Head teacher, 43, found hanged after fearing her primary school would lose its 'outstanding' Ofsted rating

Helen Mann, 43, a primary school head teacher who killed herself in her office less than six months after starting the job at Sytchampton Endowed First School, Worcestershire

A head teacher found hanged at her primary school was concerned the school would lose its top Ofsted rating months before she died, an inquest heard today.
The body of Helen Mann, 43, was discovered at Sytchampton Endowed First School, near Stourport on Severn, Worcestershire, on November 5 last year.
Mother-of-two Mrs Mann had been head of the school for less than six months when she died, having taken charge for the summer term after the Easter holidays.
The inquest before Marguerite Elcock, Deputy Coroner for Worcestershire, heard that Mrs Mann was concerned that if an Ofsted inspection was imminent, the school would lose its ‘oustanding' rating.
Dr Stephanie Galt, chair of the school's board of Governors, told the hearing in Stourport: 'She was very concerned about whenever our next Ofsted review would be.
'The school had been classified as ‘outstanding' in its previous inspection and she was concerned that it wouldn't be classified as ‘outstanding' if they were to come in soon.
'That had mentioned in at least one Governors' meeting and we all said that we understood this would be the case but not through any fault of her.'
The inquest heard that the Local Education Authority had undertaken its own assessment and had revealed in May last year that the school was unlikely to maintain its top Ofsted rating.
The hearing was told that Mrs Mann - who had two sons aged 13 and 10 at the time - was appointed after the school had been without a permanent head teacher for five terms.
Dr Galt described Mrs Mann as 'positive' when she joined the school.

'A fellow governor described her as ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed',' she told the hearing.
'She was bringing enthusiasm to the job and to achieve what she wanted to see for the school. She was doing exactly what we hoped she would.'
One of the first tasks she had to perform was to make one part-time teacher, Angela Mercer, redundant at the end of the school year - something she found difficult and which was having a 'detrimental affect upon her'.

Tragic: Mrs Mann with children at Sytchampton Endowed First School, Worcestershire

'There was an employment issue that was not of her making,' Dr Galt said.
'There was a contract to be terminated which she went through the process on behalf of the governors but that was challenged by the person whose contract wasn't to be renewed and Helen found that very difficult.
'There was a hearing that Helen was at and I know she found that very difficult.
'I was not there but I was told by the governors that were there that she was visibly distressed following that meeting.
'A claim for unfair dismissal was made and had to be dealt with and that weighed heavily on her.'
The inquest was told that the school - through the Local Education Authority lawyers - reached an out-of-court settlement with Miss Mercer in October last year.
Dr Galt said that Mrs Mann set a very ambitious plan for transforming the school.
‘Her school development plan was very ambitious and probably not realistic in the timescale that she had hoped,’ she said.
‘We met to discuss the first term but I was concerned that she felt she was not able to do as much as she wanted.
‘I kept trying to reassure her that she was doing what we hoped she would do and everything was fine.
‘I was concerned at that stage she was not the bright-eyed bushy-tailed young woman who joined us and was being weighed down by what she saw as problems.
‘We were starting to have concerns that she was not coping with managerial issues in the way we wanted.’

Sytchampton Endowed First School, Worcestershire, where Helen Mann's body was found

Dr Galt said that she spoke to Mrs Mann’s mentor at the Local Education Authority about providing some guidance on ‘prioritising her goals’.
At the start of the next academic year - following the summer holidays - Dr Galt said Mrs Mann appeared ‘weighed down’ by ‘what she wanted to achieve’ and had noticeably lost weight.
‘She wasn’t refreshed by her break,’ she said.
Dr Galt said that within a few weeks of the autumn term Mrs Mann told her she had collapsed at a meeting and was taking sick leave after seeking medical advice.
Dr Galt said that after four weeks off, Mrs Mann planned to return to work on November 5.
‘She did say that she was concerned about what people would be thinking having had those four weeks off,’ she said.
‘She was concerned that we might not want her back. I said of course we wanted her back.
‘We discussed a phased return to work and set out a timetable between us that she felt she could manage and agree to.’
The inquest heard that occupational health had not cleared Mrs Mann’s return to work.
‘If we had been told that occupational health had not cleared her, we would not have made a plan for her to return to work,’ she said.
On November 5 - the first day after the autumn half-term break - Mrs Mann came into work while the rest of the school staff were at a training day.
Jacqueline Stanley, a teaching assistant, told the inquest how ill Mrs Mann looked when she came into the school during her sick leave.

The home of Helen Mann, 43. Her inquest heard that she was concerned that if an Ofsted inspection was imminent, the school would lose its 'outstanding' rating

‘She looked dreadful. It was lovely to see her but she looked so ill,’ Miss Stanley said. ‘My thoughts were “Oh my goodness you shouldn’t be coming back to work”.
‘I asked her how she was. She didn’t really answer me in a full sentence. It was “yeah, um, er, I’m getting there”.
‘I felt like I just wanted to give her a hug.’
Miss Stanley described Mrs Mann as ‘absolutely brilliant’.
‘We got on really well together - I really liked her.
‘She was very hands on, very interactive. She was lovely with the children. She was very enthusiastic with fresh ideas.’
Kirsten Rowan was acting head at Sytchampton until Mrs Mann was appointed and then returned to her teaching role at the school.
Mrs Rowan said Mrs Mann was ‘anxious’ to change the school’s curriculum.
‘We have continually changed but it has been a more gradual process,’ she told the hearing.
‘Mrs Mann came in and identified areas she wanted to work on and we followed her on them.
‘It did become quite stressful to implement everything so quickly.
‘I thought she was probably trying to do too much too soon.’
Asked by the coroner whether the changes were necessary, Mrs Rowan replied: ‘In the long term yes, but I think it was too much to implement too soon.’
The hearing, which is scheduled to last up to four days, was adjourned until tomorrow.

DAILYMAIL