Festival News: Developing a school culture of respectful relationships in light of Ofsted's Sexual Abuse Review

On Tuesday 16th November, Sai Patel hosted a session entitled “Developing a school culture of respectful relationships in light of Ofsted's Sexual Abuse Review” which featured two speakers, Belita Scott and Vanessa Ward. This session was part of the ‘Developing a Culture of Equality’ strand of the Learn Sheffield Autumn Online Festival.

Belita Scott, Senior HMI for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber presented information around the findings and implications of the Ofsted’s recent Sexual Abuse Review.

The presentation covered a definition of harmful sexual behaviour as well as the role that technology can play in this behaviour. Information around how to proceed when there is an incident was shared, as well as the different risk factors that can affect or cause harmful sexual behaviour. There was also discussion of consensual sexual relationships.

Vanessa Ward, Chief Executive-Chief Inspector of the Independent Schools Inspectorate presented around Inspecting School Culture and discussed how referring to the Independent School Standards can also be useful in maintained schools and academies. She also discussed how the DfE Character Education Framework Guidance from 2019 can be useful along with a selection of other guidance which is useful when considering the broader themes of school culture, pupil voice, and the RSHE curriculum.

Both presentations were tied together by the importance of having a rounded approach to safeguarding within schools.

This session was recorded and is available in the Festival section of our website. To see and access more online events as part of the Learn Sheffield Autumn Online Festival, head to our website.a