26 March 2023 , 08:56
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The deputy head of a school had a heart attack in the toilets after Ofsted downgraded its rating.
The unnamed teacher at an academy in the north of England was taken to hospital by ambulance after falling ill, with inspectors having deemed the school "requires improvement".
A senior colleague, whose name has been changed to Rob Dyson to protect his identity, said the inspection had been a "trauma" and he recalls everyone lost for words in the staff room soon after the watchdog reps had gone.
He said everyone was "ashen faced", with the academy having previously been graded "outstanding".
Mr Dyson ushered the deputy head into the toilets after noticing he'd turned a "terrible colour".
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Caversham Primary School headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life (Brighter Futures for Children)He told the Guardian: “He started having a heart attack right there in front of me. It was absolutely shocking.”
It comes in light of the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry after her school - Caversham Primary in Reading - was downgraded leading to calls for Ofsted to be scrapped altogether.
Following Ms Perry's inquest last week, the headteacher at John Rankin School in Newbury refused to let inspectors in as teachers stood in solidarity wearing black armbands.
Stress caused by Ofsted inspections was cited in coroners’ reports on the deaths of 10 teachers over the past 25 years, according to the Observer.
Teachers at John Rankin School, Newbury - some wearing black armbands (SWNS)Mr Dyson went home the evening after his colleague fell ill and walked his dog.
He recalled standing on a riverbank and had an "awful sense of injustice".
He said such a result isn't just crushing to the leadership team but it sends the whole school into a downward spiral.
“Your funding falls because parents don’t want to send their kids to you, and the staff you need to get you out of this hole start leaving,” he explained.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman (PA)And while the school considered appealing, and believed they had a strong case, “the legal costs were just too punitive”.
Andrew Morrish, a former headteacher who co-founded Headrest, a helpline for heads in crisis, during the pandemic, says the pressure and fear surrounding Ofsted inspections has become “entirely too much”.
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He insists that heads aren’t afraid of scrutiny, but what scares them is how “inconsistent and flawed” these high-stakes inspections can be.
Mr Morrish says heads of schools in rundown areas with pupils whose families are often in crisis with too few social workers are often fighting a losing battle.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) during a rally last week at Parliament Green, Westminster (PA)They know despite their best efforts, their safeguarding won't meet the criteria of Ofsted inspectors and suddenly they're in "special measures".
On Friday, Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said she was "deeply sorry" about the death of Mrs Perry.
However, commenting on “suggestions about refusing to cooperate with inspections, and unions’ calls to halt them entirely”, she stressed that stopping inspections “would not be in children’s best interests”.
“Our aim is to raise standards, so that all children get a great education,” she said.
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