Harmful sexual behaviour by children and young people includes a range of behaviours in a variety of situations and can be defined as: – “Sexual behaviours expressed by children and young people under the age of 18 years old that are developmentally inappropriate, may be harmful towards self or others, or be abusive towards another child, young person or adult” (Hackett 2014).

Children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour should be identified at the earliest opportunity and their behaviour addressed in order to both meet their needs and to protect other children.

It is important to remember that children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviours may themselves have considerable unmet needs. For some the manifestation of harmful sexual behaviours may be as a direct result of suffering abuse themselves.

Sandal Primary School will follow the Bradford Protocol to support families and children when sexual behaviours become problematic and harmful and providing professionals with guidance about how to identify such behaviours and how to respond to them.