Academy response to the issue of sexual harassment

In June 2021, OFSTED published its shocking research on the extent of sexual harassment of children in the community and online.

The academy has a sex and relationships policy which has been the subject of consultation with staff, parents and carers and a detailed, robust, age appropriate and thorough sex and relationships curriculum which educates our students about these issues.

Our strategy to combat the risk of sexual harassment in or around the academy is as follows;

1. Defining. highlighting and discouraging at a very early age the low level behaviours and habits which could promote the sort of unhealthy environment in which the conditions for sexual harassment could grow; for example, including as unacceptable behaviour in our behaviour policy the use of slang words for body parts or the promotion of careless gossip about other students and their relationships.

2. Maintaining rigorous and robust supervision of our environment, including; all parts of the academy, both inside and out by physical supervision and CCTV; the virtual environment in the academy and on its network via sophisticated and robust filtering and electronic surveillance and the virtual environment as represented on students' 'phones by strict usage rules and the right for our pastoral staff to check 'phones with parental permission. 

 
3. Training our staff and our students in the prevalence and nature of sexual harassment

4. Informing and liaising frankly and candidly with parents and carers about issues even where this is embarrassing or challenging

5. Applying our existing equality, psychological, counselling, safeguarding, anti-bullying, behaviour and pastoral procedures robustly to any cases of sexual harassment