Guidance for Nut Members

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

GUIDANCE FOR NUT MEMBERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

From 31 October 2015 teachers have a duty under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (as amended) to report to the police ‘known’ cases of FGM on pupils under 18. This guidance document explains the requirements of the new duty and the NUT’s policy position. A mandatory reporting flowchart is attached.

What we say

When you read through this document you may have questions about what happens in your particular school or workplace and there may be collective issues that affect other members. In most circumstances, you should discuss the matter with your workplace rep initially as they will know whether similar concerns have been raised by other members. If you do not have a rep at the moment, it would be a good idea to get members together to elect one. Further advice on this is available at http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/10513

Although you may sometimes feel that you are the only one affected by or concerned about a particular issue, in reality this is seldom the case. As a member of the NUT, you have the advantage of being able to act collectively with your colleagues. This should give you the confidence of knowing that you have the weight of the Union behind you.

Why is the Government introducing this duty? I have enough responsibilities as a teacher.

The Government says it is introducing this duty because it is aware that in the past professionals have been uncomfortable with addressing the issue of FGM, concerned that they may be labelled as ‘politically insensitive’ for challenging it. The NUT would have preferred the Government to extend existing duties rather than create a new duty and also to place the duty on schools and other institutions rather than on individuals. As a Union with over 70% of women in membership, we are pleased that the Government is raising the profile of a harmful practice which destroys the lives of women and young girls. However, we firmly believe that placing onerous reporting obligations on individual teachers, who already have a contractual duty to report safeguarding issues to the schools/colleges in which they work, will do little or nothing to increase the reporting of this vile crime. If FGM is to be eradicated in the UK, it is the institutions in which teachers work which should be obliged by law to foster appropriate safeguarding cultures, not only among teachers, but among all those who have considerable contact time with children in the course of their employment (e.g. teaching assistants - although it should be noted that learning support staff in schools and FE colleges in Wales are covered by the duty).

Does the duty apply to all teachers or only to some?

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015 The duty applies only to those who teach in settings regulated either by the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) in England, or the Education Workforce Council (EWC) in Wales. There is a flowchart at the end of this document to help you determine whether the duty applies to you.

What am I required to do under the duty?

You are required to report to the police force area within which the alleged victim resides any verbal disclosure that an act of female genital mutilation (however described) has been carried out on her. You are also required to report any physical signs you observe in the course of your employment which appear to show that an act of female genital mutilation has been carried out on her.

I’m a teacher, not a clinician. How am I supposed to recognise the physical signs of FGM?

This is a very apt question which we were hoping the Government would address, but it has not. Home Office guidance simply says:

“For teachers….there are no circumstances in which you should be examining a girl. It is possible that a teacher, perhaps assisting a young child in the toilet or changing a nappy, may see something which appears to show that FGM may have taken place. In such circumstances, the teacher must make a report under the duty, but should not conduct any further examination of the child.”

It should be noted that teachers in special schools or working with pupils with SEN in mainstream may also have greater personal contact with pupils in terms of assistance with toileting or changing and may also fall into the same category as those working with younger children.

The statement implies that the physical signs of FGM should be obvious to anyone who sees it and yet the Government acknowledged in a 2014 consultation document that even expert clinicians struggle on occasion to identify cases of FGM following a physical examination. To ensure that you and other teachers at your school/college are not held up to the same standards as clinicians, you should seek written assurance from your employer that a failure to identify the physical signs of FGM will not lead to disciplinary action. If employers feel that that is an unreasonable request then they should, at the very least, invest in appropriate training for all their teaching staff.

Does the duty apply only when I am working or does it apply even when I am away from work?

The duty applies to you only when you are acting in the course of your employment and you teach in a school or institution regulated by the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) in England, or the Education Workforce Council (EWC) in Wales. However, if a disclosure is made to you outside of work, or when you are teaching in a setting not regulated by the NCTL or EWC, you should act as all responsible adults should and report the matter to the appropriate authorities. You should not be disciplined or referred to your regulator, however, if you fail to do so.

How do I make a report to the police?

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015 To help schools/colleges and local authorities take appropriate and co-ordinated action, and in keeping with statutory guidance from the DfE, the Union would prefer that you report your concerns to the designated teacher at your school/college in the first instance. Please refer to the FAQ Is it for me to make a report to the police, or should my school/college do that?.

If a child makes a disclosure to you outside the course of your employment and you are not sure which school they go to, you should be aware that there is a single non- emergency number, 101, which you can call. When you call this number the system will determine your location and connect you to the police force covering that area. You will hear a recorded message announcing the police force you are being connected to. You will then be given a choice of which force to be connected to. If you are calling with a report relating to an area outside the force area which you are calling from, you can ask to be directed to that force. Calls will be answered by trained police officers and staff in the control room of the local police force. The call handler will log the call and refer it to the relevant team within the force, who will call you back to ask for additional information and discuss the case in more detail.

Is it for me to make a report to the police, or should my school/college do that?

The NUT’s policy position is that the procedures which accompany this new duty must be consistent with safeguarding guidance from the DfE, or the Welsh Assembly and with existing safeguarding/child protection arrangements operating in schools. The practice in most schools is not for individual teachers to notify the police of safeguarding matters independently of their school. This is normally a task which falls to the designated safeguarding lead after discussion with a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and possibly other agencies such as social services.

The Union believes that in the first instance individual teachers should report disclosures of FGM to the designated safeguarding lead in their school/college. Reports should be made in good time, but in any event, by the next working day after the disclosure is made. Teachers are encouraged to keep a written record of the report in a format which they can easily access, setting out the name of the person they reported to, what was reported and when the report was made. Upon receipt of the report, it will be for the designated teacher to decide after discussion with appropriate agencies whether the matter should be referred to the police.

What sort of information should be reported to the police?

Assuming it’s the designated teacher who will be doing the reporting in the majority of cases, the police are likely to ask for his/her name, contact details and place of work, the alleged victim’s name, age/date of birth and address. The police are also likely to ask the designated teacher to confirm that they have undertaken or will undertake safeguarding actions. A helpful ‘mandatory reporting process map’ from the Home Office, which is appended to their guidance, sets out the process to be followed.

Won’t I get into trouble if I fail to make a report to the police?

The Act exceptionally excuses from the reporting duty anyone who fails to make a report to the police because they have reason to believe that another teacher has previously made an FGM notification in connection with the same act of FGM.

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015 If you know that the designated teacher at your school/college has submitted a report to the police, you don’t have to do the same. You may rely on the exception in the Act. However, your school/college will need to keep you informed of their progress, which may be something they are not used to doing under current safeguarding arrangements. Workplace reps should seek to ensure that the reporting duty operates both ways – teachers who report known cases of FGM should not be left in the dark once they’ve done so, but should be regularly informed of the safeguarding procedures which the school/college is following in response to the report. If the designated teacher decides after discussion with the LADO and other agencies that your concerns of FGM do not warrant a referral to the police, you should be informed of that and you should be able to rely on their decision without getting into trouble.

What are the consequences if I fail to report a ‘known’ case of FGM?

A failure to report a ‘known’ case of FGM to the designated teacher at your school/college will undoubtedly lead to disciplinary procedures. If your school/college governing body decides to dismiss you, or decides that you would have been dismissed but for your resignation, they MUST consider whether to refer you to the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) in England, or to the Education Workforce Council (EWC) in Wales. Your school/college should not terminate your employment by way of a settlement agreement if you resign in response to an alleged failure to comply with the duty, as this would be contrary to the DfE’s safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education…’. For more information about this, refer to our guidance document ‘How employers should handle allegations of abuse’ (www.teachers.org.uk/selfhelpmaterials).

Am I obliged to report a verbal disclosure by someone other than the alleged victim?

No, you are not. Guidance from the Home Office says “the duty applies to cases directly disclosed by the victim”. If the child’s parent, guardian, sibling or other individual informs you that the pupil has been or is likely to be the victim of FGM, you should alert the designated teacher in keeping with your school or college’s safeguarding procedures. What you should not do is ignore what you have been told. If the disclosure is made by a child who is not a pupil at your school/college, you should inform the school or college the pupil attends (if that’s known) and keep a written record that you have done so in case the school/college fails to act on the information you provide.

Can my school/college policy require me to report ‘suspected’ or ‘at risk’ cases of FGM?

Yes, it can. ‘Suspected’ cases of FGM are defined as those where “sufficient indicators have been observed by a professional to make them believe that the victim may have been the victim of FGM.” ‘At risk’ cases of FGM are defined as “potential victims where professionals believe them to be at risk but the crime has not yet happened.” It should be understood that the mandatory reporting duty under the Act does not attach to ‘suspected’ or ‘at risk’ cases, but only to ‘known’ cases of FGM i.e. where a child discloses that she is the victim of FGM or you observe physical signs of FGM. No teacher should be threatened with referral to the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) and/or to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) because they have failed to follow school/college reporting procedures. That is a disciplinary matter which ought to be dealt with at school/college level only. ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015 Is it right that I should be asked to ‘shop’ any pupil who informs me that they are going to visit relatives in a part of the world where FGM is practiced?

The Union believes that, as with most safeguarding issues, there are schools/colleges and even local authorities that will act overzealously and impose far more onerous requirements on teachers than the law or Government guidance warrants. We are aware of schools, for example, that require teachers to notify a senior manager whenever a pupil with family from a country in which FGM is practiced indicates that she is going there on holiday. The Union believes this practice to be contrary to the public sector equality duty in that it promotes rather than eliminates race discrimination, it does the opposite of fostering good relations and it alienates segments of the school community, particularly those of African and Asian origin. A holiday to a country in which FGM is practiced may be a risk factor, but it should be viewed as only one of a number of factors to be considered when assessing risk. Teachers should be asked to notify senior managers of a family’s holiday plans only in respect of children who are assessed as at risk.

I am a home-tutor. Does the mandatory reporting duty apply to me?

If your home tuition work requires you to tutor children either in your home or theirs the duty will not apply to you. The duty applies only to those engaged to carry out teaching work at schools and other institutions in which pupils/students under 18 are taught and which the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) in England and the Education Workforce Council (EWC) in Wales regulate.

I’m a trainee teacher. Does the duty apply to me?

The duty will apply to you if you are carrying out teaching work as part of your induction period, are on a School Direct (salaried) programme, or in your second year of Teach First.

What should I do next?

If further advice is needed, contact your NUT school/college rep in the first instance. If there is no NUT rep in your workplace, in England you should contact NUT Adviceline (020 3006 6266 or [email protected]) and, in Wales, NUT Cymru (029 2049 1818 or [email protected]).

Further resources

 FORWARD (Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development) is committed to gender equality and safeguarding the rights of African girls and women www.forwarduk.org.uk.

 PSHE Association – www.pshe-association.org.uk (Search FGM on the home page to go to teaching resources and advice relating to FGM).

 Home Office Guidance – Mandatory Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation – procedural information

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015  Home Office Consultation – Introducing mandatory reporting for female genital Mutilation

 DfE Guidance – Keeping Children Safe in Education  Welsh Government Guidance – Keeping Learners Safe

 The Serious Crime Act 2015 (section 74)

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015 Legal Duty to Report FGM FLOWCHART

Are you in your 2nd year of Are you in your 2nd year of Teach First, on a School No legal duty to YES Teach First, on a School NO No legal duty to Direct (salaried) programme, report orDirect on statutory (salaried) induction? programme, report or on statutory induction?

Do you teach in England or Do you teach in England or Wales, or are you a teaching NO No legal duty to assistantWales, orin areWales? you a teaching reportNo legal duty to assistant in Wales? report

Do you work in a Do you work in a England Wales No legal duty No legal duty schoolEngland schoolWales NO to report thschool school to report 6 thform college FE college Youth6 form accommodation college FE college Children’sYouth accommodation home Children’s home

YES Has a child told you she is the victim of Has a child told you she is the victim of FGM, or have you observed the physical No legal duty to report, signsFGM, of orFGM? have you observed the physical No legal duty to report, signs of FGM? NO but your school/college policybut your may school/college require you topolicy report may ‘suspicions’ require youas wellto reportas disclosure ‘suspicions’ by as thewell victim as disclosure by the victim YES Was the disclosure made in the course ofWas your the employment? disclosure made in the course No legal duty to NO of your employment? reportNo legal duty to report

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015 YES

Legal duty to reportLegal duty to report

ECR40 – FGM Created: October 2015