A headmistress who tried to ban Ofsted from her school after another headmistress took her own life says more needs to be done to prevent further deaths.
Ruth Perry died in January while awaiting a report downgrading her school in Caversham, Berkshire, from “excellent” to “poor”.
Newbury Headmistress Flora Cooper later attempted to stop an Ofsted inspection at her own school in protest.
Ofsted said it had made changes after discussions with school leaders.
Ms Cooper, who runs the John Rankin Schools, finally let the inspectors in after discussions with West Berkshire Council.
However, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, she said it was “wrong” to be told of an inspection a few days after confirming Ms Perry had ended her life while awaiting an Ofsted report.
“It was tense. It was exhausting,” Ms. Cooper said.
“I was willing to lose my job if it meant no one else would lose their life, no one else felt that immense pressure.”
An inquest later this year will fully investigate Ms Perry’s death, which sparked a wave of fear about the system and sparked wider debate about whether one-word grades make sense for schools.
Ms Perry’s family previously said the inspection process caused them significant concern.
Last month Ofsted announced changes to its inspection system.
This included allowing schools whose safety practices were inadequately assessed to be re-inspected within three months, giving them a chance to re-assess if they have addressed concerns.
As part of the changes, reports will also focus on schools rather than individual staff members when discussing vulnerabilities.
But the regulator defended its one-word rating system, which will not be scrapped.
Ms Cooper said the changes were “not good enough” and that the one-word review was “a big problem” because it was “one word that almost sums up an entire team’s years of work”.
“No one should be put in a position like Ruth because of a word where there is no choice,” said Ms. Cooper.
“It shouldn’t have happened, and in any other profession they would have stopped, they would have stopped, started a full investigation.”
“And they would have thought, ‘What do we have to change, because something like this can’t happen again’.”
Ms Cooper said she and other school leaders would continue to advocate for more change.
In a statement, Ofsted said it always strives to make inspections “as positive as possible for school staff”.
It added: “The latest changes we have announced are the result of months of constructive discussions with industry representatives, including school administrators, union leaders and the Department of Education.”
“We will continue to work with the industry and always welcome meetings with school leaders.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan previously said the changes announced by Ofsted were “a really important step” and that the regulator was right to move forward to raise school standards.
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Tested to the limit
Watch the story of Headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life after Ofsted downgraded her school’s rating.
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