What the Bristol Ideal Award is, what your school needs to do to achieve it and why we have the Bristol Ideal Award.
Improving safety and support for students, staff and families affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence.
About the Bristol Ideal Award
The Bristol Ideal Award is a set of standards for settings to follow to improve their approach to:
- domestic abuse
- sexual violence
- healthy relationships
The award represents a commitment to safeguarding staff, students and preventing unhealthy behaviours in the next generation.
There is an emphasis on participation, and we want children and young people to take a leading role in delivering the Bristol Ideal Award in their settings.
The award was revised in 2022, with new criteria and a streamlined application process.
To update the award, we consulted with children and young people's participation groups. Their views and priorities have informed the new criteria.
The award has been informed by recent legislation, including Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, Ofsted 2021 Report, Domestic Abuse Act, and the response to murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
The award criteria were also adapted with the 2021 Ofsted Report Guidance in mind.
How to achieve the award
You must complete the award through the online system.
You can log in and out as many times as you like to the online survey, updating your evidence as you go.
Your email address becomes your login.
Keep saving your changes as you go to make sure you do not lose any progress.
If you need help or support, email healthy.schools@bristol.gov.uk
Before you begin, you should go through the document guidance document (375 KB) .
Do not click the back button at the top left of your browser as you complete the form. It will exit the form. To go back to the previous section, click ‘previous page' at the bottom of the survey.
What the award covers
The award covers:
- leadership
- school culture
- school environment
- DA/SV services
- staff and student wellbeing
- safeguarding policies
- participation
Guidance and resources
To help you to plan your answers and access resources, use our document guidance document (375 KB) .
This will help you make sense of what we are asking for and signpost you to helpful documents.
For example, we might ask you to review your learning resources, in this case, we have included links to relevant websites.