By Sheila Mackenzie-
Ofsted urgent review of sex abuse allegations by school pupils in the UK will be revealing, after the regulator began investigations into safeguarding policies in state and independent schools amid the Everyone’s Invited abuse allegations.
The Department for Education said today that 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”.
The announcement by the Department for Education (DfE) was welcomed by the organisers of the Everyone’s Invited website, which has carried vivid testimony from thousands of victims and highlighted the scale of unreported rapes and sexual attacks happening within schools and between children of school age.
While cases involve students at schools around the country, the reports reveal a substantial number of allegations involving prestigious independent schools, many in the south-east of England.
It comes after thousands of testimonies of sexual abuse and harassment have been published on the website Everyone’s Invited, which aims to eradicate rape culture.
The Department of Education said they will not “hesitate to take action” where schools are “failing to meet strict safeguarding standards”.
“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,” they added.
A press release added: “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.”
It will make sure the current inspection regimes in both state and private schools are strong enough to address concerns.
The review aims to find where safeguarding arrangements and processes are good and have worked well and where improvements are needed.
The inspectorate will work with social care, police, victim support groups, school and college leaders and the Independent Schools Council. The review will conclude by end of May.
Also, a new NSPCC helpline will go live tomorrow to provide children and adults who are victims of sexual abuse in schools with appropriate support and advice..
Troubled
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said she had been “deeply troubled by accounts of the sexual abuse and harassment”.
“Schools have a crucial role to play in teaching young people about sexual consent and respect for women and girls,” she added. “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.”
The DfE said they will not “hesitate to take action” where schools are “failing to meet strict safeguarding standards”.
“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,” they added.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “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.”
Ofsted is required to report on the quality of inspections by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI), which inspects roughly 1,000 larger private schools, and the Schools Inspection Service, which inspects often smaller private schools such as Steiner schools.
Spielman unsuccessfully lobbied the government to let her inspectorate carry out “unannounced on-site monitoring visits”, to check inspection report findings match the evidence gathered and to carry out termly safeguarding checks.
The inspectorate has previously said it’s unable to make an official recommendation for either inspectorate because of “the limited monitoring activity commissioned by DfE”.
The ISI is now conducting an internal review in to its inspection of safeguarding in schools, with a “particular focus on how we gather pupils’ views on inspection. We look forward to sharing our findings with Ofsted as part of the wider review,” a spokesperson added.