UP AND down the country schools are removing logos and references to Ofsted ratings from their websites as a mark of solidarity with headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life while waiting for a negative inspection report.

Pressure is mounting on the watchdog as school leaders and unions are calling for urgent reform of the inspection system following the death of Ms Perry.

Louise Atkinson, National President for the NEU, said the current Ofsted system is ‘a very narrow and unsupportive framework’.

“It’s really sad that it’s taken the death of Ruth Perry to bring this to the forefront. This issue isn’t standalone, Ofsted is damaging school leaders and also what is happening within schools,” she said.

The National Education Union launched a campaign last year calling for Ofsted to be replaced by a system that is more supportive.

45,000 people have signed a recent petition calling for its removal.

“There’s a lot more to education that schools provide to kids and families that an Ofsted report doesn’t show," Ms Atkinson went on.

“The best schools and best headteachers that I’ve worked for is where the headteachers don’t care what Ofsted say.

"They can come in make their judgement and we’ll just focus on doing what’s best for the children and families.

“Even some of the questions they can ask around children, I’ve known of inspections where they’ve asked seven-year-olds what they learned six months ago.

“I understand that learning needs to be built on and embedded but how are you going to get a reliable answer from that.

Ms Atkinson said negative reports can have a ‘massive impact’ on schools going forward, in which they have to turn their attention to catering to repeat visits from the regulator.

“How can you narrow down what a school does to one word?” she said.

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman acknowledged the debate about reforming inspections to remove grades 'is a legitimate one' but insisted school checks aim to raise standards and should continue.

"Our aim is to raise standards so that all children get a great education. It is an aim we share with every teacher in every school," she said.

“Inspection plays an important part."