Ellesmere College failures over online nude images - report

Ellesmere College has been asked to come up with an action plan following the unannounced inspection

Sharing of nude images by pupils at a top boarding school was not dealt with adequately by leaders, a report found.

Actions by bosses at Ellesmere College in Shropshire over inappropriate sexual behaviour displayed by the children also fell short, the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) said.

The school did not meet five of eight targets including safeguarding, leadership and management, it added.

The leading independent school said it disagreed with the findings.

It said "other professional bodies" had agreed with its approach to incidents highlighted by the inspection, "but despite this level of support and confirmation of our processes and actions, the ISI inspectors did not agree with our interpretation of the guidance".

The unannounced inspection was ordered by the Department for Education (DfE) in October 2022 but has only just been made public seven months on and the school must now create an action plan to ensure it meets the standards.

During their visit to the school, which costs up to £38,000 a year for full-time boarders, inspectors found "some incidents of potential child-on-child abuse and the sharing of online nude images have not been dealt with by senior leaders in line with statutory guidance".

"Leaders were not familiar with the requirements of key guidance relating to online safety," their report added.

The school said social media misuse was a "constant challenge"

The report also said risk assessments "in the context of safeguarding, including boarders' welfare, are inadequate".

"In particular, risk assessment and subsequent actions in response to situations involving inappropriate sexual behaviour by pupils," it added.

"Senior leaders give insufficient attention to potential risks to the victim and the perpetrator. Review of the lessons which could be learned from such situations, and of the potential for repetition of similar behaviour, is not reflected in risk assessments."

It concluded: "Senior leaders and governors have not demonstrated the requisite knowledge and skills necessary to ensure the standards are met consistently and promote the wellbeing of pupils, including in boarding."

Properly supervised

Inspectors noted pupils felt safe at the school, there was due regard for their mental health and the school met the standards in its action to tackle bullying.

It also found pupils were properly supervised and the school had an effective health and safety policy.

The latest inspection followed one in 2021 which raised concerns about the safeguarding of swimmers at Ellesmere College Titans, the elite swimming club controversially closed by Swim England. A re-inspection in February 2022 found the college was meeting its safeguarding standards.

Reports by inspectors are usually published within six weeks but can be delayed for a number of reasons including at the request of the DfE or if a school entered the complaints process, an ISI spokeswoman said.

'Specifically kissing'

In a statement regarding the latest inspection, the school said: "Nothing in the report is of serious concern."

It said the inappropriate sexual behaviour inspectors had highlighted related "specifically to kissing" and said people should read the commentary the school has published on its website.

"Several other criteria that were identified by the inspectors as not meeting the standards were aspects linked to administrative errors, and therefore have no direct impact on the pupils' safety and their welfare," it said.

"The college take safeguarding very seriously and the inspection, which was seven months ago, was conducted at a time when we were introducing a new electronic system of safeguarding recording."

In its commentary on the website, the school said: "The issue of social media misuse is one all schools and parents find a constant challenge and that is why we regularly communicate with families about such issues and display such support guidance on the school website."