Swindon teachers share Ofsted pressures as head's death causes outcry

The teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she would not have made it through the next Ofsted inspection without suffering from panic attacks.

Others have told the Adver that the pressure on school staff is "enormous" and "made worse" when an inspection is due.

It comes after the headteacher of a Reading primary school took her own life whilst waiting for the outcome of a report, prompting widespread calls for a reform of the system.

Ruth Perry, of Caversham Primary School, is alleged to have told her family that the inspection that took place in November was the 'worst day of her life'.

Unions including the National Education Union, the NAHT union for school leaders and the Association of School and College Leaders have called for inspections to be halted.

One headteacher, Flora Cooper, at John Rankin Infant and Nursery School in Newbury, did announce a boycott of Ofsted, but it was later confirmed a planned inspection would go ahead. 

Ruth Perry, former headteacher of Caversham Primary School whose suicide has sparked an outcry against Ofsted (Image: NQ)

Following this, one teacher at a North Swindon school, who has been in the job for seven years, has said she is quitting the profession because of the impact on her health. 

The teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "I, myself, am leaving teaching because of the impact it had on my health. I 'joked' to the headteacher that I wouldn't have made it through the next Ofsted inspection without my panic attacks being set off.

"The last [inspection] we had I wasn't heavily involved in, but saw the effects it had on lots of staff and the school in general. There has been so much pressure and preparation being put in to ensure that we are 'Ofsted ready'."

She added that there needed to be less emphasis on assessing and testing children and a less intense curriculum so that there is time for children to fully engage in a subject and pursue their own interests.

"Because of 'deep dives' by Ofsted, regular class teachers with no extra pay are expected to have a wealth of knowledge about their subject and how it runs throughout the school and could be thoroughly grilled about it by Ofsted," she said. 

"There should be less monitoring and evaluation of staff whereby they are given feedback and things to work on by the next time, also more autonomy and trust of teachers to do the jobs in general."

Another teacher, also wishing to remain anonymous, who worked in a Swindon nursery, talked about the pressure of working in early years setting for ten years. 

"The pressure is enormous for staff and is made worse when an inspection is due. It’s a very outdated system and has moved away from what should be the most important thing - the children.

"The early years industry is really struggling - more and more staff are quitting due to increasing workload and pressure and for minimum pay and little recognition.

"With the way it’s deteriorating, I think it will be a matter of time before settings will slowly shut down due to lack of staff."

"Even now settings are struggling to keep staff and employ them because it's a struggling and not a desirable job anymore. Ofsted play a huge part in this because the support isn’t there and there's little help.

"When you’re being inspected they almost come with an agenda of things that are wrong rather than looking at the things that are great about a setting. Some of the things pointed out that are 'wrong' are also often very minor things such as not asking a specific question during an activity.

"But they only see a very small snippet of the staff and children during their time observing."