“I’m confident that what follows from here will see in-depth consultation with parent bodies,” he said.
But the secretary of the NSW Department of Education,Mark Scott,said the statement was an opportunity for schools to provide leadership.
“Schools have an opportunity to work together and stand up to demonstrate our commitment to ensure everything that’s happening in school is working to support the safety and wellbeing of young people,” he said.
“This is not an issue of the reputation of schools,this is an issue of the responsibility of schools,and I’ll be encouraging my colleagues who run the other systems to sign up and then we will engage with parents groups,teachers groups another community groups to ensure there is strong support for a cohesive effort.
“We’ve all been shocked and dismayed by the compelling testimony of young people about their experience. Now is not the time to engage in detailed polishing of communiques amongst many varied community organisations,but for us to demonstrate that as school systems we are willing to take action and for others to take action also.”
The draft - seen by theHerald - is yet to be signed by the sectors. It says schools would consult with key parents and Aboriginal representative groups. It named organisations such as the NSW Police and the NSW Children’s Guardian as partners.
It says schools will “engage parent representative associations in genuine dialogue regarding the development and implementation of the strategies stemming from this statement.” It also notes that parents have an important role in supporting broader cultural change and responses to harmful sexual behaviour.
The idea was proposed at a meeting between NSW Police and heads of independent schools after a petition by former Kambala school girl Chanel Contos calling for better consent education prompted hundreds of young women - mostly from Sydney private schools - to reveal they had been sexually assaulted as students.
The draft statement of intent says building respectful,healthy relationships is everyone’s responsibility but “schools,in partnership with others,have a specific and vital role.
“Individual schools and school systems may choose to explicitly adopt this Statement of Intent as the basis for action within their school communities,working in partnership with their students and families.”
The Advocate’s Youth Advisory Council,which is made up of young people aged between 12 and 24,reviewed the draft and recommended that schools be clear and specific about what they wanted to change.
The council also said student voice and input was critical,students had a right to age-appropriate information,and action at individual school level is what would make a difference.
They also said schools “need to hold ourselves accountable for turning this statement into meaningful action at all levels”.
A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said the statement was still a draft,and the sectors had worked closely with parents and community groups to outline the role schools can to play in better supporting students.
The Australian Human Rights Commission,including Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins and National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds,will hold a roundtable with representatives from all three school sectors on Friday.
Ms Hollonds on the weekend told this masthead that schools were failing students if they did not act on allegations of sexual assault and harassment,and that recent testimonies from former school students suggested teachers had not been given enough guidance on how to report abuse.
Wenona school principal Briony Scott has said she would like the Human Rights Commission to give schools specific recommendations that they must follow regarding the issue of peer-on-peer abuse.
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