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Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools
After last week's webinar looking in detail at the Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools, people who took part asked a number of great questions. I thought it would be useful to answer the questions for everyone here.
How to book the webinar
Individuals can access the webinar directly here (online payment):
https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/oftsedreview
Purchase order bookings should be made here: https://cpd.safeguardinginschools.co.uk/product/ofsted-review-of-sexual-abuse-in-schools-and-colleges-june-2021-online/
Safeguarding.Pro members should use this link for free, immediate access: https://safeguarding.pro/ofsted-review-of-sexual-abuse-in-schools-june-2021/ (Safeguarding.Pro members will also be able to download the slides used in the presentation.)
Followup Questions from the webinar
What impact does the TES article have on the report and what school need to do to support victims in school?
On the 15th June Ofsted Chief, Amanda Speilman gave evidence at the Education Committee, which included questions about the recent Ofsted report. Afterwards, the TES ran the headline 'Ofsted: Nude pupil pictures not a safeguarding issue' which I think misrepresented what she said. The next day Speilman issued a clarification.
A committee member had asked the Chief Inspector about girls who had reported been sent unsolicited naked images by boys. Spielman answered: 'Most of the girls laughed that off and think it’s contemptible. They would not want to be pulled into sort of safeguarding procedures by reason of being sent a photograph that they think is simply contemptible.'
The following day Speilman said, 'at one point I was questioned about how schools should respond to incidents where naked images are sent to girls and my comments have been interpreted by some people to mean that I don't view this as a safeguarding issue. That isn't what I said and that isn't what I think."
'She continued, 'Sexual abuse or harassment is a safeguarding issue. The challenge for schools is how to respond appropriately to individual incidents while still recognising it's an endemic problem. This will often require a behavioural sanction for the perpetrator alongside the education that we all know is so necessary. That was the point of my discussion with the committee.'
The follow up TES report can be found here: https://www.tes.com/news/naked-images-can-be-safeguarding-issue-says-ofsted-amanda-spielman
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Is there a flow chart recommended in the report?
The report doesn't contain a followup chart to incidents of sexual harassment or sexual violence, but there is information in existing government guidance:
Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sexual-violence-and-sexual-harassment-between-children-in-schools-and-colleges
Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sharing-nudes-and-semi-nudes-advice-for-education-settings-working-with-children-and-young-people
Keep Children Safe in Education
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2
I've drawn together the information into a flowchart in my Safeguarding Handbook. You can download the relevant extract here: https://6282.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Safeguarding+Handbook+for+Schools+December+2020+v.11.2+SVSH+Flowchart.pdf
The specific behaviours the Ofsted report asked young people about are listed below. I think it would be useful to be able to look at each behaviour and think about what the typical next steps might be. (It would be interesting to hear what pupils think about what the school's response could be.)
- Unwanted touching
- Feeling pressured to do sexual things they did not want to
- Sexual assault of any kind
- Unwanted or inappropriate sexual comments
- Rumours about sexual activity
- Sexist name-calling
- Being sent sexual pictures or videos they did not want to see
- Being put under pressure to provide sexual images of themselves
- Having pictures or videos that they sent being shared more widely without their knowledge or consent
- Being photographed or videoed without their knowledge or consent
- Having pictures or videos that they don’t know about being circulated
Is there guidance on schools can fund their pastoral systems to be sufficient enough to deal with pastoral concerns that lead to safeguarding concerns? Many schools have fewer high level pastoral staff (Teaching Heads of Year and Teaching assistant heads of year) than they did 15 years ago.
I think this is probably a question for the DfE/Government.
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Can I ask where schools stand if they exclude students as a result of an online incident that happened out of school hours. Could parent dispute the legality of an exclusion as it hasn't happened in school?
I think this is one area where the guidance doesn't help schools. The Ofsted report highlights these legal difficulties. I'm not an specialist in exclusion law, so my advice is to always talk to a relevant professional.
What exactly needs to be done from an RSHE point of view?
In relation to this Ofsted Review report, I think schools should review how the topics are taught and by whom, how sensitive subjects can be best addressed. It will be useful to get feedback from students. The government guidance sets out the content of the RSHE curriculum.
The Ofsted report found that 'a lack of confidence in teaching RSHE means that in many schools, issues of consent, healthy relationships and the use of sexual imagery were not being covered.' I think schools should consider how they are teaching these topics in particular.
Which DSLs are the Government choosing the 500 DSLs to support and what will that look like?
Hopefully the DfE will clarify this in due course. Given that there are 25,000 schools in England, each with at least one DSL, it could be a difficult selection process.
What does 'encourage' mean with regard to the INSET Day?
In response to the Ofsted Review, the DfE said, 'School and college leaders will be encouraged to dedicate inset day time to help train staff on how to deal with sexual abuse and harassment among pupils and how to deliver the Government’s new compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum (RSHE).'
The Government have the power to dictate specifically how schools use their INSET day time, so 'encourage' is probably the only wording they could use.
What do you think specifically primary schools should be doing?
I'd like to know how much of this - i.e. the new approach by Ofsted - will be applied to primary schools.
As far as I can tell, the main change to Ofsted's approach will be following up the school's data for incidents of sexual violence and sexual harassment properly. Some of the unwanted and unacceptable behaviours are seen in primary schools, so the responses to them are setting the foundations for later.
The RSHE guidance for primary schools does cover these issues. For example, pafarph 62 says, 'In primary schools, this can be delivered by focusing on boundaries and privacy, ensuring young people understand that they have rights over their own bodies. This should also include understanding boundaries in friendships with peers and also in families and with others, in all contexts, including online…At all stages it will be important to balance teaching children about making sensible decisions to stay safe (including online) whilst being clear it is never the fault of a child who is abused and why victim blaming is always wrong.’
How do you check if your primary school is on the website? I can only see Universities.
You can download a list of all the schools and colleges listed here: https://www.everyonesinvited.uk/everyones-invited-challenge (As far as I can see, it is not possible to search for the testimonies by specific school.)
Do you suggest that schools have a separate policy to cover this?
That wouldn't be my recommendation. These are safeguarding topics which should be reflected in the child protection policy. There are several other policies which are relevant too, for example, the behaviour policy, computing policy and RSHE policy. As is the case with all policies, the school should have a view on how effective it is and how staff are using it.
Protected time for DSLs and DDSLs is impossible in small primary schools where the DSL is invariably the Head and DDSLs are SLT - apart from the Head they are part-time and have no time at all.
There are always tensions on time and responsibilities and the fewer staff there are, the more difficult it is to achieve everything that is required. I know from experience that in small schools, everyone wears 'multiple hats'.
Has anyone considered using School Nurses for Sexual education - this is what used to happen in some places?
School nurses often provided an excellent opportunity for young people to have private discussions about sensitive subjects. When school nursing become a responsibility of local authorities in 2013 there were 2,723 school nurses. Since then the numbers have declined by a third (Feb. 2020). (Source: Nuffield Trust analysis of NHS Digital data https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/chart/community-health-nursing-numbers)
There are times when an incident has been reported to the police by a parent/child - however the alleged perpetrator has not been spoken to by the police and has no idea that an allegation has been made against them- this is difficult to manage in school.
Feedback to Ofsted about the available guidance showed that there is a gap between the police and schools. Hopefully, this report will lead to greater clarity being provided.
Where can I find the harmful sexual behaviour continuum?
Surprisingly the continuum referenced in the Ofsted Review isn't the most recent version of that documentation. The latest version can be found here: Harmful sexual behaviour framework (NSPCC) https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2019/harmful-sexual-behaviour-framework (See page 15 of the Framework pdf)
I'd be interested in your view on what third party providers (such as Music Hub) that have regular delivery in schools can do to support dealing with this issue and what we should start to include in our Safeguarding policy?
I think that we probably all have a responsibility to challenge any of the unwanted or inappropriate behaviours and followup any issues that arise using the reporting methods that are available. Some schools may well be changing their policy and procedures in safeguarding and behaviour to better deal with these issues. It will be important for third party providers to use both their own systems, and refer to those in the school too.
From a policy perspective, it will be useful to ensure that the relevant issues and responses are included. I think I would include the definition of Peer-on-Peer abuse and include some examples. Clarity will be the key, but followup is perhaps more important.
The expectations for the Statutory RSE curriculum roll out was delayed to this term so how did Ofsted judge that the curriculum was ineffective? Not saying that the topic shouldn't be there already in PSHE but this is a bit "harsh".
This wasn't a curriculum report as such. The topics have been around for many years in different guises. I think that Ofsted were picking up on the fact that many teachers lacked confidence and felt that they had had insufficient training to teach sensitive topics. From a young person's point-of-view, the report concluded that teaching about sexual relationships, consent and online harms didn't reflect their experience.
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Until next time, keep safe.
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