Inspectors will visit schools in late September and early October, with a report to be published in December 2021. 

Inspectors from Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) will also contribute to visits to independent schools with boarding provision. 

The Minister said: “Any form of sexual harassment is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated. It remains a priority across the Welsh Government that every child and young person is supported, and that they feel able to report any concerns they may have.

“Estyn inspectors will visit schools during the autumn term, and we will await the conclusions outlined in their review.”

The Minister added: “The outcome of the review will guide our work as we look to do more to keep children and young people safe – including the statutory addition of Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) to the new Curriculum for Wales, from 2022.”

Aims of the review

To consider:

• the incidence of peer-on-peer sexual harassment¹ in schools in Wales
• how schools’ safeguarding cultures encourage and empower pupils to stand up to their peers and report all forms of sexual harassment²
• existing guidance and support for schools and other relevant agencies who work directly with children and young people
• effective practice seen by inspectors during visits to help schools as they prepare for the new curriculum – especially for relationships and sexuality education (RSE).

The evidence base:

• visits to a representative sample of secondary and independent boarding schools across Wales. These schools will not be named in the report. Inspectors will meet with headteachers, senior leaders, teachers, support staff and pupil focus groups and ask pupils to complete a short questionnaire.
• interviews with agencies that work with children and young people/ support schools.
• a comprehensive review of research, guidance, toolkits available to support victims, perpetrators and school staff.
   

¹ sexual abuse that happens between children of a similar age or stage of development. It can happen between any number of children and can affect any age group (Department for Education (DfE), 2021a). It can be harmful to the children who display it as well as those who experience it.

² persistent unwanted conduct of a sexual nature by a child towards another child that can occur online and offline. Sexual harassment is likely to: violate a child’s dignity, and/or make them feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated and/or create a hostile, offensive or sexualised environment. (Department for Education, UK Government, Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges: advice for governing bodies, proprietors, headteachers, principals, senior leadership teams and designated safeguarding leads).

A greater focus on learners’ wellbeing, resilience and independence, more experience of digital learning, and closer communication with families can put schools in a better place to prepare for the Curriculum for Wales.

Meilyr Rowlands, Chief Inspector, says

It has been a very difficult year for learners and an anxious one for their families. The complex challenges of the pandemic have required leaders and staff across education and training to make decisions in difficult circumstances and to work in new ways. They have risen well to the challenge, and there has been an increased appreciation of their work and of the importance of pupils attending school.

The pandemic has created the need to innovate. The period of learning from home has meant that all schools have had to think afresh about how pupils learn and how face-to-face teaching can best promote resilience and independent learning skills.

The inspectorate has also published findings from its engagement work with schools and other providers during this term. Meilyr Rowlands continues,

The long-term impact of this crisis could strengthen preparation for the Curriculum for Wales. In the meantime, teachers have assessed the progress of pupils returning to school this autumn. Some have fared well, but the skills of many may have regressed, including in literacy and numeracy. Helping learners, particularly the vulnerable and disadvantaged, to catch up will be a major task for the education and training system for the future. My annual report helps to identify the good practice developed during this time.

Schools and other education and training providers have prioritised the wellbeing of their learners during the pandemic, including their physical and mental health. The Chief Inspector’s Annual Report highlights Woodlands Community Primary School, Torfaen, which already uses a range of strategies to support pupils’ emotional wellbeing by building resilience and developing their self-esteem and social skills. The school has seen clear improvements in attendance, behaviour and pupil achievement as a result.

The report also presents findings from inspections held in the first part of the academic year across schools, colleges and other providers. Prior to the pandemic about three-fifths of planned inspections for the academic year took place. Overall, a similar picture to that of recent years emerges from this period. Standards are good or better in around eight-in-ten primary schools and in just over half of secondary schools.

In his Annual Report published today, Meilyr Rowlands reflects on key developments in education over the last three years, and commends the progress in reforming education:

We’re in the middle of significant, historical change in Welsh education. Momentum has increased recently, bringing better cooperation between national, regional and local education organisations.

Now that the new Curriculum for Wales is published, all schools must think seriously about what this new curriculum means for their school community and how they can improve teaching and learning.

The report highlights Bishop Hedley High School in Merthyr where they’ve already tried out some interesting approaches to the curriculum. An innovative enrichment programme is helping their pupils to build stronger life skills and has opened up new opportunities for them to learn in different ways. Case studies throughout the report share effective practice to help schools improve.

The Chief Inspector continues,

Some longstanding challenges remain. Too many secondary schools are still causing concern and the ‘poverty gap’ between disadvantaged learners and their peers has not closed over recent years.

Schools can’t do all this alone. The rest of the system must work together and support our education workforce in transforming education in Wales. That’s why Estyn is taking time out from inspections from September to visit schools and build a national picture of what’s working well in preparing for the curriculum and identify any challenges.

More findings from the 2018-19 Annual Report:

• Standards are good or better in around eight-in-ten non-maintained settings.  In these settings our youngest learners make strong progress, developing literacy, numeracy, physical and personal and social skills effectively. 
• Standards are good or better in around eight-in-ten primary schools and the proportion with excellent standards has continued to increase with one-in-ten receiving the highest judgement.
• Standards are good or better in nearly half of secondary schools inspected in 2018-19 and the proportion of these schools causing concern remains a challenge.
• There have been improvements in the independent special schools and pupil referral units we inspected, with examples of excellence for the first time for many years. Estyn has also identified more effective practice in all-age schools.
• Reform in the post-16 sector will potentially make young people’s experiences in different stages of their education more seamless. However, too many school leavers currently do not always progress into the learning opportunities that best relate to their ambitions, interests and abilities.

Jassa Scott, Strategic Director, says,

Some pupils face emotional, social and developmental barriers to learning while others are disadvantaged by financial and social hardships at home.

The most effective schools do not just focus on the challenges these pupils experience, but identify individual interests and talents, and build on these positives. Research shows that out of all education factors, classroom teaching has the greatest influence on pupils’ learning. Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit even more than their peers from high-quality teaching.

Today’s report contains examples from many different schools across Wales whose work has had a positive impact on supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged learners.

Highlighted in the report is the caring environment at Herbert Thompson Primary in Cardiff which has brought a widespread positive impact. Here, every pupil is reminded daily that they are ‘loved, strong, important and special’. Teachers have seen improved relationships between staff and pupils, a reduction in negative incidents and pupils are focused on achieving their full potential.

Today’s report, ‘Effective school support for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils’ recommends that all schools consider the best practice outlined in its case studies to help them increase the impact of funding and tackle concerns with attendance and achievement.