Commenting as Ofsted release their recommendations following a
review of sexual harassment and abuse in schools, Paul Whiteman,
general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:
“Ofsted’s review, whilst limited in scope, reveals a shocking
prevalence and normalisation of sexual harassment and abuse
between children and young people both inside and outside of
school. We agree that the significant barriers around children
and young people talking about incidents, even in schools which
encourage and support this, mean we must all assume this is
happening and be proactive in our response.
“The strength in Ofsted’s review lies in the voices of over 900
children and young people across 32 schools, who shared their
views and experiences. However difficult, we must all listen to
their reality and consider what role we can play in addressing
the concerning issues they raise. School leaders now need to
create opportunities to listen to the voices of their own pupils
to inform the review, development and improvement of the
preventative approaches and responses to incidents in their
setting.
“We support the clear recommendations Ofsted makes for school and
college leaders; sexual harassment and online sexual abuse must
not be tolerated in any educational setting, but schools do need
to be given the resources, training, support and guidance to
implement their whole school approach effectively.
“Sexual harassment and violence is a problem that reaches far
beyond the school gates. There is no doubt that schools can and
should play a key role in this work, but they can’t solve it
alone. We need government and other agencies to play their part
too.”
