Chiefs warned about sexual violence at schools
EDUCATION chiefs in Halton have been warned that the problem of sexual violence and harassment (SVSH) among school pupils has been “underestimated”.
The issue is to form the subject of a presentation to be given to councillors sitting on Halton Borough Council’s children, young people and families policy and performance board this month, where they will have a chance to ask questions.
It follows the publication in June of a national review by the education watchdog Ofsted, which found that for some children, incidents are “so commonplace that they see no point in reporting them”, and that the issue was now “so widespread that it needs addressing for all children and young people”.
Ofsted’s other worrying findings included that nearly 90% of girls and
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”.
Girls said sexual harassment and online sexual abuse and experiencing pressure to send pictures of themselves were “much more prevalent than adults realise”.
The watchdog reported that it had received 291 complaints from around the country relating to peer-on-peer sexual harassment or violence that had not been resolved locally between September 2019 and March 2021.
A Halton Council report published ahead of the upcoming meeting said the local authority’s education department had provided safeguarding support, training and materials to all schools in the borough relating to allegations of SVSH inside and outside schools including online.
It warned that the issue has been “underestimated”, adding that minors with special education needs (SEND) and those who either identified as or were perceived to be LGBTQ+ were more likely to become victims.
The report said: “Ofsted’s national review into SVSH between children in schools identified that sexualised behaviours have become normalised.
“They found that senior leaders underestimated the size of the issue and children did not report the abuse for fear of repercussions, uncertainty around responses and lack of understanding that the behaviours are inappropriate and potentially harmful.”
In August, the Weekly News published Department for Education figures that showed five pupils in Halton were suspended from schools in 2019-20 for sexual assault.