Category Archives: Reading

Ofsted chief ‘should quit now’, says Ruth Perry’s sister as briefing memo is revealed

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Family of headteacher who killed herself calls on Amanda Spielman to resign over inadequate response to coroner’s verdict

Ruth Perry’s family has called on Ofsted’s chief inspector to resign immediately after it was revealed its lead inspectors will spend just 90 minutes on a briefing to address concerns raised by the headteacher’s suicide.

Julia Waters, Perry’s sister, said the “shocking” response showed that Amanda Spielman had “lost the plot” as chief inspector and should resign now ahead of her term finishing at the end of the year.

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New Ofsted report upgrades headteacher Ruth Perry’s school to ‘good’

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Perry took her own life in March after Caversham primary school was downgraded from outstanding to inadequate

Ofsted has replaced its “inadequate” rating that may have contributed to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry after a new inspection praised staff for addressing previous weaknesses at the school in Reading.

Perry died this year after an Ofsted inspection downgraded Caversham primary school in Berkshire from outstanding to inadequate, with Perry’s family saying the grading was a factor in her taking her own life.

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Reading terrorist had assault charge dropped weeks before attack, court told

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CPS and Home Office had ‘miscommunication’ over Khairi Saadallah, who went on to kill three, pre-inquest review hears

Charges against a man who was later responsible for the Reading terror attack were dropped due to “miscommunication” between the Home Office and Crown Prosecution Service, a pre-inquest review has heard.

Khairi Saadallah murdered three men in a Reading park on 20 June 2020 as coronavirus restrictions were eased. Saadallah allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he stabbed friends James Furlong, 36, David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39.

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Headteacher withdraws request for public support to help stop Ofsted inspection

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Initial call for protest came after family of headteacher Ruth Perry said she took her own life after news of lowest rating

A Berkshire headteacher who issued a plea on social media for support for her plan to prevent Ofsted inspectors visiting her school has withdrawn her request, asking people not to come to the school, in the interests of children and staff.

Flora Cooper, the executive headteacher at the John Rankin federation of nursery, infant and junior schools in Newbury, wrote on Twitter earlier on Monday that Ofsted inspectors were due to visit on Tuesday morning.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Headteacher killed herself after news of low Ofsted rating, family says

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Ruth Perry was told that Caversham primary school in Reading would be downgraded to inadequate

A headteacher killed herself after she was told her school would be given the lowest possible Ofsted rating, her family has said.

Ruth Perry, who had worked at Caversham primary school in Reading for 13 years, took her own life in January after she was informed the school was being downgraded from outstanding to inadequate.

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Deliveroo extends its range adding new partner WH Smith’s products

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Deliveries will start in Reading, as the takeaway service continues its expansion into new areas.

Books, stationery, phone chargers, toys and exam study guides are the latest items to be ferried to customers on fast-track delivery bikes via a partnership between WH Smith and Deliveroo.

The high street retailer will offer 600 products for delivery in as little as 20 minutes, joining similar services offered by supermarkets, pharmacies and takeaways.

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The bookseller of Tunis: one man’s fight to preserve relic of bygone age

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As news of its uncertain future spreads, readers are flocking to the city’s oldest bookshop – but can it survive changing tastes and technology?

Despite the pandemic, shoppers crowd the small bookshop at 18 Rue d’Angleterre. Many are here for the first time, squeezing their way between the stacks of books piled high along the walls of the bookshop said to be the oldest in Tunis.

Sunk within an obscure street near the city’s medina, there is little to distinguish number 18 from its rival further down the street, or the small haphazard book stands that shelter in the square opposite from a rain that never quite comes. All nestle amid the bleached awnings of the French ville nouvelle, itself marking the transition from the storied Arab architecture of the medina to the grand colonial designs of Tunis’ city centre.

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‘Cluck off’: UK’s only Chick-fil-A outlet to shut in LGBT rights row

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Reading branch of US chain to close after protests over stance on same-sex relationships

A US fast food chain is to close its first branch in the UK after protests and boycott calls by LGBT campaigners.

Chick-fil-A faced demands to “cluck off” when the fried chicken outlet opened in a shopping mall in Reading this month.

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