An inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry has been told an Ofsted inspector “sniggered loudly” and had a “mocking tone” during an inspection.
Ms Perry’s family said she took her own life after a report from the watchdog downgraded her school, Caversham Primary in Reading from its highest rating to its lowest, over safeguarding concerns.
Her sister, Professor Julia Waters, previously said Ms Perry had experienced the “worst day of her life” after inspectors reviewed the school and downgraded it from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.
Ofsted has come under growing pressure to abolish the grading system after critics linked it to the headteacher’s death.
At the inquest at Berkshire Coroner’s Office in Reading, Hugh Southey KC, on behalf of the family, quoted from a witness statement by deputy headteacher Clare Jones-King, who attended a meeting between Ms Perry and Alan Derry – the Ofsted inspector who led the inspection at the school in November 2022.
“She referred to you as having sniggered loudly and having a mocking and unpleasant tone,” Mr Southey told the inquest.
Mr Derry denied that he behaved in that way.
The inquest also heard evidence that Ms Perry became tearful during meetings with Ofsted inspectors. Mr Derry was asked if he should have paused the inspection, given Ms Perry’s mental state. “No, not at all,” he said.
“There was a major safeguarding concern around the safeguarding of children, and this needed to be immediately addressed and safely addressed.”
Mr Derry told the court that he could have paused the inspection by “proactively” ringing a senior colleague, or that senior colleague could have asked him to pause the inspection after reading his notes.
“That is what I believe to be the system,” he said. “I have never had to do it.”
He was asked why he did not speak to the school leaders about Ms Perry.
“Ms Perry suggested to me that that was what she was doing,” he said. “That she had the support of her senior leadership team and that she was doing that.”
Jonathan Auburn, on behalf of Reading Borough Council, asked Mr Derry if school leaders could have raised concerns about Ms Perry’s welfare with him, given the description of his tone in one of the meetings as “mocking”.
“Yes, I think they could have,” he said.
The court also heard evidence from Claire Wilkins, one of the other Ofsted inspectors who attended Caversham Primary School.
She said she became so concerned about Ms Perry’s welfare after the final team meeting on 16 November 2022 that she asked school leaders if there was someone at home who could look after the headteacher.
“I could see how hard Ruth was taking this,” she said.
The November inspection report, published on Ofsted’s website in March, gave Ms Perry’s school an overall rating of “inadequate”. It was found to be “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.
The November 2022 inspectors said school leaders did not have the “required knowledge to keep pupils safe from harm”, did not take “prompt and proper actions” and had not ensured safeguarding was “effective”.
The school was reinspected in June 2023, and its rating was upgraded to “good” across all categories.
Mrs Perry had been headteacher at Caversham Primary for 13 years.
The inquest continues.