A headteacher committed suicide while awaiting an Ofsted evaluation that gave her school the worst possible grade, according to her family.
Ruth Perry, 53, the headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading, committed suicide in January after learning the institution would lose its Excellent rating and be reduced to an Inadequate one.
A review of the school by inspectors on November 15 and 16 of last year caused Ms. Perry to have the “worst day of her life,” according to her sister, Julia Waters.
She told BBC South that inspectors said a boy doing a flossing dance move, from the video game Fortnite, was evidence of the sexualisation of children at the school.
Ms Waters went on: ‘Ruth took her own life on January 8, all during that process every time I spoke to her, she would talk about the countdown.
‘I remember her clearly one day saying ’52 days and counting’, every day she had this weight on her shoulders hanging over her and she wasn’t officially allowed to talk to her family.
‘I remember the very first day I saw her, rather than just speaking to her on the phone, a couple of days after the end of the Ofsted inspection, she came, she was an absolute shadow of her former self.’
She said the inspection destroyed 32 years of her vocation and ‘preyed on her mind until she couldn’t take it any more’.
The report, which was published this week, found the school to be Good in every category, apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be Inadequate, the lowest rating.
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’.
Caversham Primary School said in a letter in response to the report: ‘The school, led by Ruth, responded immediately after the inspection visit, to take action to resolve the issues raised.
‘Following the heart-breaking loss of Ruth, we have continued her work to ensure that the school is an effective, safe and happy place for children to learn and achieve.’