‘Keeping children safe in education’: Key updates to statutory guidance
The latest version of the Keeping children safe in education guidance for schools in England is now available following consultation over a number of proposed updates (DfE, 2022).
Domestic abuse
Notable updates to the guidance include a new paragraph on domestic abuse which has been added to the list of safeguarding issues all staff should be aware of (paragraph 43).
The update advises all school staff that ‘domestic abuse can encompass a wide range of behaviours and may be a single incident or a pattern of incidents’.
It continues: ‘That abuse can be, but is not limited to, psychological, physical, sexual, financial, or emotional. Children can be victims of domestic abuse. They may see, hear, or experience the effects of abuse at home and/or suffer domestic abuse in their own intimate relationships (teenage relationship abuse). All of which can have a detrimental and long-term impact on their health, wellbeing, development, and ability to learn.’
Child-on-child abuse
Another update in the new guidance is the change in terminology to the use of ‘child-on-child abuse’ instead of ‘peer-on-peer abuse’.
Writing in CHHE's sister title SecEd, Rose (2022) explained: ‘At the most basic level we will need to update policies and training slides, but on a more fundamental level we need to ensure that all staff understand what “child-on-child abuse” is, how it can manifest from the earliest stages in a child's life through to leaving education, and how we can actively minimise opportunities for it to happen.’
She added: ‘There is likely to be a shift in deepening understanding following the upskilling process that has been expected since Ofsted published its review (in 2021) into sexual abuse in schools. This has mainly focused on ensuring schools understand the issue, have clear policies on how to minimise, respond and support children, and how this issue might be addressed in the curriculum.’
Top 10 safeguarding priorities for schools in 2022/23
This in-depth, evidence-based article (pdf format) offers 10 safeguarding priorities for the coming months to help your school plan your safeguarding work from September onwards and ensure a culture of safeguarding. Our resident safeguarding expert Elizabeth Rose describes each of her 10 priorities in detail – ranging from the curriculum, governors, and student voice to attendance, child-on-child abuse, and radicalisation – and offers a checklist of things to consider for each point. Download the free pdf here: https://bit.ly/3PhqJ94
Ms Rose advised schools to consider how easy it is for students to report child-on-child abuse as well as how the curriculum and wider provision in-school ensure the ‘active promotion of equality and anti-discriminatory practice towards women and girls across the school and in the wider world’.
She also advises schools to consider abuse faced by children in extra-familial contexts other than school or online: ‘This year there has been a real focus for schools to consider what is happening on their own sites, but this issue is also affecting children within their local areas and social spaces. It is important to consider the role of child-on-child abuse within sexual or criminal exploitation, for example, and consider how we can educate children, parents and staff on this issue.’
Back in the updated statutory guidance, there are further updates to the section on child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment (part five), including an extended paragraph (468) highlighting the importance of ensuring that children understand the law on child-on-child abuse is there to protect them rather than criminalise them.
It states: ‘It is important to explain that the law is in place to protect children and young people rather than criminalise them, and this should be explained in such a way that avoids alarming or distressing them (victims).’
There is also an addition to the list of things to consider following a report of sexual violence and/or sexual harassment (paragraph 482) emphasising the importance of ‘understanding intra-familial harms and any necessary support for siblings following incidents’.
Online safety at home
Elsewhere in the updated guidance, there is new information on the importance of schools talking to parents about children's access to online sites when away from school (paragraph 139).
The update states: ‘Those communications should be used to reinforce the importance of children being safe online and parents and carers are likely to find it helpful to understand what systems schools and colleges use to filter and monitor online use.
‘It will be especially important for parents and carers to be aware of what their children are being asked to do online, including the sites they will asked to access and be clear who from the school or college (if anyone) their child is going to be interacting with online.’
Further updates
Other updates include added information to provide clarity on the process for sharing low-level concerns about school staff or others working with children (paragraphs 432–435).
Annex F of the of the new guidance sets out a list of all the substantive changes made.
- DfE: Statutory guidance: Keeping children safe in education (current version and updated version for September 2022), last updated May 2022: http://bit.ly/2bI2Zsm
- Rose E: Top 10 safeguarding priorities for schools, May 2022: https://bit.ly/3PhqJ94
We need to put an end to the ‘exclusions culture’
We must take action to end the culture of exclusion that has emerged in recent years and which is pushing vulnerable children into the hands of gangs and criminals.
From 2010 to 2020, children aged 12 to 14 consistently have the highest numbers of exclusions – these are the children most at risk of becoming involved with the criminal justice system.
A ‘culture of exclusion’ is emerging in our schools – secondary, but also primary – which has seen a gradual but steady rise in children being thrown out of their schools.
Permanent exclusion figures stood at 5 082 in 2010/11 but by 2018/19, before Covid, they hit 7 894. Even in the Covid-hit 2019/20, our mainstream education system managed to exclude 5 057 children.
And as ever with exclusion figures – those with SEND, certain ethnic minorities, disadvantaged children and those in care are disproportionately more likely to be kicked out of school.
A new report from the Commission on Young Lives (2022) has set out evidence that exclusion culture is spiralling out of control – with one case of a five-year-old child being suspended 17 times in eight months perhaps summing up the problem (he turned out to have undiagnosed autism).
The report is calling for this ‘exclusions culture’ to end and a ‘new era of inclusive education to tackle the scourge of teenage violence and exploitation’.
The report is the third to be published by the commission and it presents evidence of the stark links between being out of school and the risk of exploitation, serious violence, crime and county lines, grooming and abuse, and becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
Furthermore, the report highlights the thousands of children who are persistently absent from school and the disproportionate number of Black children who are not attending or are excluded.
It also accuses the inspection system of not valuing inclusion and as such allowing perverse incentives to develop that encourage some schools to remove children from their school roll.
The report highlights that one in five (22%) children who have been permanently excluded have also been cautioned or sentenced for a serious violence offence; 59% of children who have been permanently excluded have also been cautioned or sentenced for an offence.
It highlights evidence from school leaders and youth workers about how criminal gangs are targeting young people for exclusion by encouraging them to take drugs or weapons to school, or for violent behaviour.
The Commission on Young Lives launched in September 2021 and is a year-long independent commission aimed at creating a blueprint for a new and affordable national system of support, focused on preventing crisis and improving the life chances of vulnerable young people.
- Commission on Young lives: http://thecommissiononyounglives.co.uk
- Commission on Young Lives: Thematic Report 3: All together now: Inclusion not exclusion, April 2022: https://bit.ly/3N4b5fB
CAMHS: Steep rise in mental health figures is tip of the iceberg
The SEND sector has been waiting years for government action to tackle the crisis in funding and red tape for special needs pupils.
New NHS data shows that there has been a 54% increase in the number of under-18s undergoing mental health treatment or waiting to start care in the last two years.
In February 2020, the figure stood at around 272 000 children and young people. This had reached 411 000 in January this year and the latest figures for February 2022 show that it has now hit 420 000.
The figures refer to under-18s who are under the care of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) or waiting to see a specialist. It is the highest number ever recorded and there are fears that already-stretched CAMHS will be overwhelmed.
It is well known that the threshold for accessing CAMHS is high and has been so for some time now; even before the pandemic many young people were being turned away from specialist services.
And the situation seems certain to worsen. Earlier this year, the children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza raised concerns that the number of referrals to CAMHS fell during the pandemic and will likely begin to increase again in the coming years.
In her briefing, she reported that in 2020/21, only 498 000 children and young people were referred, compared to 537 000 the year before. She also warned that only 32% of children with a probable mental health disorder are accessing treatment. This calculation is based on NHS figures estimating that one in six children and young people now have a probable mental health condition.
It is clear that the pandemic has exacerbated a range of mental health issues for children and young people:
- The number of children assessed by councils as having a mental health need has risen sharply. In March 2021, 77 390 children were assessed as having a mental health need, compared to 61 830 two years earlier. This equates to 1 500 children a week being referred for mental health support according to the Local Government Association (LGA, 2022).
- The vast majority of school staff are seeing increased levels of anxiety among their pupils, but only a fifth say they can access specialist support for children who need it. A survey by Place2Be and the National Association of Head Teachers asked 1 130 school leaders and teachers what they were seeing. They reported increased anxiety (95%), low self-esteem (86%), depression (76%), self-harm (72%), suicidal thoughts (61%), eating difficulties (56%).
- A survey of 1 000 GPs by mental health charity stem4, reported that half of referrals for under-18s with anxiety, depression, and self-harm were rejected by CAMHS because symptoms were not seen serious enough.
Research from the Education Policy Institute just before the pandemic (Crenna-Jennings & Hutchinson, 2020) found that 26% of referrals to specialist children's mental health services were rejected in 2018/19. This amounted to approximately 133 000 children and young people and rejection rates had not improved over the previous four years.
COVID, mental health and the implications for schools: The pandemic has had an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of young people, but how and to what extent? In this research review, Dr Stephanie Thornton reviews the emerging research evidence of who has been most affected and explores the implications for schools and those working with students: Read this article here.
Commenting on the latest NHS figures, co-author of that report Whitney Crenna-Jennings, associate director for wellbeing and inclusion at the EPI, said: ‘Many children with serious mental health struggles are turned away from specialist services. There is an ongoing urgent need for early intervention services which families everywhere can access.
‘While a focus on improving the services that support vulnerable children is welcome, the government must also address drivers of the rise in child vulnerability, including increasing poverty and the cost-of-living crisis. The evidence linking poverty with family conflict, harm to children, special needs and disabilities, and mental ill health is clear.
‘Not doing so will mean that the number of young people who require costly, and less effective, late intervention services will only continue to grow.’
- Children's Commissioner: Briefing on Children's Mental Health Services – 2020/2021, February 2022: https://bit.ly/3rAEJAY
- Crenna-Jennings and Hutchinson: Access to child and adolescent mental health services in 2019, Education Policy Institute, January 2020: http://bit.ly/2S5Iw6k
- Local Government Association: Debate on special educational needs and children's mental health services, House of Commons, February 2022: https://bit.ly/3B6mB52
- NHS: Mental health services monthly statistics, May 2022: https://bit.ly/3MNNhMX
- Place2Be: School staff witness an increase in pupil anxiety, low self-esteem and depression, February 2022: https://bit.ly/3srSVLT
- Stem4: NHS mental health services turning away children, survey finds, April 2022: https://bit.ly/38m0rSE
A frightening ‘new normal’ – schools must be on alert as online abuse soars
The mission of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is to help victims of child sexual abuse by ‘identifying and removing online images and videos of their abuse’. In 2021, the IWF took action on more reports of online child abuse material than during the first 15 years of its existence (IWF, 2022a).
This includes removing a ‘record-breaking’ 252 000 URLs which it confirmed contained images or videos of children being raped and/or suffering sexual abuse. This equates to millions of individual images and videos.
Disturbingly, 182 281 of the URLs contained images or videos of ‘self-generated’ material. This compares to 38 424 such cases in 2019. So-called ‘self-generated’ material has been made by a child themselves on a webcam-enabled device. The victims have often been tricked, bullied, or coerced into performing sexual acts by an adult who has groomed them online.
Furthermore, IWF data published in its recent annual report (IWF, 2022) shows that 97% of all child sexual abuse material identified in 2021 featured the sexual abuse of girls. Ten years ago, 65% of the imagery analysts saw was of girls.
Furthermore, sexual abuse imagery of children aged 11 to 13 is most prevalent, accounting for almost 70% of the cases in 2021.
And six in 10 of the reports included the sexual abuse of an 11 to 13-year-old girl who had been groomed, coerced or encouraged into sexual activities by someone not in the room with the girl – meaning they have accessed the child via a camera and internet-enabled device.
The IWF works with internet companies, governments, and others to find and remove this material. In total in 2021, its analysts investigated 361 062 reports of suspected criminal material. This is more than it dealt with in the first 15 years of its existence when, from 1996 to 2011, it assessed 335 558 reports.
Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the IWF, said the pandemic and associated lockdowns have created a ‘new normal’, with sexual abusers exploiting people who have shifted their lives online.
She said: ‘The pandemic has continued to impact teenagers’ social lives, with many spending more time than ever online. Living online has become the new normal. Unfortunately, this means more children are at risk. Sexual abusers will target children – girls in particular – and manipulate them into performing sexual acts on camera. These images are then shared across the internet, with the devastating result of revictimising the child every time they are viewed.
‘Sadly, we are seeing the targeting of girls accelerating. The latest figures are a stark reflection of the society we live in.’
A safeguarding priority
Earlier this year, safeguarding expert Elizabeth Rose advised schools and DSLs to review their approaches to issues of online safety and abuse in light of the changing trends and IWF data (Rose, 2022). She identified priorities including ensuring clear leadership for whole-school approaches to online safety.
She said that while dedicated drop-down days or one-off events such as Safer Internet Day in February can be effective, these should not be the only teaching opportunities on offer.
Clear training in line with the Keeping children safe in education statutory guidance (DfE, 2021), the use of filtering and monitoring software, and ensuring online safety is reflected in the child protection policy are also key.
Everyone's Invited
Our wider response to the IWF data must include how we are responding as a society to the Everyone's Invited revelations, according to Ms Hargeaves.
She explained: ‘When you look at this over the past 10 years it tells a story about the tastes and preferences of the people who are creating the market-place for this material. We need to be asking ourselves about how this relates to the violence we see against women and girls in our society, and the experiences that have been shared through Everyone's Invited.’
For schools, this includes the response to Ofsted's subsequent review of peer-on-peer sexual harassment, which uncovered an epidemic of sexual harassment and abuse targeting girls in schools and colleges (2021).
Its core recommendation was that school leaders act now and act quickly, taking the assumption that sexual harassment is taking place. The report says: ‘Nearly 90% of girls, and nearly 50% of boys, said being sent explicit pictures or videos of things they did not want to see happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers. Children and young people told us that sexual harassment occurs so frequently that it has become “commonplace”. The frequency of these harmful sexual behaviours means that some children and young people consider them normal.’
School leaders told inspectors that easy access to pornography had set ‘unhealthy expectations of sexual relationships and shaped perceptions of women and girls’.
A curriculum priority
As such, a key part of the safeguarding response comes in what we teach and how we help young people to stay safe online and to develop healthy expectations for their relationships.
The relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum is now statutory (DfE, 2019) and includes topics related to this area, not least healthy relationships, consent, and teaching about online risks, the ‘rules and principles for keeping safe online’, and ‘how to recognise risks and harmful content’.
In her article earlier this year, Ms Rose added: ‘Online safety can be included across all areas of the curriculum, and we should consider the 4Cs and how these can be woven into the approach to online safety across different subjects, as well as taught explicitly.’
The 4Cs, as listed in KCSIE 2021, are content (being exposed to harmful content online), contact (harmful interaction online), conduct (personal online conduct that causes harm), and commerce (risks such as gambling or scams). Ms Rose explained that the 4Cs ‘help us to categorise risk into main areas to be addressed’. And this does not solely have to be in RSHE but could also be woven into the curriculum in other subjects, such as a text in English that deals with peer pressure, or other opportunities such as assemblies, tutor times, or clubs.
Further information and resources
- IWF: Report images/videos of online child sexual abuse at https://report.iwf.org.uk/en
- DfE: Statutory guidance: RSE and health education, June 2019: http://bit.ly/2kQwtgL
- DfE: Keeping children safe in education, September 2021: https://bit.ly/3rjHV41
- Everyone's Invited: www.everyonesinvited.uk
- IWF: Three-fold increase of abuse imagery of 7-10-year-olds, January 2022: https://bit.ly/3s9TNVc
- IWF: Sexual abuse imagery of girls online at record high, April 2022: https://bit.ly/3kzOEmd
- Ofsted: Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges, June 2021: https://bit.ly/3MTe3TP