Dame Christine Gilbert to lead independent review into Ofsted response to death of headteacher

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has announced the appointment of Dame Christine Gilbert to lead an independent learning review into Ofsted’s response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Ms Perry was the head at Caversham Primary School in Reading, who took her own life while waiting for a report that downgraded her school to "inadequate".

In December 2023, Senior Coroner Heidi Connor ruled that the inspection "lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity", during which Ms Perry’s mental health “deteriorated significantly”.

The independent review was among the measures detailed in Ofsted’s response to the Coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report, published in January.

The review will consider:

• The actions Ofsted took in response to hearing about the death of Ruth Perry.
• Ofsted’s communications, its engagement with stakeholders and information-sharing within Ofsted regarding the incident.
• The support Ofsted offered internally to staff, including inspectors, and how its approach was informed by clearly defined policies.

Dame Christine served as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted from 2006 until 2011, during which time she brought three different inspectorates together to create a new organisation.

She has led or participated in several service reviews, mostly in education but also including Baroness Casey’s review of the Metropolitan Police, published last year.

Christine will have access to “relevant internal records” and be able to speak with any member of Ofsted staff she chooses, said the watchdog.

She will also have the opportunity to meet Ruth Perry’s family and speak to them about the review. 

Dame Christine will produce a written report on her findings later this year. The report will include any recommendations for changes to Ofsted’s internal policies and processes for responding to tragic incidents.

Ofsted said it will respond to these recommendations as part of its “wider response” to its Big Listen.

Dame Christine Gilbert said: “The death of Ruth Perry was a deeply sad and shocking event. Ofsted has accepted that it is vitally important for it to learn from this tragedy and has asked me to help them do that.

“I intend to take a very detailed and thorough look at all areas of Ofsted’s work – from the moment the Caversham inspection ended, through to the conclusion of the Coroner’s inquest. I will scrutinise the approach taken and advise on future actions and revisions needed to improve Ofsted’s policies and processes for dealing with any tragic incident.

“Importantly, I will hear firsthand from the family of Ruth Perry to gain a better understanding of the impact of Ofsted’s work. I would like to thank them in advance for agreeing to engage with my review.”

Sir Martyn Oliver said: “I am very grateful to Dame Christine for agreeing to lend her valuable experience and expertise to leading this important review. She has a wealth of experience in schools, in inspection, and in undertaking a range of reviews. I have no doubt that her insights will help us to reflect on, and learn from, our response to Ruth Perry’s death.

“I look forward to receiving her recommendations for improving our policies and practice. Her review will complement the findings from our Big Listen and help us build an Ofsted that is trusted by the professionals we inspect and regulate, as well as the children, parents and carers we are here to serve.”

Also this week, the watchdog published an updated policy for making complaints about inspections, which aims to handle providers’ concerns more “fairly, thoroughly and efficiently”.

The new process allows providers to seek a review of their inspection – including the conduct of inspectors and the judgements reached.

Further, the new guidance states that, under “exceptional circumstances”, Ofsted may agree to formally pause an inspection, for example, when leaders require support due to concerns about their well-being, or an incident prevents inspectors from gathering sufficient evidence.

Lottie Winson