What consideration has the Welsh Government given to the strengthening of legislation to protect pupils at independent schools from abuse such as coercive behaviour?
All independent schools in Wales are required to be registered with the Welsh Government. In order to register independent schools must comply with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003. Standard 4 of the regulations sets out the statutory responsibilities which independent schools have, to ensure that staff, supply staff and proprietors or members of proprietor bodies are suitable for the posts they occupy. This includes making sure that permanent staff and volunteers who work with children undertake appropriate and up to date training to equip them with the knowledge and skills that are necessary to effectively carry out their responsibilities for child protection. In addition they must ensure that the designated senior person (DSP) for child protection, the designated governor and the chair of governors, undertakes training in inter-agency working that is provided by, or to standards agreed by, the Regional Safeguarding Board and refresher training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date, in addition to basic child protection training.
By their very nature independent schools are autonomous, and outside of local authority responsibility. They are overseen by independent boards of governors or directors, many also acting as trustees of a registered charity. The governing body has the statutory responsibility to have effective oversight in relation to the safeguarding and wellbeing of children and young people in their school community.
Proprietors of independent schools have similar responsibilities to governing bodies of maintained schools, and have the overarching responsibility for regulatory compliance. Under section 157 of the Education Act 2002 proprietors of independent schools must comply with the Keeping Learners Safe guidance for the purpose of meeting standards set out in regulations and to exercise their functions in a way that takes into account the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.
Work has already commenced to update and strengthen where necessary the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003, this will include looking at standard 4. As part of this work we will update the independent schools registration and operation guidance to ensure it is strengthened and reflects current safeguarding guidance and practice.
In revising the guidance we will make clear that all independent school staff have a duty to report any suspected wrongdoing at the earliest opportunity and as soon as they have a reasonable suspicion. In particular, we will remind independent schools that their local authority must be informed of all safeguarding and wellbeing allegations that come to the school’s attention.
It is also important that any person who wishes to report wrongdoing in their organisation should feel assured and confident that their disclosure will be taken seriously without fear of detriment or victimisation. It is the responsibility of each organisation in Wales to establish a robust, user friendly, whistleblowing policy.
To assist school governing bodies with that we have produced guidance on procedures for whistleblowing and a model policy guidance[1]. This guidance is for maintained school governing bodies, but independent schools will find it equally helpful. Independent schools will need to ensure that their policy ensures that any detrimental behaviour towards a whistle blower will not be tolerated and will not lead to disciplinary procedures. As part of the work we are doing to update the independent school standards regulations and the registration and operation guidance we will make independent schools aware of the current whistleblowing guidance and explore how we can help them be assured that their whistleblowing policies are fit for purpose, and if there is a need to adapt the whistleblowing guidance for independent schools.
We will take this work forward with key stakeholders, and the revised regulations and guidance will be subject to public consultation in due course.
[1] https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-03/procedures-for-whistleblowing-in-schools-and-model-policy.pdf