at it. These updates will be published before school inspections resume on 
22 January 2024 (2a, 2b and 2d). 

What we propose to do next: 

1.  We know we need to work hard to embed change across Ofsted and throughout the 
system. In addition to making change happen, we want headteachers to have 
confidence in our changed approach and to know that inspectors will always treat them 
with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect. To aid this, we will develop a 
long-term programme of training for inspectors on mental health and supporting 
leaders’ well-being. We will publish this development roadmap in spring 2024 (2a and 
2b). 

2.  Taken together, the training, policies and processes we are putting in place will ensure 
we are better equipped to deal with the exceptional occasions when a school leader is 
dealing with mental distress and an inspection needs to be paused. It is important that 
we act to build the profession’s confidence in our work. That is why we will create an 
expert reference group, to look at aspects of training and where well-being might be 
incorporated more explicitly across the education inspection framework. This group will 
provide constructive challenge to Ofsted, helping to drive constant improvement in our 
practices, and delivering better quality inspection for children and education staff. The 
group will feed directly into the Big Listen and will continue to support and challenge 
Ofsted as changes are made to the education inspection framework and its 
implementation (2a, 2b and 2c). 

3.  We are also pleased that the DfE’s Regions Groups will be proactively notifying 

responsible bodies when a provider receives an adverse inspection outcome. Officials 
from the DfE’s Regions Group will contact the responsible body of the school to check 
that appropriate support is in place for the headteacher and the wider school workforce. 
This important change will help to ensure that leaders and staff are supported, if 
necessary, once the inspection is completed.   

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number three 

Absence of a clear path to raise concerns during an inspection if these cannot be 
resolved directly with the lead inspector.  

We are committed to making sure that inspection is a professional, courteous, empathetic 
and respectful process, focused on children, where school leaders feel able to discuss 
concerns with inspectors openly. We do not want leaders to worry about the consequences 
of raising concerns about an inspector or an inspection. We need to do more to provide 
surety for schools and providers on how they can raise concerns safely and have them 
resolved. 

We have taken decisive action to give leaders the means to raise concerns with someone 
other than the lead inspector. In December 2023, we introduced a national helpline which 
gives leaders with concerns direct access to a senior leader within Ofsted who is 
independent of the inspection process.  

But we need to do more to help the sector feel comfortable doing this. We want leaders to 
know that, if they raise a concern or complaint, it will be dealt with professionally and 
swiftly, and that the choice to raise a concern will not impact negatively on the judgements 
made by Ofsted about their school. Through the Big Listen, we will ask the sector if there 
are other things they think we might do to improve trust in raising concerns and our work 
generally. In dialogue with leaders and teachers, we will look for ways to demystify the way 
schools and providers can raise complaints and concerns. 

Action taken prior to the inquest: 

1.  We took action throughout 2023 to make it simpler for providers to interact with and 

complain directly to Ofsted, both during and after inspections. The relationship between 
inspectors and leaders is a vital component of delivering professional, courteous, 
empathetic and respectful inspections. To promote this, we clarified the purpose and 
importance of offering regular ‘keeping-in-touch’ (KIT) meetings in our national training 
in September 2023. We explain these to leaders during the initial calls and lead 
inspectors emphasise that these are a good place to raise concerns or issues throughout 
the inspection.  

2.  We know that some providers have found our complaints process difficult to navigate. 
From June 2023, we therefore consulted on changes to our complaints and post-
inspection processes. We made four main proposals:  

a.  Enhancing on-site professional dialogue during inspections to help address any 

b. 

c. 

issues 
Introducing a new opportunity for providers to contact Ofsted the day after an 
inspection 
Introducing new arrangements for finalising reports and considering formal 
challenges to inspection outcomes 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 d. 

Introducing direct escalation to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service 
for Ofsted, removing an internal review step in our complaints process. 

3.  We have decided to implement all of these proposals, as set out in our response to the 
consultation published in November 2023. Three of the four proposals above attracted 
over 80% support from respondents. The other (point 2c) attracted just under 80% 
support. We have piloted point 2b, described above. We have found it provides 
considerable reassurance for schools but we know we can go further. 

Action taken immediately following the inquest: 

1.  We recognise that schools want to know how they can contact a senior inspector not 

involved with the inspection if they have concerns. We have introduced a clear and 
simple process that allows them to speak to a senior Ofsted employee. Since December 
2023, at the start of inspection, we have provided schools and other inspected providers 
with a phone number where they can contact a senior inspector to discuss concerns if 
they feel that they don’t want to raise them during KiT meetings. We explain to a 
provider that they can share this number with other senior leaders and their responsible 
body (such as the local authority or multi-academy trust).  

What we propose to do next: 

1.  Going further, we will work with the Confederation of School Trusts, the Association of 
Directors of Children’s Services, the Local Government Association and the National 
Governance Association to make sure that the roles, responsibilities and process for 
raising and responding to concerns about leaders’ welfare during an inspection are 
understood clearly by the inspection team and the responsible body. 

2.  We will also clarify in our handbooks, accompanying guidance, code of conduct, 

complaints procedures and during stakeholder engagement, how providers can raise 
concerns about inspectors’ behaviour, including any safeguarding concerns. We have 
already started this process, for example publishing an update to the education 
inspection handbooks, and intend to complete it by the end of March 2024. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number four 

The confidentiality requirement after an inspection. Some changes have been made 
already, but this is not yet written into policy. Given how long this policy has been in 
place, school leaders may fear discussing outcomes with colleagues outside of the 
school, and mental health professionals, unless this is expressly dealt with in written 
policy.  

We have now updated our handbooks to make it clear that leaders can share the provisional 
inspection outcome and findings with whomever they deem appropriate. Leaders can share 
their provisional inspection outcomes with colleagues, family, medical advisers and their 
wider support group as they see fit.  

We recognise that it is Ofsted’s responsibility to ensure that this is clear to leaders. We have 
already taken steps to do this by updating key documentation and briefing inspectors on this 
approach has already begun. We will make sure we share this message as widely as 
possible, both on inspection and through other channels of communication. 

Actions taken prior to the inquest: 

1. 

2. 

In March 2023, we reviewed all our documentation and identified a lack of clarity in key 
documents about whether leaders could share provisional inspection outcomes and draft 
reports, and with whom.  

In June 2023, we made extensive updates to our handbooks, letters and other 
documents to remedy this ambiguity. We have made it clear that leaders can share 
provisional inspection outcomes with whomever they deem appropriate, including 
people unconnected with a school’s work. 

Actions taken immediately following the inquest: 

1.  We must have an unambiguously clear policy on who leaders can share provisional 

outcomes and draft reports with. Following the Coroner’s findings, we recognised the 
importance of explicitly naming mental health professionals. We are therefore updating 
our handbooks to make it clear that leaders can share provisional outcomes with 
partners, health professionals and those providing personal support.  

2.  We acknowledge how important it is to be consistent in embedding a change. We 

recognise that this is particularly important given that leaders may still think that we 
have a strict confidentiality requirement. We therefore briefed inspectors on this 
significant amendment during our 11 December 2023 briefing. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 What we propose to do next: 

1.  Throughout 2024 and 2025, we will use sector-facing webinars, events, communication 
with and through professional associations and unions, blogs and other channels to 
communicate the message that leaders can share provisional outcomes and the draft 
report with those they deem appropriate, including partners, health professionals and 
those providing personal support. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    16 

 
 
 
   
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number five 

Timescales for report publication.  

Publishing reports in a timely way is important. Whether the outcome of an inspection is 
favourable or not, school leaders, staff and parents should not be left waiting too long for 
inspection reports to be published. Inspection reports are an important source of information 
for parents about the education and care their children are receiving. We announced 
changes to our post-inspection and complaints process in November 2023 that will allow us 
to publish reports more quickly.  

We are now going further by carrying out a review of our quality assurance processes to see 
if we can shorten further the time between inspection and publication of the report. Our goal 
is to produce reports that leaders and parents agree are accurate and coherent, as quickly 
as possible.  

We will use the Big Listen to help explore proposed changes with leaders, parents and 
others. As we do so, we will remember that inspection judgements and subsequent reports 
can have significant consequences for leaders and schools. It is important they undergo 
thorough quality assurance checks to ensure that the evidence base supporting the 
judgements is robust and the findings proportionate. We want to strike the right balance so 
that providers feel that the process is fair and swift, but not rushed, and that any challenges 
to findings are considered thoroughly. 

Action taken prior to the inquest: 

1. 

In November 2023, we announced changes to our post-inspection and complaints 
process which we anticipate will allow us to publish reports more quickly. These changes 
are outlined further in response to concern three and in full here. 

What we propose to do next: 

1.  During the first half of 2024, we will review our quality assurance processes to see if we 
can make further changes to reduce the amount of time between an inspection and the 
publication of a report. Our findings will feed into the Big Listen and will be part of the 
proposals we will put to the sector and parents for their views on balancing the need for 
robust findings with providing timely reporting.  

2. 

In some inspections, the complexity of the findings requires more time than the norm 
before an outcome is made public. We know the sector understands that these 
exceptional cases do occur from time to time. But we also know that the anticipation of 
a result from the school community can add to the pressure felt by leaders and staff. 
That is why, where reports do take longer to be published, we will endeavour to explain 
why. We will consult on how to do this through the Big Listen.  

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number six 

No learning review of these matters was conducted by Ofsted. There is no policy 
requiring this to be done.  

Ofsted has learned many lessons following the tragic death of Ruth Perry, including from the 
inquest. We made changes to inspection practice in March, June, September and December 
2023. We are determined to take further action and to learn the lessons from this tragedy.  

However, the Coroner is right that Ofsted has not yet conducted a formal learning review. 
That is why, by March 2024, we will appoint a recognised expert from the education sector 
to lead an independent learning review of Ofsted’s response to the tragic death of Ruth 
Perry. The independent expert will consider whether Ofsted’s internal policies and processes 
for responding to tragic incidents need to be revised. We will publish the recommendations 
of the independent expert and formally respond to these recommendations as part of the 
response to the Big Listen.  

In tandem, we will draw on existing practice in the sectors we regulate and inspect to define 
clearly the circumstances in which a learning review will be commissioned, who will conduct 
it, how it will be carried out and arrangements for publishing and disseminating the lessons 
learned. Ofsted will establish a culture of challenging processes, policies and procedures to 
ensure that we meet the high standards we set ourselves, embedding critical reflection in 
what we do. The things we learn through this process of reflection will help us better serve 
children, learners and professionals. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 Coroner’s concern number seven 

In an Ofsted publication dated 12 June 2023, the Secretary of State for Education was 
quoted as follows: ‘We must ensure our school leaders have the support they need, 
which is why today we are significantly expanding our wellbeing support. This 
expansion will help make sure headteachers have access to support whenever they 
need it’. The Ofsted witness was not able to clarify what form this additional support 
has taken. 

We recognise that the DfE has ownership of the support available to headteachers, but we 
do believe that our inspectorate can play a positive role in ensuring support is known about 
and taken up when necessary. We have engaged closely with the DfE on this and recognise 
that inspectors should be conversant with this support and ready to remind leaders that it is 
available. Through our ongoing inspector training, we will reinforce the expectation that they 
share this information with leaders at the beginning of an inspection. We will make sure that 
this information is contained within documents we share with providers on inspection. We 
will also use our other existing channels of communication to share information about the 
support available to leaders, which will not only help them but also increase their capacity to 
support the children in their care. 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) 
regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young 
people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and 
inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family 
Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher 
training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education 
and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council 
children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding 
and child protection. 

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This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. 

© Crown copyright 2024 

Prevention of Future Deaths Report (Regulation 28): Ofsted’s response    20

Mrs Heidi J Connor 
Reading Town Hall 
Blagrave Street 
Reading RG1 0QH 

Chief Executive 

Civic Offices,  
Bridge Street, Reading, RG1 2LU 

Date: 31 January 2024 

Dear Mrs Connor, 

Re: Response to Regulation 28: Report to Prevent Future Deaths 12.12.24 

Please see below Reading Borough Council’s response to the matters of concern set out in 
your Regulation 28 Report in  respect of Reading Borough Council.  The Council accepts 
your findings in full. 
Ruth’s loss continues to be felt deeply by the Reading school community. Following Ruth’s 
untimely death, we have taken a number of steps to better understand and respond to 
what impacts on headteachers’ wellbeing, to support their wellbeing and to develop our 
collective response to an Ofsted inspection.   
The remainder of this letter sets out both actions already taken as well as work currently 
underway to address in order, the areas of concern raised in your report. 

Area of Concern 1 

Reading  Borough  Council  indicated  an  intention  to  adopt  a  much  more  robust  and 
proactive approach to dealing with Ofsted, particularly where there are concerns about 
an inspection. This is not in written policy or guidance – which may go some way towards 
reassuring school leaders that their employer ‘has their back’  – both now and in future 
years.  

Actions Taken & Underway 

Brighter  Futures  for  Children  Ltd  (on  behalf  of  the  Council)  has  consulted  with  Head 
Teachers regarding a more robust and proactive approach by responding to inspections on 
behalf  of  school  leaders  and  Governors,  through  the  termly  meeting  of  Reading 
Headteachers (Friday 12 January 2024) and via the Reading school primary and secondary 
phase head teacher associations (week commencing 15 January).  
The  principle  of  the  new  approach  is  that  Brighter  Futures  for  Children  will  work  with 
school leaders to understand any concerns regarding an inspection and offer to undertake 
challenge  on  a  school’s  behalf  before,  during  and  after  inspection,  based  on  a  robust 
evidence  base.  This  builds  on  current  practice  which  supports  schools  to  consider 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 challenge  themselves  but  does  go  further,  in  taking  on  responsibility  for  raising  the 
challenge on behalf of schools1. 
Reading school leaders’ and governors’ weekly briefing on the 19 January confirmed this 
commitment, and provided details of what it will look like in practice. The commitment 
and practice will be written into the revised School Effectiveness Framework, which will 
be  recommended  for  approval  at  the  Council’s  Adults,  Children’s,  and  Education 
Committee on 20 March 2024.  
The written commitment which will be presented to the Committee for approval includes 
the following:  
•  Arrangements  for  Brighter  Futures  for  Children  to  identify  risk  of  stress  across  all 
Reading  schools,  in  writing,  before,  during  and  after  inspections,  including  the 
mitigations that Brighter Futures for Children and Reading Borough Council will secure 
to reduce the risks of stress for school staff. 

•  Arrangements  for  Brighter  Futures  for  Children  to  offer  to  challenge  an  Ofsted 
inspection  during,  and  after  an  inspection,  where  there  is  evidence  that  the 
judgement or process of inspection is not fair and balanced, rather than solely on the 
published Education Inspection Framework criteria. 

•  An offer from Brighter Futures for Children to collate feedback from school staff on 
inspection  conduct  to  evaluate  against  the  Ofsted  Code  of  Conduct  on  a  school’s 
behalf, or to provide tools and resources for schools to do this for themselves.  

Area of Concern 2 

Reading Borough Council also did not carry out any form of internal review. I was not made 
aware of any policy setting out when such an internal review should take place.  

Actions Taken & Underway 

During the inquest, the Council confirmed that a learning review would be undertaken.  
The  Council  has  commissioned  an  independent  external  reviewer  to  undertake  the 
learning  review.    Two  co-reviewers  were  appointed  on  5  January  2024.    The  terms  of 
reference for the review have been drafted and will be  shared with Mrs Perry’s family 
before they are finalised.  
 have been invited to meet with the 
reviewers to facilitate this.  The review will take 12 weeks and is expected to conclude in 
April 2024.  This addresses the commitment the Council made at the Inquest.   
As regards any future internal reviews, we recognise that, however rare, there may be 
exceptional circumstances where a staff member may be harmed in the course of their 
employment.  This is a matter which we will seek to cover within our HR policies.  The 
intended outcome being that we have a policy or process to consider when an independent 
learning  review  might  be  appropriate.    We  intend  to  discuss  this  matter  with  Union 
colleagues and take a proposal through our normal channels of Union engagement.  The 
final sign off for all such policies lies with the Council’s Personnel Committee which meets 
quarterly and is delegated to agree all such topics on behalf of the Council.  This will be 
presented to Personnel Committee for agreement on 11th July 2024. 

Area of Concern 3 

We  heard  in  evidence  that  school  leaders  have  received  correspondence  from  Reading 
Borough Council about what mental health support options are available. I am concerned 

1 Schools includes nursery schools and all primary and secondary schools regardless of status. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 to know whether there is now written policy or guidance about communicating this, so 
that this continues to happen in future years. 

Actions Taken & Underway 

Reading  Borough  Council  is  committed  to  promoting  and  supporting  the  welfare  and 
mental  health  of  all  its  staff  including  Head  Teachers.    Brighter  Futures  for  Children 
undertook a Head Teacher wellbeing and mental health survey in May 2023.  Findings from 
that survey and from Head Teachers’ performance management reviews  have informed 
the  development  of  a  wellbeing  entitlement  offer and  support  package.  The  wellbeing 
entitlement offer, and support package was endorsed by the Education Partnership Board 
on 8 December 2023.   
The Head Teacher wellbeing and mental health survey will be repeated annually, and the 
survey will inform updates to the entitlement offer and support package.  
The wellbeing entitlement offer, and support package is being delivered in 3 strands: 
i.  We  have  reconfirmed  to  Reading  school  leaders  the  existing  staff  wellbeing  offer 
which  includes  access  to  the  Employee  Assistance  Programme  that  provides 
independent advice, information and support through: 24hr/365 day phone service; 
6  telephone  counselling  sessions  for  each  issue  each  year;  coverage  for  staff  and 
their dependents (including up to 3 months after leaving the organisation); live chat; 
telephone debt counselling; monthly webinars; online wellbeing portal and mobile 
app and wellbeing tools. 

ii.  We have extended this wellbeing offer to include coaching, mentoring or executive 
support.  The  Community  school  leaders’  and  Chairs  of  Governing  Board’s  weekly 
briefing  on  19  January  2024  included  a  reminder  of  the  mental  health  support 
available through the Employee Assistance Programme and confirmed that this new 
entitlement to coaching, mentoring or executive support was available.  
Reading Borough Council School leaders at their termly meeting on 12 January were 
consulted  on  a  proposed  Reading  Borough  –  wide  Parent  Carer  and  Community 
Acceptable Behaviour Policy which will be implemented in practice on 19th February 
2024.  This  policy  will  complement  a  proposed  Reading  Borough  Council  Zero 
tolerance and prevention of abuse to staff policy, a draft of which went to Reading 
Borough Council’s Corporate Health and Safety Committee on 18 January 2024.  

iii. 

This offer will be written into the School Effectiveness Framework  for consideration by 
the Council’s Adult’s, Children’s, and Education Committee on 20 March 2024. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Timetable for implementation: 

Action  

Area of 
concern 1 

School leaders written to, to confirm commitment to proactively and 
robustly challenge Ofsted inspections and judgements (based on 
evidence), including practical arrangements in place 
Write into School Effectiveness Framework the Council’s approach to 
challenging an inspection  
Agree revisions to School Effectiveness Framework through Reading 
Borough Council’s ACE Committee 
Share updated School Effectiveness Framework with school leaders  

Appoint reviewers to conduct an independent learning review 

Finalise terms of reference 

Conclude independent learning review 

Area of 
concern 2  

Write into HR policy when a learning review should be considered 

Consider report and agree action plan through Brighter Futures for 
Children’s Board 
Consider report and agree action plan through Reading Borough 
Council’s ACE Committee 
Agree revisions to HR policy through Reading Borough Council’s 
Personnel Committee 
School leaders written to, to confirm wellbeing offer  

Area of 
concern 3 

Write into School Effectiveness Framework the Council’s offer of 
wellbeing support   
Agree School Effectiveness Framework through Reading Borough 
Council’s ACE Committee  
Share updated School Effectiveness Framework with schools  

19-01-24 
(completed) 

19-02-24 
(completed) 
20-Mar-24 

19-Apr-24 

05-01-24 
(completed)  
16-Feb-24 

30-Apr-24 

30-Apr-24 

23-May-24 

10-Jul-24 

11-Jul-24 

19-01-24 
(completed) 
19-Feb-24 

20-Mar-24 

19-Apr-24 

I  trust  that  the  above  provides  you  with  assurance  that  the  Council  has  and  is  taking 
appropriate action to address the concerns raised. 

Yours sincerely 

Chief Executive