Sexual abuse toolkit: Everyone’s Invited – immediate steps for named schools

In response to Ofsted’s ‘Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges’, leaders will have noted the recommendations for schools. These refer to the RSHE curriculum, training for teachers of RSHE, record keeping, approach to behaviour and sanctions, liaison with local safeguarding partnerships, support for DSLs, and training for all staff (and governors where relevant). It is likely that leaders will review their policy and practice in a specific and/or routine drive to improve practice.

Where a school is named, a variety of responses are likely to be prompted. Leaders (including safeguarding leaders) should check whether the published testimony is recognised by the school (although anonymous, the testimony may be recognisable through its context and/or whatever detail is published). Next, where the case is recognised, safeguarding leaders should check that the correct procedures were followed at the time and respond accordingly.

The table below sets out the referral/support pathways for a number of different scenarios. Leaders should select the most appropriate pathway to respond to previously unknown cases.

Schools should remain alert to the possibility of safeguarding disclosures being posted on the Everyone’s Invited website and should be ready to respond. Leaders may find it helpful to include a routine check of the site in their schedule of safeguarding activity.

Everyone’s Invited – further considerations

The following points and actions would help to provide reassurance to leaders that matters have been addressed appropriately. The steps suggested below would also help to restore/retain justifiable confidence across the school community.

1. Publish a statement articulating the school’s recognition, and understanding, of the ongoing occurrence of emotional and sexual abuse that blight our society, and that schools are microcosms of society where staff must be vigilant in order to recognise and respond to any signs of sexual harassment and sexual abuse.

2. Collect pupil/student voices and experiences to inform the school’s plans. This may include:

a. establishing a steering group of staff and pupils to advise and/or lead on this topic, including contributing to action planning to develop this area of the school’s work

b. gathering pupil/student voices about their lived experiences of:
  - the school’s culture in terms of preventing and resolving sexism, sexual harassment and sexual abuse
 -  their out of school experiences of the same. 

 3.  Review related policies, procedures and practice, for example, staff response to such disclosures and the appropriateness of support provided to those causing offence and to targets/survivors.

4. Develop staff confidence and understanding of the priority needed in response to all reports of peer on peer abuse, particularly regarding sexual harassment and aggression. This would be supported by: 

a. staff re-reading the DfE guidance ‘Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges’. An updated edition (September 2021) is available on Gov.UK.
DfE: Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges

b. providing opportunities to hear and address staff questions and concerns. The implications for staff holding particular roles (e.g. pastoral staff, support staff, class teachers, subject teachers and tutors) should be made clear.

5. Develop staff confidence and expertise in the teaching of RSHE. This would be supported by: 

a. Carrying out an audit/review of the RSHE curriculum and its implementation. Depending on the key stage, the following topics are likely to feature in the curriculum design: consent, rape, sexual harassment, aggression, social media, abuse and violence.

b. considering the approaches to curriculum adjustments where necessary and the identification of high-quality resources and approaches to ensure consistency and depth in coverage of these issues.

c. providing training for all staff in the use of language and approaches appropriate to the school’s commitment to work actively to eradicate misogyny, consent, rape, sexual-harassment, -aggression, -abuse and -violence. This will impact on staff expectations, pastoral work and curriculum delivery.