‘You have to give people really tough messages’
Ex-Ofsted boss defends actions before headteacher’s death
THE former head of Ofsted has defended her decisions in the Ruth Perry tragedy and insisted the watchdog must deliver “tough messages” for the sake of pupils.
Amanda Spielman faced criticism after headteacher Ruth killed herself aged 53 after Ofsted downgraded her school from its highest rating to its lowest.
But in her first interview since leaving the job in December, Ms Spielman, 63, said that too often the focus is on “being nice to the adults” working in public services “at the expense of service users”.
She told the Difficult Women podcast: “I did what I think was the right thing at a tremendously difficult time when it would have been very easy to say, ‘We got the inspection wrong’.
“It’s the same for all inspectorates, they are there to protect the interests of users; in the case of Ofsted, that’s the children.
“‘Is this institution getting it right for children?’...that’s what it has to report on. Sometimes a doctor has to give you a difficult diagnosis and you can’t not be upset by it, however sympathetically they give it to you.
“It’s the same for Ofsted inspectors – there are times they have to give really tough messages.
“Unless the problems are made explicit and acknowledged, the right things can’t happen to move things on and to get things to the place they should be for children.
“So these difficult conversations have to happen. There is no possible way that you can ever make everyone perfectly happy and totally protect the interests of children, and make sure that you never have to say anything to an adult that could upset them.
“There are choices that have to be made.Are we in a world where it’s impossible to give a tough message? I think it’s a really dangerous place to head.”
Ruth took her own life in January last year, two months after an Ofsted inspection downgraded Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berks, from Outstanding to Inadequate over safeguarding concerns.
A coroner found the inspection had contributed to her suicide.
The case has led to Ofsted making a series of changes to its inspections.
Ms Spielman, who led the watchdog for seven years, previously apologised to Ruth’s family for the distress she suffered.