Ofsted inspections set to be paused in wake of Ruth Perry's suicide - as new chief Sir Martyn Oliver says watchdog could have been 'far more empathetic' in wake of headteacher's death

Ofsted inspections are to be paused until assessors have been trained to protect the welfare of school staff following the suicide of a headteacher last year, it emerged yesterday. Sir Martyn Oliver, the new chief inspector of education, has pledged to launch an inquiry into the watchdog's involvement in the death of Ruth Perry. Speaking to the BBC, the new Ofsted chief inspector also said the watchdog could have been 'far more empathetic' in the wake of Ms Perry's death. Undated handout photo provided by the University of Reading of Ruth Perry Sir Martyn Oliver, the new chief inspector of education Caversham Primary School, where Ms Perry was headteacher before her death Calling her death a 'terrible tragedy and a real shock', he said: 'Ultimately we have to be about high standards and say to parents 'these are the standards that are being provided'. Julia Waters, sister of Ruth Perry, with other family members speaking in Reading Town Hall at the end of the inquest for the headteacher Ms Perry took her own life last January after an Ofsted report downgraded the school she led for more than a decade, Caversham Primary in Reading, from the highest grade to the lowest 'The inquest into Ruth's death has shown the brutal inhumanity of the system of Ofsted inspections.