Bystander Intervention Programme tackles sexual harassment in schools

The Bystander Intervention Programme is an innovative approach, giving children and young people the skills and confidence to become active bystanders who know how to safely call out sexist language and behaviour in schools, colleges and in their day-to-day lives. It also provides training to school staff and teachers, so they can take a whole school approach to tackling sexual harassment and abuse.

The locally designed programme, which ran from February 2022 to July 2024, was funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk (OPCCN) to deal with Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and delivered by Norfolk County Council. The training is based around the 5Ds of bystander intervention (Distract; Delegate; Document; Delay and Direct) that can be used to support someone who’s being harassed.

You can find out more about the 5Ds here

As of July 2024, over 14,000 students have been trained to be Active Bystanders and over 2,000 members of staff have received the CPD training. 116 schools and colleges enrolled in the Programme including 52 primary schools; 7 independent schools; 4 Further Education colleges; 11 specialist schools and 34 secondary schools. Despite not being a statutory requirement for education settings, the numbers involved show the local commitment to tackling VAWG in schools and shows the value of such a programme.

The programme is designed to fit into any existing RSE/RHSE scheme and encourages ‘a whole school approach’. The programme includes the following components:

• Staff/student surveys to give an understanding of the starting point in terms of relevant incidents, frequency of incidents, methods of reporting, levels of staff/student confidence to report and deal with, effectiveness of school policies.
• Staff Continuous Professional Development (CPD) – focuses on the importance of challenging sexist language and the potential harm/impact if unchallenged and the impact of sexual harassment/assault.
• Advice relating to Safeguarding and Behavioural policies to reflect guidance from KCSIE, 2023 Part five: Child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment regarding a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to sexual harassment.
• Fully resourced lessons and lesson plans (three lessons for primary and secondary) designed to fit into relevant RSHE/RSE curriculums.
• Impact surveys for staff (quantitative) and students (qualitative).

The education settings who have completed every component of the programme reported that they are confident that it has been embedded into their school ethos and curriculum, including increased staff confidence to challenge the use of sexist language and to deal with incidents of sexual harassment. After completing the programme, 76% of students said they felt confident to intervene to prevent incidents of sexual harassment and 64% believed that the programme will have a positive impact and the number of incidents of sexual harassment will decrease.

In terms of the future for the programme, the resources are accessible to all schools on the Norfolk County Council website and will continue to be promoted and signposted for education settings. The Targeted Youth Support Service will continue to use the programme in schools and the wider community with young people they support.

Would you like to implement the Bystander Programme in your education setting?

You can access all the programme materials including lessons on becoming an active bystander, staff CPD on challenging sexist language and lessons for KS2, 3 and 4 on inappropriate language, sexism, and the impact of sexual harassment. All lessons are fully resourced, free of charge and accompanied by detailed lesson plans on the Norfolk County Council website:

Bystander Programme Resources

Gavin Thompson, Chair of the OPCCN Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Group said: “This project shows our local partnership’s dedication to tackling violence in all its forms. By looking to change attitudes and behaviours of young people in Norfolk today, we hope that the next generation can lead the way to make our communities safer for everyone in the future as this programme continues to be rolled out.”