Head teachers in 'despair', union warns after Ruth Perry's death

School leaders are being "pushed to the edge of despair" by inspections and workload, a union has said.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) warned of a mass exodus from top school jobs without reforms.

It says a snapshot of school leaders' views found almost half needed support for their mental health or wellbeing in the last year.

It comes after an inquest found an Ofsted inspection contributed to head teacher Ruth Perry taking her own life.

Ofsted boss Amanda Spielman has apologised "for the distress that Mrs Perry undoubtedly experienced as a result of our inspection" and said reforms have already been rolled out.

The 53-year-old's death in January has led to renewed calls for better support for senior school leaders - and now the NAHT has warned low morale is prevalent across the profession.

It has gathered evidence from 1,890 school leaders in England, with 38% of respondents saying they sought professional support for their mental health or wellbeing in the previous year.

Another 11% of respondents said they would have accessed support but did not know how, or that it was not available to them.

The union said almost half of all school leaders who responded were considering leaving their jobs in the next three years. It warned there was a shrinking pool of senior staff who would be willing to replace them.

It claimed the number of assistant head teachers who do not aspire to run a school has risen to almost two-thirds, with the vast majority saying the impact on their personal wellbeing and concerns about Ofsted inspections deter them from wanting to move up a level.

The snapshot of opinion among school leaders is based on responses gathered in September and October.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said that "decisive action" was needed on inspections, workload and pay to prevent a staffing crisis at the top of the system.

"These dire findings paint a really bleak picture of the unacceptable toll school leadership is taking on our members and their mental health and wellbeing," he said.

"Parents and carers will no doubt be equally alarmed that school leaders are being left seeking support with their mental health, feeling worried, stressed and unvalued, struggling to sleep, and considering quitting the profession.

He said reluctance to take on the role of head teacher was an "established and rising trend" which would affect the system and children's education.

Ofsted said it has already introduced a number of changes in the wake of Mrs Perry's death, including a commitment to inspect schools again after three months if they had been graded inadequate over safeguarding concerns, and would work hard to address all the concerns raised by the coroner.

Other reforms adopted by Ofsted include a commitment to provide schools with a telephone service where they can raise concerns about how an inspection was being conducted, allowing draft findings to be shared with close colleagues, and developing training for inspectors on how to identify signs of anxiety in school staff.

Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire, will issue a more detailed report with recommendations for Ofsted and the government designed to prevent future deaths.

Speaking in the Commons on 11 December after the conclusion of Mrs Perry's inquest, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the government would "build on her legacy to help ensure that such a tragedy never happens again".

Labour says it would scrap the current one-word grading system - which critics say can produce unduly harsh outcomes for schools - and move to a "report card" inspection, where strengths and weaknesses are broken down.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the government was "taking action to reduce the pressures on [school leaders] where we can".

It said £1.1m of funding had doubled the capacity of a mental health and wellbeing scheme for school leaders, while an education staff wellbeing charter had also been launched.

Sir Martyn Oliver is set to take over as the head of Ofsted in early 2024, and MPs are due to publish a report following an inquiry into how the inspectorate works with schools.

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