IICSA Report Reveals NEw Recommendations for Residential Schools

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was set up in 2015 following revelations regarding historic abuse cases. Since its inception, they have published 19 investigation reports, with the final report expected this year. 

The most recent report published follows the completion of a comprehensive investigation into child sexual abuse (CSA) in residential music and special schools. They also reviewed safeguarding practices in boarding schools. 
 
The report contains recommendations on what institutions of this type, and indeed the entire education sector, need to do to bring safeguarding up to a better standard.  

Source: IICSA

DBS Checks 

Barring unsuitable individuals from working in schools is a key element off UK safeguarding practice. But one of the key problem areas IICSA identified were around DBS Checks.  

Currently, Enhanced DBS Checks are not compulsory for supervised volunteers in school settings or governors in Wales. While these individuals are eligible for the Enhanced DBS Checks. because they are optional, there is still potential for harm or abuse.  

Supervised volunteers, governors and proprietors of schools are also not eligible for barred list checks to be included on their DBS Checks. This is because, under current DBS definitions, they are not carrying out regulated activity. The report suggests that by simplifying the definition of regulated activity, this issue could be avoided. 

This would involve updating the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVG 2006) so that these roles are eligible for the barred list checks to be carried out. 

Current regulations also don’t automatically bar someone from being a governor or school proprietor if they are named on the Childrens Barred List. Unsurprisingly, updating regulations to make this an automatic disqualification from such roles is a recommendation in the report. This would also require amendments to be made to the SVG 2006. 

Inspection and monitoring 

One of the key recommendations for improving inspection and monitoring is to consolidate the inspectorates. There are two education inspectorates currently operating in the UK, Ofsted and ISI. Ofsted are responsible for monitoring the vast majority of schools in England. ISI on the other hand is responsible for the inspection of about 50% of independent schools.  

Having two inspectorates means there is an inherent lack of consistency in how inspection and monitoring is handled. It also makes it incredibly hard to compare safeguarding judgements. Although there is a joint working arrangement between the two, in practice this means very little. 

Poor information-sharing was also identified as being a major hurdle to carrying out successful inspections. Ofsted and ISI are regularly not provided with relevant safeguarding information that could inform their inspections.  

Inspectorates state that more needs to be done streamline information-sharing between the following stakeholders: 

• local authorities, particularly the local authority designated officer (LADO);  

• Schools 

• The Disclosure and Barring Service 

• The Teaching Regulation Agency 

• The Charity Commission 

• The Education and Skills Funding Agency 

• The Standards and Testing Agency 

• The Department for Education. 

Overhaul of statutory standards 

The report found in many cases that current statutory guidance does not account for all the potential safeguarding risks students face. This is particularly true for residential or boarding schools. 

To improve safeguards, new guidance needs to be mandated. Any new guidance needs to address the following: 

• Registration and regulation of educational guardians. 

• Consideration of how to address the risks of harmful sexual behaviour between pupils at boarding schools. 

• How to appropriately teach and support SEN students about harmful sexual behaviour. 

• Comprehensive guidance on how LADOs should support schools 

• Individuals fulfilling the role of school proprietor, designated safeguarding lead and headteacher. 

• Guidance on checks for those wishing to open an independent school. 

There are many other caveats that would need to be included in new guidance. From the reports that IICSA has completed already, it's clear that current rules and regulations are not doing enough to support schools or students. 

For a full breakdown of all the recommendations from IICSA, you can check out the report here.