A primary school headteacher from Willenhall, in the West Midlands has been paid damages in a case against Ofsted. This was due to her request to postpone an investigation by Ofsted being refused.
Ms Kelly Vaughan has MS (multiple sclerosis) which had flared up at the time of the inspection request. Ms Vaughan accused Ofsted, the school watchdog, of failing to put reasonable adjustments in place to accommodate her disability.
Ofsted told Ms Vaughan that her request for a postponement had been refused and the refusal was in line with their policy. Ofsted also claimed that a number of reasonable adjustments had been set in place during the inspection.
Although the case was settled out of court it has raised fresh concerns about the culture at Ofsted. This has been under scrutiny and widely criticized after the death of Ruth Perry in January 2023.
Ruth Perry, the late headteacher of Caversham primary school in Reading, committed suicide in January 2023 after the school was downgraded from the highest ranking to the lowest by Ofsted. The senior coroner believed that the inspection carried out by Ofsted had contributed to Ms Perry's death.
In the run up to the Ofsted inspection Ms Vaughan had been suffering from laryngitis and this had caused a relapse of the MS symptoms. Her thought process and coordination were affected. When she asked for a deferment, Ofsted refused.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) who supported Ms Vaughan said that she struggled to respond quickly to the demands made by the inspectors during the process. Ms Vaughan explained to them that the laryngitis combined with the underlying MS left her unable to multitask and think clearly. She also criticised some of the conduct during the inspection.
A disability discrimination claim was submitted by Ms Vaughan to the Central London County Court, accusing Ofsted of breaching the Equality Act 2010. The claim included Ofsted failing to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate her disability. She also accused them of discrimination and harassment.
Ms Vaughan stated that the last year had been a very challenging one for her, and she felt that no other education professional should have to go through the same thing. Being leaders and professionals, headteachers hoped that they would be treated fairly by those who inspected them. This was unfortunately not always the case.
‘I hope the changes won in my case help to ensure Ofsted delivers positive change in their wider culture as well as for other education professionals living with disabilities.’
A spokesperson for Ofsted said that they were sorry for the distress Ms Vaughan described. They felt that several reasonable adjustments were made throughout the inspection. These included providing regular breaks and suggesting that Ms Vaughan be assisted during meetings.
Ofsted has since agreed to introduce mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training for their inspectors and staff. They will be meeting with charities for disabled to get assistance with organisational change.
The spokesperson stated that they recognised the impact on Ms Vaughan and have strengthened their training and guidance to ensure that all their inspectors can support anyone with disabilities when they carry out their inspections.
NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said that the case had shown just how far Ofsted needed to go to fix their ‘deeply entrenched culture.’
Mr Whiteman commented that because Ofsted had for so long tried to defend the actions of their inspectors, serious concerns were raised, despite a recent change in leadership in the organisation.
‘Ofsted still has a very long way to go to rebuild trust with the profession.’
The Labour Government has said that they will be scrapping some of Ofsted's wording such as ‘inadequate’ and ‘requires improvement’, and will replace them with a report card system.
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