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Safeguarding and support for pupils

 
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NAHT members are at the forefront of safeguarding children. School leaders are committed to keeping children safe, so they can learn well. NAHT believes that all pupils should receive the support they need to maintain their well-being and achieve their potential, both within school and from wider services including health and social care.

NAHT is campaigning to:

Enable schools to play their part in supporting pupils' well-being

  • Lobby for pupils and schools to get the support they need from wider services including health, social care, police and youth services
  • Influence the implementation of the proposals from the mental health green paper, including the senior lead for mental health and mental health support teams
  • Support schools to access relevant, high-quality training and resources to enable pupils to exercise their right to support for their mental well-being.

 

Support schools to safeguard and protect pupils

  • Engage with the DfE over proposed changes to the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Influence changes to Keeping Children Safe In Education, Working Together and Sexual Violence and harassment guidance
  • Campaign to improve online safety for children and young people
  • Press the government to ensure home educated children are adequately safeguarded
  • Promote guidance and resources to support schools to protect children at risk of harm including involvement with violence and other crime.

 

Enable schools to support vulnerable groups of pupils

  • Campaign to ensure pupils with SEND can receive the support they need from schools and wider services
  • Press for improved alternative provision and collaborative approaches across communities to support pupils excluded from school
  • Provide information to schools to help them to support disadvantaged children
  • Enable schools to make informed decisions regarding parental requests to home educate
  • Ensure reforms to behaviour guidance and networks is evidence-based and appropriate for all schools and a diverse pupil population. 
 

Diversity Role Models releases a new report on its work to support schools with anti-LGBT+ bullying

As part of a grant-funded programme, Diversity Role Models worked with 94 primary and secondary schools to support improved education about LGBT+ issues and tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying.

Surveys were completed by students, staff, parents and carers, and governors to conduct a pulse check on the levels of LGBT+ education and HBT incidents in schools.

The report documents a number of findings and outlines recommendations for the sector and government to support improvements in LGBT+ bullying in schools.

Recommendations include the following:
  • Root inclusion into the core values of school, engaging staff, governors, parents and carers, and students on these shared values to help foster a truly inclusive school environment
  • Empower all staff to celebrate diversity in the school (for example, through encouraging inclusive displays and reading materials)
  • Regularly report on homophobic, biphobic and transphobic incidents to school governors to ensure they understand trends and challenges so that they can effectively support the school leadership
  • [Staff should] involve students in discussions about the work the school is doing in diversity and inclusion (for example, setting up a student-led equality group to act as a safe environment to discuss LGBT+ inclusion at the school)
  • Ensure all governors or trustees receive training to understand the importance of inclusion at the school and why it is important for parental engagement, curriculum, and recruitment and retention of staff
  • [The Department for Education (DfE) should] make funds available for staff training on confidently delivering effective LGBT+ education
  • [The DfE should] Fund LGBT+ inclusion education programmes and research in schools to better understand the extent of LGBT+ education and drivers of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

"Schools have achieved so much in recent times. Their commitment to establishing settings which not only celebrate diversity but exemplify daily the very behaviours and attitudes we would want to see across our wider communities is inspiring and should be commended. But there is clearly more to be done," said NAT president Ruth Davies.

"I am so proud of the work Diversity Role Models is forging forward with, of the fearless and hugely informed way it is actively challenging schools to be even better than they already are and for the way in which it relentlessly champions the voice of the 21st Century learner. I am proud of NAHT’s partnership with them this year but grateful for it too. Together we have the prospect of achieving great things on behalf of the learners we serve," she added. 

First published 03 December 2020
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