Ofsted refused to delay inspection during head’s cancer treatment

A headteacher has blasted Ofsted for refusing to defer her small school’s inspection while she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, leaving her primary without an experienced leader.

The headteacher, who does not want to be named, was recovering at home from surgery when her school received the call in June.

She is the sole member of the leadership team at her small school, which has fewer than 100 pupils.

An acting headteacher had been in place for just two weeks, but had no previous leadership experience.

“Without the only leader being in school, it didn’t feel appropriate to have the Ofsted, because of my illness and the pressure that it would put on the rest of the school community,” the head told Schools Week.

But Ofsted refused the school’s request for a deferral.

The decision placed staff under “a ridiculous amount of pressure”, she said, and left her feeling she had to work to ensure her school was fairly represented.

The inspectorate said it has now apologised to the headteacher “for the impact the timing of our inspection had on her wellbeing”.

Ofsted ‘not considering wellbeing’

The headteacher accused Ofsted of “not considering wellbeing”, despite its recent reforms having been prompted by the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

A coroner ruled in 2023 that an inspection contributed to Perry’s suicide.

“This has had a major impact on my wellbeing and no doubt on my recovery,” the small school head continued.

Her cancer treatment is still ongoing. She has since undergone further surgery, and is due to begin radiotherapy.

“I still think about [the inspection] all the time,” she said. “I feel guilty. I feel frustrated beyond belief, because I don’t feel I had an opportunity to properly have my say.”

She said she spent much of the three-day inspection process in tears.

“I’m lucky that I have very good support network and felt able to talk openly to people about it.

“They just they haven’t learned and they’re not listening. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’ve been through.”

She has filed an official complaint with Ofsted.

It is not the first criticism of Ofsted’s new inspections.

A study of 100 leaders inspected under the new framework found headteachers felt “overwhelmingly negative” about the visits.

Ofsted has commissioned its own independent research into the new framework, which is due to be published next year.

Deferral refused

Ofsted introduced its deferral function in January 2024, following the coroner’s ruling.

Its policy lists circumstances in which a deferral “could potentially” be granted, including where the wellbeing of a senior leader “would be severely impacted, and there is no other delegated senior leader who can step in”.

However, Ofsted stresses decisions are made case-by-case.

The headteacher described the four-sentence letter rejecting her school’s request as “insulting”.

It stated the circumstances did “not meet the criteria set out in Ofsted’s deferral policy” and that the inspection would go ahead as planned. It was signed only “Ofsted”.

Despite being signed off sick, the head updated her school’s self-evaluation form and school improvement plan.

That evening, she went into school for around three hours, to help prepare staff.

She had a hospital appointment on the first day of the inspection, but video-called staff that evening.

“I spent the whole day feeling incredibly guilty that I’d left other people doing this. It was just really upsetting.”

On the second day, her husband drove her into school so she could speak to the lead inspector about the curriculum and leadership.

Ofsted ‘failing to understand small schools’

More than 2,100 schools in England have 100 pupils or fewer, Department for Education data suggests.

Concerns have previously been raised about the additional pressure such schools – whose staff often juggle multiple roles – face during inspections.

Ofsted made changes to its framework to help accommodate them. For example, when assessing leadership, inspectors recognise leaders “may have multiple responsibilities” that a leadership team may be small, and that leaders may not be full-time.

But it is now facing calls to urgently revise its deferral policy for small schools.

“They’re applying a blanket policy, which…has absolutely no bearing on a small primary school,” said the headteacher.

She added that while she and her staff “felt supported” by their inspectors, they failed to understand there were no other members of SLT.

Inspectors were also forced to undertake learning walks unaccompanied, which she said put the school “at an absolute disadvantage”.

Ofsted apology

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We have written to [the headteacher] to explain why the school’s deferral request did not meet our threshold, and to apologise for the impact the timing of our inspection had on her wellbeing.

“We never expect colleagues who are unwell or on leave to be present during our inspections, either on-site or remotely.

“And we always take a school’s context into account when inspecting, including small schools, which may have fewer school leaders available.”

In Ofsted’s letter to the headteacher, a senior his majesty’s inspector apologised for the effect the inspection had on her “emotional wellbeing and recovery”.

They noted that “other senior leaders were available to support the inspection, including the active headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, governors and trust leaders”.

They also noted the head does not dispute her school’s grades, but added: “I am, however, sorry if you felt compelled to support your colleagues during the inspection.”

‘Horrific case’

The school received a ‘strong standard’ for inclusion, and ‘expected standard’ across all other inspection areas.

But former senior inspector Frank Norris said while it could be argued the inspection “ended well for all concerned…this disregards its impact on the most senior school leader.”

Norris said that following Perry’s death and Christine Gilbert’s subsequent learning review, Ofsted “should be making the wellbeing of school staff their number one priority”.

“But as can clearly be seen from this horrific case that is just not happening.

“Unfortunately what this sad story conveys to me is that Ofsted has a long way to go to fully understand how small schools, such as those with a couple of classes, operate.”

‘Not fit for purpose’

Julie Kelly, chair of the National Association of Small Schools, agreed the deferral system for small schools “is simply not fit for purpose”.

“It is to this head’s great credit that she was able to prepare her school to such a high standard even in the situation where she could not be there. It speaks volumes about a broken system which still does not understand small schools and the dedication of their leaders.”

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