Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 44
44
Accepted
Paragraph: 144
Ofsted maintains essential role in ensuring schools address serious safeguarding concerns.
Conclusion
Safeguarding is an essential aspect of every school’s work. We agree that there is merit in schools being audited more regularly for compliance with safeguarding procedures, especially as we are recommending that some schools be inspected less frequently than is currently the case. However, we still see a role for Ofsted in ensuring that schools are identifying and acting on serious safeguarding concerns and especially making an effective contribution to child protection.
Government Response Summary
The government has already clarified what constitutes 'ineffective safeguarding', implemented rapid re-inspections for schools graded inadequate due to safeguarding, and is conducting a formal review into making safeguarding a standalone judgment.
Paragraph Reference:
144
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We have acted quickly to re-evaluate our policies and practice to ensure that all of our work reflects this commitment. Since September 2023, and following our response to the coroner, we have made a number of changes. We have: clarified in our inspection handbook, in our training for inspectors and to the sector, more precisely what we mean by ‘ineffective safeguarding’ (in line with Recommendation 26); implemented a policy of rapid return to schools that have been graded inadequate solely due to ineffective safeguarding – allowing them to remedy issues and improve their inspection grade before formal intervention measures take place (in line with Recommendation 27 and as we committed to in our response to the coroner); further clarified that a school will only be judged to have ineffective safeguarding when children are not safe. We are also working on a number of new policies and practices. These include: conducting a formal internal review of where aspects of safeguarding fit within the individual judgements of the education inspection framework, subject to challenge from an expert group. As part of this, we are considering having safeguarding as a standalone judgement, decoupled from the leadership and management grade (as we committed to in our response to the coroner). This consideration will continue as part of the Big Listen, with the response to the Big Listen setting out our agreed approach to reform.