A former teacher who retired on stress grounds has spoken out over the state of teacher’s working conditions in the UK, saying that Ruth Perry’s death is only the “Tip of the iceberg.”

Chris Lowe who formerly trained at Reading University now works as a foundation governor providing wellbeing advice for teachers.

He had previously worked as a teacher for over 30 years.

Mr Lowe states that Ofsted has been completely discredited after Ruth Perry’s death and subsequent enquiry.

In a wellbeing statement from 2021, Ofsted wrote that they “Recognise that we have a dual role to play in protecting and enhancing the Wellbeing of staff.

They continued: “We recognise that staff can feel that inspections are a source of stress.”

They went on to state that they will ensure that inspectors take staff wellbeing into account when coming to their judgments and monitor this through quality assurance and evaluation.

Regarding their 2021 statement and Ruth Perry’s inquest, Mr Lowe said that Ofsted is out of control and not accountable to anyone.

“The Head of Ofsted said that the enquiry was just a means of discrediting them,” he said. “The Lead inspector wasn't even aware of his behaviour which was dammed by the coroner.

“They cannot prove that they are effective. They can't now comment on safeguarding after what they did to Ruth.”

Mr Lowe has said that the current system in place requires drastic change.

“We need a complete reset of the Government's relationship with all teachers,” he said. “There needs to be a detailed discussion to highlight which jobs are necessary for Ofsted and which aren't.”

In a report published earlier this year emphasising the poor state of teachers’ working conditions, Mr Lowe has highlighted his recommendations for what needs to happen to move forward.

One point was that it should be made clear what is not required of a school as part of an inspection including a clear list of the things that schools must stop doing.

Another is that the Department of Education should properly consider the impact of policy changes on staff wellbeing.

“Teachers do not have any proper time to reflect on and process their daily work,” he said. “Recovery time also needs to be allocated for serious abuse incidents.”

Mr Lowe also said that there need to be time and stress costs made for teachers' extra roles. These could include acting as a security guard, psychologist, or paramedic.