Mia Janin

HM Area Coroner for North District of Greater London 

Mr P. A. Murphy  

In the matter of an inquest touching the death of Mia Janin 

Jewish Free School response to a report on action to prevent future deaths pursuant to 

paragraph 7, Schedule 5 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and Regulations 28 and 29 

of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 

Introduction 

I am witing in response to the report made under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and 

Justice Act 2009 and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, 

dated 22nd February 2024 in respect of the death of Mia Janin, and I respond as the Headteacher 

of the Jewish Free School (JFS).  

On behalf of JFS I would like to continue to extend condolences to Mia’s family.  

Concerns 

The Prevention of Future Death Report identifies the below matters of concern that I address 

with reference to details of actions already taken and that we plan to undertake.  

(1) Any  ongoing  gender-based  bullying  at  JFS  gives  rise  to  a  concern  that 

circumstances creating a risk of other deaths will occur, or will continue to exist, 

in future; and  

(2) The initiatives introduced by JFS to address gender based bullying following Mia’s 

death do not appear to have gained the confidence of some female students, which 

gives rise to a concern that circumstances creating a risk of other deaths will occur, 

or will continue to exist in future.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The prevention of future deaths report notes:  

“The current head teacher of Mia’s secondary school- the Jewish Free School (JFS) -

gave evidence at the final inquest hearing concerning systemic changes introduced at 

JFS  following  Mia’s  death.  This  included  a  complete  overhaul  of  safeguarding 

practices, increased behaviour management, improved information, staff surveys and 

externally  delivered  sessions  by  charities  including  Norwoord,  Streetwise,  Jewish 

Womens Aid and Keshet”  

“Evidence provided by some JFS students after Mia’s death to the police and Ofsted 

described  regular  incidents  of  gender  based  bullying  by  some  male  JFS  students  of 

some female JFS students. Some of those child witnesses have not experienced a change 

in culture at JFS since Mia’s death and did not describe being consulted or surveyed 

about the changes introduced by JFS”.  

Although JFS considers that much of the evidence referred to in the Regulations 28 Report that 

was provided by some JFS students after Mia’s death to the police and Ofsted pre-dates the 

changes  implemented  following  Mia’s  death,  JFS  nevertheless  takes  your  concerns  very 

seriously  and  has  carefully  reviewed  and  considered  the  matters  within  the  Regulation  28 

Report.  

It is hoped that this response assures you and Mia’s family that JFS is committed to continuous 

improvement  in  relation  to  initiatives  to  address  gender-based  bullying  and  all  forms  of 

bullying.  

Response  

In summary relevant changes introduced at JFS since Mia’s death, include but are not limited 

to:  

a.  The appointment of a full-time safeguarding lead.  

b.  The appointment of 5 full time Safeguarding Officers, who report to the  Designated 

Safeguarding lead.  

c.  The appointment of a Director of Behaviour, Head of Key Stage 3 and Head of Key 

Stage 4 all of whom are Assistant Principals and sit on the Senior Leadership Team.  

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 d.  The appointment of four Pastoral Officers, reporting to the Behavioural Lead.  

e.  The appointment of a Mental Health Lead, who leads a wellbeing team consisting of 2 

counsellors and on average 5 trainee counsellors.  

f.  The  redrafting  of  the  Safeguarding  and  Child  Protection  Policy,  the  Anti-Bullying 

Policy and the Behaviour and Discipline Policy. 

g.  The delivery of formal Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) teaching in the 

curriculum to address all aspects of personal development, during which expectations 

of appropriate behaviour regarding all aspects of student conduct are made clear.  

h.  The  introduction  of  ‘Child  Protection  Online  Management  System’  (CPOMS)  as  a 

centralised reporting tool used by all staff across the school.  

i.  The introduction of an ‘Investigation and Reporting’ room to which students who are 

disrupting lessons are sent and where any students can report any problems or concerns, 

they are experiencing.  

j.  The introduction of an anonymous reporting system on the school website.  

k.  The introduction of a Peer Buddy programme involving annual training of 30 Year 10 

students to work with Year 7 through weekly sessions with tutor groups.  

l.  The introduction of ‘Time to Talk’ which runs every lunchtime and is staffed by two 

experienced  members  of  staff.  This  is  a  forum  for  students  to  relax  and  talk  about 

anything that is on their mind.  

m.  Weekly safeguarding updates for staff. 

n.  Monthly safeguarding newsletter for parents.  

The below elaborates further on the above changes.  

In the most recent OFSTED report following an inspection in April 2022, OFSTED noted that: 

“Pupils know to whom and where they can turn if they have any worries. Pupils felt confident 

to report any concerns because staff help them. Staff are vigilant to any incidents of bullying 

and act swiftly to resolve any bullying issues”.  

Serious consideration has been given by JFS to the school’s programme of personal, social and 

health  education  (PSHE),  which  includes  education  in  respect  of  relationships  and  sex 

education. In April 2022 in relation to JFS’s PHSE programme, OFSTED noted: “Dedicated 

sessions for all year groups are delivered by trained staff. These sessions are supplemented 

with specially organised workshops in response to identified and specific risks to pupils’ well-

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 being or requests and suggestions from pupils, including the school’s LGBTQ+ group.”. It is 

hoped that the specific reference by OFSTED to ‘requests and suggestions from pupils’ being 

reflected  in  the  PHSE  programme  reassures  the  court  that  student  concerns  are  gathered, 

listened to, and acted upon.  

CPOMS  is  a  centralised  behaviour  system.  Staff  submit  entries  on  CPOMS  based  on  any 

concerns,  including  gender-based  bullying,  they  themselves  may  witness  or  any  concerns 

reported  to  them  by  any  student.  CPOMS  entries  are  reviewed  on  an  ongoing  basis  by  the 

Safeguarding team and allocated to a member of the safeguarding team for appropriate action. 

Entries  on  CPOMS  include  what  may  appear  as  low-level  concerns  to  ensure  effective 

aggregate  data  collection,  which  in  turn  ensures  all  concerns  relating  to  each  student  are 

centrally available. CPOMS therefore enables the safeguarding team to have an overview of 

any  issues  taking  place,  as  well  as  consider  and  take  appropriate  action  in  respect  of  any 

emerging patterns, which include any issues relating to gender-based bullying.  

All students at JFS are known and supported. JFS now has multiple coordinated systems that 

work to protect children, and staff work to ensure safeguarding is effective.  To ensure there 

are no communication gaps between the Safeguarding and Behaviour teams, fortnightly review 

meetings  are  attended  by  the  Designated  Safeguarding  Lead,  Mental  Health  and Wellbeing 

Lead, Special Educational Needs Coordinator, Safeguarding Officer and Director of Key Stage. 

All students in JFS have a safeguarding rating between 1 and 4, 4 representing the highest level 

of  risk  and  1  representing  no  known  risk.  Students  receive  personal  check-ins  from  the 

Safeguarding  Officers  to  understand  each  individual’s  circumstances.  This  means  that  all 

students irrespective of risk rating, receive detailed check-ins to review any issues that they 

may  have  alongside  any  changes  or  concerns  that  may  have  been  logged  on  CPOMS. All 

actions from these reviews are logged on CPOMS for follow-up. Such data review provides a 

further opportunity for year group changes and trends to be identified and appropriate action 

to be taken. By way of further safeguard, once a month our Safeguarding Governor meets with 

the Designated Safeguarding Lead to review the top-10 most significant concerns.  

In respect of your concerns in relation to ongoing issues in respect of, or initiatives in relation 

to gender-based bullying, JFS has an anti-bullying policy that is reviewed annually. The current 

version of the anti-bullying policy was published in January 2024, a copy of which has already 

been  provided  to  the  Court,  which  clearly  states  that  “Bullying  of  any  sort  will  not  be 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 tolerated…”. The  anti-bullying  policy  expressly  recognises  that  bullying  behaviour  may  be 

sexist. As  set  out  in  the  anti-bullying  policy,  all concerns  in  respect  of  any  bullying,  which 

includes sexists or gender-based bullying will be seriously and thoroughly investigated.  

In the first instance JFS seeks to dissuade students from negative behaviours, including gender-

based bullying, through various approaches including: reinforcing expectations at the start of 

each  half  term,  regular  reminders  during  assemblies,  PSHE  sessions,  anti-bullying  week, 

visiting  speakers,  incorporating  an  ‘anti-bullying’  message  into  lessons,  and  peer  to  peer 

buddies.  

Staff receive training in school policies and are trained to be alert and responsive to signs of 

bullying.  JFS  also  seeks  to  enable  and  encourage  students  and  parents  who  are  aware  of 

bullying to report any concerns to a member of staff. Staff will record any concerns on CPOMS 

and concerns will then be investigated and appropriate action taken.   

JFS has a Behaviour and Discipline Policy, this was also last reviewed in January 2024 and a 

copy has been provided to the Court. The Behaviour Policy and Discipline Policy specifically 

sets out that JFS aims to “promote tolerance and consideration for others regardless of race, 

creed,  gender,  perceived  ability,  age,  appearance  of  disability  and  develop  appropriate 

strategies to eradicate bullying”. Through this policy JFS seeks to impose clear and consistent 

sanctions to clearly communicate that gender-based bullying or indeed bullying of any kind, 

will not be tolerated.  

JFS  is  pro-active  in  educating  students  about  the  gender-based  bullying  and  equality.  The 

school has implemented a mix of student-led, teacher-led and externally-led sessions including:  

•  The organisation ‘Everyone’s Invited’ addressing all staff and students over the course 

of two days about sexual harassment both online and in person including the signs of 

abuse and how to report malicious content. 

•  Presentations to all year groups from the Metropolitan Police Service on appropriate 

use  of  social  technology  and  the  consequences  of  gender-based  bullying  and  the 

creation or distribution of Youth Produced Sexual Imagery (YPSI). 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •  Presentations  to  all  year  groups  from  Streetwise,  and  separately  by 

  (counselling  psychologist  and  Community  Rebbetzin  at  Golders 

Green United Synagogue) on consent and assertiveness of the female voice. 

•  Delivery  of  year  group  assemblies  by  ‘Education  Child  Protection  Ltd’  on 

understanding abuse and how to deal with it.  

•  Parental webinar by the same company to all parents on working together to 

safeguard their children.  

•  Creation of a 160-strong student voice group, 40 students of which champion equality 

in the school. 

•  Creation of a Student Digital Leaders group which has presented to year groups on 

positive communication between peers. 

•  Delivery of a ‘Relationships’ and ‘Celebrating Differences’ strand in PHSE looking at 

a range of topics from managing control in interaction, coercion in relationships, 

assertiveness and saying no, boundaries within intimate and romantic relationships, 

prejudice and discrimination, and violence against women  

JFS is constantly seeking ways to improve its provision and, going forward, will be working 

with  the  Jewish Women’s Aid  group  to  build  a  series  of  drop-down  days  to  further  embed 

cultural change. 

I hope I have provided reassurance surrounding the steps that JFS has taken, and continues to 

take, to address the issues of concern contained within your report.  

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.  

Yours sincerely,  

Headteacher 

6