From Safeguarding Children's Partnership EXEC Group - Everyone's Invited - Briefing Note

All schools - DSLs, headteachers and offices

Message from Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Executive Group

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to update you on the Enfield, London and National response to the disclosures of sexual harassment, assault and rape on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website. www.everyonesinvited.uk

The Everyone’s Invited website has currently received over 11500 testimonies. To date, no Enfield schools have been cited, but the testimonies clearly highlight the social, cultural and educational aspects of inappropriate and abusive sexual behaviour that need to be addressed.

The Safeguarding Children Partnership Executive Group meeting on the 20th April will be considering what steps we will be taking in Enfield.  

Below you will find a briefing note from the London Safeguarding Children Partnership on the work being done Nationally and across London over the coming weeks. This includes: a new dedicated helpline, run by the NSPCC, to provide both children and adults who are victims of sexual abuse in schools with the appropriate support and advice - the helpline will also provide support to parents and professionals too; and Ofsted are to review school safeguarding policies and ensure incidents are dealt with swiftly and appropriately (Department for Education information is below).

NSPCC dedicated helpline - 0800 136 663. The helpline is free and anonymous and will be open Monday to Friday 8am – 10pm and Saturday to Sunday 9am – 6pm.

Best wishes,

Tony Theodoulou, Enfield Council

Sebastian.Adjei-Addoh, Metropolitan Police Service

Jenny Goodridge, NHS North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group

 

Everyone's Invited - London Safeguarding Children Partnership and ALDCS Briefing Note

Colleagues

We are writing to update you regarding the response to the disclosures of sexual harassment, assault and rape on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website – as I’m sure you’re aware there has been a lot of coverage in the national news.  There are both immediate issues for safeguarding partnerships to address in ensuring appropriate identification of harm and responses, as well as longer term issues in respect of the opportunity that this provides to address the social, cultural and educational aspects of inappropriate and abusive sexual behaviour

Highlighted below are the key points from a number of national and London meetings in the past couple of days – noting that this is a fast moving situation and so plans may change.

  • The number of accounts on the website are increasing rapidly and becoming more detailed and the allegations more serious - the accounts are referred to as testimonies on the website, are anonymous but do often name the school, college or university that the young person is or was attending.
  • The website currently has over 10,000 reports from girls and young women regarding their time at both private and state schools and universities.
  • The media has focused on the initial preponderance of testimonies from high profile independent schools – of the initial 10 most cited, 7 are in London, but now clearly 100s of schools and a national issue.

    Nationally:

  • The DfE are the lead agency.
  • the NSPCC helpline is due to open at 9am this Thursday (1 April), and the number is 0800 136 663. The helpline is free and anonymous and will be open Monday to Friday 8am – 10pm and Saturday to Sunday 9am – 6pm. The NSPCC would then signpost to support and make safeguarding referrals to us in the usual way.
  • Ofsted, working with representatives from social care, police, victim support groups, school and college leaders and the Independent Schools Council, will undertake an immediate review of safeguarding policies in state and independent schools.
    • The review, which will conclude by the end of May 2021, will look at the extent and the severity of the issue and ensure schools have appropriate processes in place to allow pupils to report concerns freely, knowing these will be taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.
    • It will make sure there is sufficient guidance on how schools should deal with sexual harassment and violence allegations, and whether the current inspection regimes in both state and private schools are strong enough to address concerns and promote the welfare of children.
    • The full press notice is copied below for your information.
  • The DfE, possibly in conjunction with the Home Office and the Dept of Health, may shortly write out to all schools and Safeguarding Children’s Partnerships providing an update on the national response and advice regarding action to take.
  • The police response is now being co-ordinated nationally by Simon Bailey, the  National Police Chiefs' Council lead on child protection – this reflecting that what started out as primarily a London issue is now a national one.
  • Operation Hydrant [the coordination hub which delivers the national policing response to non-recent child sexual abuse] - the police are aiming to review every testimony on the website (when it was 8k they reckoned it would take 2 weeks) and, where possible, identifying the school; whether the person reporting is a current or former pupil; whether it’s peer-on-peer and what type of offense may have been committed. They will pass this information to the respective Police force, and will produce a statistical analysis of reports over the next few weeks
  • Senior police leaders are meeting with the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate.

The Met police response:

  • A Gold Group has been convened, chaired by Cmdr. Alison Heydari, co-ordinating the Met’s response now named as Operation Topale – it met today [30th March] and will meet again next week. It brings together leads from the MPS for Safer Schools and Safer Neighbourhood Teams and officers from the Continuous Improvement Command and Operation Winterkey (main role is liaison with IICSA) which will receive any case referrals from the national response which is being led by Operation Hydrant. They’ve had one referral so far. The group is also attended by Alison Renouf from the London SCP and James Thomas representing ALDCS. Key points to highlight from the meeting include:
    • The Met Police are working through their central schools’ team to safer schools’ officers to support schools affected.
    • Safeguarding superintendents are briefed and supporting the response in the areas affected.
    • The aim is not to identify victims as it’s important to respect the anonymity provided by the website which has been a key factor in encouraging people to come forward. However, there will be messaging re: how to report if they should want to do so.
    • There’s been no increase in crime reporting directly linked to the website as yet.
    • The police are reviewing their offer to private schools re: engagement with the Safer Schools Partnership [schools which are part of the partnership arrangements are allocated a named officer to work with the school]. The police currently think private schools in London have been offered this input and have declined but are reviewing whether this is the case and whether further approaches to private schools to invite them to join Safer Schools Partnerships would be helpful.
    • The police have updated training to teachers and will be rolling this out to their Safer Schools Officers. Alison will review and/or share the training materials with Local SCP Managers to ensure partnership comms are consistent.
    • The need to recognise that in most cases, both the parties involved in these incidents will be children, was highlighted.

      London SCP action so far

  • 15th March - the website was brought to the attention of the London SCP Manager by the Partnership Manager, Emma Biskupksi in Westminster, K&C and H&F and Commander Dales was informed of the concerns on the same day
  • 17th March – Alison emailed the 6 DCSs, Practice Leaders and the Partnership Managers in the boroughs where the police had identified schools with the highest number of reports.
  • Alison continues to be in touch with the Local SCP managers most affected to discuss how Partnership Managers can best be supported.

 What next?

  • Following the Gold Group the London SCP will draft a letter to all Local SCPs updating them on the Pan-London work.
  • The London SCP will continue to send out updates and share briefings etc with Partnership Managers - and Practice Leaders and DCSs as is helpful.
  • We are convening a meeting of those DCS’s with the prominent independent schools this Thursday to share learning and see if any further co-ordination is needed – others welcome to join if interested.

 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Government launches review into sexual abuse in schools

  • NSPCC dedicated helpline will provide support and guidance to any victims of sexual abuse in schools
  • Ofsted to review school safeguarding policies and ensure incidents are dealt with swiftly and appropriately
  • Victims will be better supported to refer allegations to the police if they wish

A new helpline to support potential victims of sexual harassment and abuse in education settings has been announced today by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.

The dedicated number, run by the NSPCC, will go live tomorrow to provide both children and adults who are victims of sexual abuse in schools with the appropriate support and advice. This includes how to contact the police and report crimes if they wish. The helpline will also provide support to parents and professionals too.

The government has also asked Ofsted to undertake an immediate review of safeguarding policies in state and independent schools. The review will look at the extent and the severity of the issue and ensure schools have appropriate processes in place to allow pupils to report concerns freely, knowing these will be taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.

It will make sure there is sufficient guidance on how schools should deal with sexual harassment and violence allegations, and whether the current inspection regimes in both state and private schools are strong enough to address concerns and promote the welfare of children.

Ofsted will work with representatives from social care, police, victim support groups, school and college leaders and the Independent Schools Council. The review will conclude by end of May 2021 and will seek to establish where safeguarding arrangements and processes are good and have worked well and where improvements are needed.

Both the helpline and review come after numerous anonymous testimonials of sexual harassment and abuse were submitted to the website Everyone’s Invited.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

“Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and it is vital that these allegations are dealt with properly. While the majority of schools take their safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously, I am determined to make sure the right resources and processes are in place across the education system to support any victims of abuse to come forward.

“This Government is committed to ensuring victims feel supported to refer the most serious allegations to the police via the helpline, safe in the knowledge that everything possible will be done to bring offenders to justice.

“No child or young person should have to experience abuse. But if something isn’t right, they should speak to someone they trust to raise concerns, whether that’s family, a friend, teacher or social worker, helpline or the police.”

Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said:

“Like everyone else, I have been deeply troubled by accounts of the sexual abuse and harassment young people have suffered at school and in the community. So I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement and the opportunity for Ofsted to lead this review.

“Schools have a crucial role to play in teaching young people about sexual consent and respect for women and girls. They must also be places where all children feel safe, and where they are able to report any incidents of abuse or harassment and be confident that what they say will be acted upon.

“We will set out the terms of the review shortly.”

Today’s announcement follows the publication of the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy in January. The Strategy will galvanise a whole-system response that brings together agencies, sectors and society to tackle child sexual abuse, as well as a focus on prevention and early intervention, to help protect children and empower professionals, parents and carers to keep them safe.  

It will also help victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to rebuild their lives by boosting investment in specialist sexual violence support services delivered by the voluntary sector, as well as support victims and survivors through the court process with the new and revised Victim’s Code and consultation on a Victims’ Law.

Where schools are failing to meet strict safeguarding standards, the Department for Education will not hesitate to take action. Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate will inspect any schools where there are concerns and ensure they either improve their practices or are forced to close.

All schools are also now required to provide relationships and sex and education to all secondary pupils and relationships education to all primary age pupils. Important issues such as personal privacy, respect and consent to ensure that more young people have a better understanding of how to behave towards their peers, are part of our guidance to ensure more young people have a better understanding of how to behave towards their peers, including online. Many schools do a great job day in and day out of working within a complex modern society but the new Relationship, Sex and Health Education curriculum will help them navigate some of the more difficult issues.

The dedicated NSPCC helpline number is 0800 136 663, which will be live from tomorrow (Thursday 1 April).

Anyone with concerns should visit to find out how to get help: https://stopabusetogether.campaign.gov.uk/

 

Bharat Ayer,

Safeguarding Service Manager

(Children’s and Adults Partnership)

Bharat.ayer@enfield.gov.uk