FAMILY and friends of Ruth Perry gathered at the Town Hall in central Reading today, Saturday, May 20, to pay their respects and celebrate her life.
The private memorial was attended by Ms Perry’s sister, Professor Julia Waters, as well as friends and fellow teaching staff.
It comes after Ms Perry, head teacher at Caversham Primary School for 13 years, took her own life back in January this year– just days before the school was due to be downgraded to an “inadequate” Ofsted rating.
Her death sparked widespread criticism of Ofsted reporting and the methods of maintaining educational standards, with the inspectorate’s one-word ratings coming under fire for being reductive and simplistic.
Speaking before the event, Ms Waters said: “Ruth dedicated 32 years of her life to teaching– it was absolutely her vocation.
“A number of her colleagues have written to me to say that you could tell she was a natural, she loved teaching and she was good at it.
“She made a very difficult and challenging profession look easy.”
She continued: “The education profession has lost a wonderful head teacher and a wonderful teacher– which is both a tragedy and a scandal.
“All of those children that she hadn’t yet taught, that she hasn’t nurtured at the school, will miss out and won’t have that opportunity.”
Speaking on the implications Ms Perry’s death had on the wider culture of school inspections, Ms Waters said: “The government wonders why there’s a recruitment and retention problem.
“This is why, this is what they do to experienced, highly-regarded, dedicated, excellent teachers; look at yourselves, Ofsted– you are the problem here, not our teachers.
“Teachers who are passionate, who value education and nurturing our future adults, find excessive paperwork, long hours, and a lack of support locally and nationally, which grinds them down.
“Even wonderful teachers like Ruth can be driven to the terrible decision she made, which shows the intolerable pressure teachers are put under and that has to be rectified.”
Reading East MP Matt Rodda is among those joining Ms Waters in calling for a review into Ofsted’s methods, which he said ahead of the memorial: “Need to be reformed.
“It needs to move away from single-word judgments, which seemed to be very harsh and inaccurate in this case.
“I hope they can rethink how they operate, creating a balanced scorecard which sums up a whole range of different strengths for a school.”
He also called for reform regarding the inspections themselves and subsequent implementation: “I want to see the way that they work with schools change.
“It needs to be a more supportive experience, where teachers feel they are being listened to as part of a professional discussion.”
“I’m calling for reform, so Julia and I will be meeting with the Education Secretary on Tuesday, along with a number of teachers and parents from Reading, where we will be making those points.”
The memorial comes just weeks after parents, pupils, and colleagues of Ms Perry’s held a memorial walk in her honour through Caversham before giving tributes and a minute’s silence in Christchurch Meadows.
