His Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, today announced
that he has appointed Dame Christine Gilbert to lead an
independent learning review into Ofsted's response to the tragic
death of Ruth Perry.
The independent review was among the measures detailed in
Ofsted's response to
the Coroner's Prevention of Future Deaths report, published in
January. The review will consider:
- the actions Ofsted took in response to hearing about the
death of Ruth Perry
- Ofsted's communications, its engagement with stakeholders and
information-sharing within Ofsted regarding the incident
- the support Ofsted offered internally to staff, including
inspectors, and how its approach was informed by clearly defined
policies
The review will not examine the inspection of Caversham Primary
School in November 2022, nor the judgements it made.
Dame Christine spent 18 years in schools as a teacher and
secondary headteacher, and has worked in London boroughs as both
director of education and chief executive. She served as Her
Majesty's Chief Inspector at Ofsted from 2006 until 2011, during
which time she brought 3 different inspectorates together to
create a new organisation. She has led or participated in several
service reviews, mostly in education but also including Baroness
Casey's review of the Metropolitan Police, published last
year.
Dame Christine will begin her review this month. She will have
access to relevant internal records and be able to speak with any
member of Ofsted staff she chooses. She will also have the
opportunity to meet Ruth Perry's family and speak to them about
the review. Ofsted will assist Dame Christine in obtaining any
specialist advice she requires, such as in the areas of mental
health and well-being.
Dame Christine will produce a written report on her findings
later this year. The report will include any recommendations for
changes to Ofsted's internal policies and processes for
responding to tragic incidents. Ofsted will respond to these
recommendations as part of the wider response to the Big Listen.
Dame Christine Gilbert said:
The death of Ruth Perry was a deeply sad and shocking event.
Ofsted has accepted that it is vitally important for it to learn
from this tragedy and has asked me to help them do that.
I intend to take a very detailed and thorough look at all areas
of Ofsted's work – from the moment the Caversham inspection
ended, through to the conclusion of the Coroner's inquest. I will
scrutinise the approach taken and advise on future actions and
revisions needed to improve Ofsted's policies and processes for
dealing with any tragic incident.
Importantly, I will hear firsthand from the family of Ruth Perry
to gain a better understanding of the impact of Ofsted's work. I
would like to thank them in advance for agreeing to engage with
my review.
Sir Martyn Oliver said:
I am very grateful to Dame Christine for agreeing to lend her
valuable experience and expertise to leading this important
review. She has a wealth of experience in schools, in inspection,
and in undertaking a range of reviews. I have no doubt that her
insights will help us to reflect on, and learn from, our response
to Ruth Perry's death.
I look forward to receiving her recommendations for improving our
policies and practice. Her review will complement the findings
from our Big Listen and help us build an Ofsted that is trusted
by the professionals we inspect and regulate, as well as the
children, parents and carers we are here to serve.
Notes to editors:
-
Dame Christine is currently the chair of the Education
Endowment Foundation and independent chair of Camden
Learning, a place-based schools partnership. She is
involved in a number of local and national initiatives and is
working with leaders in several localities. She has been a
visiting professor at UCL Institute of Education for over 10
years and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at UCL in 2018.
Dame Christine was awarded a CBE for services to education
and local government in 2006, and a DBE for services to young
people and charity in 2022.
-
Ofsted has published the full terms and
conditions for the review.
