Ofsted will inspect independent schools named at the heart of the Everyone’s Invited allegations to ensure staff did not preside over a cover-up, The Telegraph reports.
Inspectors will carry out checks at a number of leading schools, and ask headteachers about how much they knew about “specific incidents’ as well as more general problems around sexual harassement.
The watchdog said: “As well as talking to school and college leaders, pupils and students, we will look at how well systems of support and response are working, and we’ll discuss the wider issues raised by the evidence.”
It comes after the Government ordered Ofsted to investigate schools’ safeguarding policies after thousands of allegations of sexual assault and harasssment appeared on the Everyone’s Invited website.
Ofsted this week revealed that it will examine schools’ relationship and sex education lessons as well as their PSHE courses.
Most of the independent schools that have been named on the site are normally inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) rather than Ofsted.
But in this instance, Ofsted has been given powers to go into ISI-inspected schools, accompanied by ISI inspectors at schools they have not previously inspected.