Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 17
Undertake further thematic review of safeguarding policies and investigate abuse against female staff.
Recommendation
Ofsted did not act quickly enough in undertaking its review in 2021, however we welcome it and their commitment to strengthen requirements for inspectors to assess how schools address sexual harassment and abuse. Should Ofsted inspectors find a lack of progress has been made in tackling peer-on-peer abuse in schools, Ofsted should not delay in undertaking a further thematic review of the adequacy of safeguarding policies in schools and colleges. As part of their inspections Ofsted should also investigate the level of abuse experienced by female staff, at the hands of pupils, parents and other staff.
Government Response Summary
Ofsted states it has already updated handbooks and routinely monitors inspection practice to assess how schools address sexual harassment, and will continue to monitor and consider further changes if concerns arise. However, it does not commit to a further thematic review or investigating abuse against female staff.
Paragraph Reference:
17
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
In 2021, we published our review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges, and updated our handbooks to strengthen requirements for inspectors to assess how well schools address sexual harassment and abuse. Since then, we have routinely monitored inspection practice through a programme of themed retrieval, to assure ourselves that both inspectors and schools and colleges are implementing the changes and learning points from the review. The evidence shows that, overall, this is the case. Findings from the retrieval also feed into our inspector training programme and help us target future retrieval topics. We will continue to monitor these issues routinely and consider further changes if we identify significant concerns. Safeguarding continues to be an important part of our work. As part of every school inspection, we judge whether safeguarding is effective. To reach this judgement, we look at a sample of a schools’ safeguarding policies, including whether they implement and review them effectively. We consider this alongside its practice and safeguarding culture. In 2022/23, 99% of schools that had a graded or ungraded inspection had effective arrangements for safeguarding.