A quick breakdown of what willows law contains
Legal Duty for Schools to Act Within 72 Hours — Including Off-Site Bullying
Why This Matters
Too many schools hide behind loopholes.
They say bullying “isn’t their responsibility” if it happens:
Outside school gates
On the bus
Online
On weekends
On school trips
Even when it involves the same children, the same peer group, and the same community they are responsible for.
This failure has deadly consequences.
It’s exactly what happened to Willow Lee.
Willow was bullied in multiple places — physically, emotionally, digitally.
She came home in pain, distressed, with visible injuries and trauma no child should ever carry.
And not once did the school notify her parent.
The trauma didn’t end when the bell rang.
The school’s duty of care shouldn’t either.
What Willow’s Law Requires
Schools MUST Act Within 72 Hours
Every school will have a legally binding duty to respond to bullying within 72 hours — no matter where it happened.
This includes bullying:
On school property
On the way to or from school
On public transport
Online (social media, group chats, gaming platforms)
In any public or private space involving students from the same school
If something happens on a Friday, the school must act by Monday.
Mandatory Safeguarding Actions (Within 72 Hours)
Schools must:
Conduct a preliminary safeguarding investigation
Notify both sets of parents/guardians
Begin formal safeguarding and mental-health interventions
Assign staff to monitor the situation daily until resolved
Schools will also be required to:
Document the incident fully
Record all physical or psychological harm with written and visual evidence
Mandatory Safeguarding Infrastructure
Every school must employ trained safeguarding or security officers, visibly present:
During arrival and departure
At lunch and break times
At school events and trips
These officers must:
Witness, report, and intervene in bullying
Keep daily safeguarding logs
Forward all confirmed incidents to school leads, parents, and police when needed
Consequences for Schools That Do Not Comply
Schools that fail to act will face:
Immediate safeguarding investigations
Referral to Ofsted and local authorities
Suspension of safeguarding accreditation
Legal action from families
Possible Department for Education penalties:
Funding withdrawal
Fines
Disciplinary action or dismissal of staff
No more hiding. No more excuses.
Positive Change This Brings
Shifts duty of care from passive to proactive
Prevents schools from hiding bullying to protect reputation
Ensures every incident is seen, recorded, and responded to
Restores trust between schools and families
Creates a national paper trail to catch repeat offenders
Ensures children are protected everywhere, not only on school grounds
Mandatory Anti-Bullying Education (Starting at Age 6)
Why This Is Essential
Bullying doesn’t begin in secondary school — it grows quietly in early childhood, often disguised as “banter,” “teasing,” or “kids just being kids.”
By the time schools intervene at age 11–12, the patterns are already ingrained — and so is the silence.
Teaching children empathy, boundaries, respect, and emotional accountability from age 6 is how we stop harmful behaviours before they ever take root.
Young children can understand fairness, kindness, and the impact of cruelty — as easily as they understand sharing.
The earlier we teach these values, the safer every child becomes.
What Willow’s Law Proposes
A mandatory national curriculum module, delivered weekly in all UK schools from Year 1 (age 6), covering:
What bullying is (physical, verbal, emotional, digital)
Consequences of bullying — for victims and perpetrators
Empathy training and emotional understanding
Consent, boundaries, relationships, and safety
How to report bullying confidently
Bystander intervention: empowering children to act, not freeze
Delivery Requirements
These lessons must be:
Weekly, as part of PSHE
Taught by specially trained educators or safeguarding officers
Based on visual, emotional, and scenario-based materials tailored to age group
Annual safeguarding reviews will update:
Materials
Testimonies and lived experiences
New emerging harms (cyberbullying, image-based abuse)
Positive Change This Brings
Cultural transformation — children learn to identify harm early
Kids become informed, protective peers who know how to intervene
Victims learn they are not to blame and how to seek help
Children enter secondary school with a shared moral foundation and language for safety
Why This Closes Loopholes
Schools can’t opt out due to “culture,” budget, or religious exemptions
Curriculum audits and external oversight stop it becoming tick-box teaching
Ofsted inspection criteria will measure actual anti-bullying outcomes, not empty paperwork
The Purpose
This isn’t just about stopping bullying.
It’s about raising a generation that refuses to be complicit in silence.
Digital & Cross-Regional Safeguarding Accountability
Why this matters:
•Bullying doesn’t stop at the school gate anymore — it follows children online.
•Kids can be targeted by bullies who:
Attend different schools
Live in different counties
Are anywhere in the UK
•Willow was targeted both online and offline, by multiple groups.
•When abuse comes from outside a school’s jurisdiction, schools often say: “There’s nothing we can do.”
•That’s unacceptable. Digital bullying is still trauma — and trauma has no postcode.
What Willow’s Law Demands:
Legally Bound Cross-School Safeguarding Duty
•If a child from one school bullies a child from another — online or offline — both schools must act.
•No loopholes. No jurisdiction excuses.
Schools must:
Notify each other’s safeguarding leads within 48 hours
Coordinate their safeguarding investigations
National Safeguarding Protocol for Inter-School Bullying
•One shared reporting system for all UK schools.
•Tracks bullying across school borders.
•Logs repeat offenders.
•Alerts child protection agencies + police when needed.
Standardised National Online Bullying Response
•Any digital harassment (messages, videos, social posts, group chats) = automatically logged as bullying.
•Schools must act even if the incident happened off-site or online.
Incidents involving students from different schools must be:
Jointly investigated
Handled transparently
Mandatory Police Collaboration
•If online abuse includes threats, blackmail, doxxing, sexual content, or encouragement of self-harm…
Schools must notify police within 24 hours.
Parent Notification Requirement
•Both schools must inform all families involved, no matter where the children attend.
•Digital evidence (screenshots, messages, logs) must be shared to allow proper safeguarding at home.
National Bullying-Linked Suicide Register
•All inter-school and online bullying cases go into a national register.
•Especially critical when:
Mental health crisis support is triggered
A child attempts or dies by suicide
Closing the Loopholes
Schools will no longer be allowed to say:
•“The bully goes to another school, so it’s not our problem.”
•“It happened online, so we can’t act.”
•“It wasn’t on our premises, so we’re not liable.”
What This Guarantees
•Every child is protected.
•Every act of harm is responded to — across counties, schools, apps, and borders.
Bullying-Linked Education Penalty Protection
Protecting parents who protect their children.
Why this matters:
•In the UK, parents can be fined or prosecuted for school non-attendance — even when they’re keeping their child home due to bullying.
•This forces children back into unsafe environments.
•It punishes parents for safeguarding their child’s life.
What Willow’s Law Guarantees
No parent can be fined, prosecuted, or penalised for keeping their child home during confirmed bullying-related harm.
If a child is experiencing sustained or repeated bullying, and physical, emotional, or psychological harm has been reported by:
•The child
•The parent/guardian
•A healthcare professional
…then no educational penalty can be issued.
That includes:
•Fines
•Attendance enforcement
•Safeguarding referrals for absence
•Prosecution
This protection covers the entire period where the bullying concern is active.
Examples of covered situations include (but aren’t limited to):
•Severe anxiety caused by bullying
•Physical injury or threats
•Online bullying that leads to school refusal
•Emotional or mental health deterioration linked to bullying
School refusal due to trauma
Non- attendance during or following bullying incidents
Mental health breakdowns requiring at-home recovery
Parental discretion exercised in the child’s best interests
Safeguarding over triency:
In such cases, the duty of the school and local authority shall shift from attendance enforcement to immediate safeguarding assessment.
Schools must offer a meeting within 5 working days to discuss support options including reduced time tables, therapeutic reintegration plans and CAMHS access.
Any school, local authority or attendance officer found to issue punitive measures against parents under this clause will be subject to a formal investigation and potential misconduct proceedings.
Mandatory parent/guardian involvement in all bullying reports
Parent/Guardian Involvement in Every Bullying Report
Why this matters:
When bullying is reported—physical, verbal, emotional, or online—parents must be told immediately.
Too many children suffer silently because adults were never informed.
Too many schools delay, minimise, or withhold incidents to protect their reputation.
Those delays leave families unaware until the damage is irreversible.
This happened to Willow Lee.
And Willow’s Law exists so it never happens again.
Mandatory Notification Within 48 Hours
Schools must inform parents/guardians within 48 hours of any confirmed or suspected bullying involving their child—whether they are:
The victim
The accused
A witness
The notification must include:
A written incident summary
Any physical or psychological harm observed
The initial safeguarding plan
Mandatory Release of CCTV
When parents request it, CCTV footage must be released to:
Parents/guardians of both the victim and the accused
The child’s GP or mental-health professionals
Local police in cases of physical assault or repeated incidents
No more hiding. No more excuses.
Integrated Mental Health Safeguarding
Far too often, schools, GPs, and mental-health services operate in isolation.
A child can report bullying at school, show distress at home, and speak to a doctor about anxiety or self-harm—yet none of those dots are connected.
This gap costs lives.
Early warning signs get missed. Interventions come too late.
That’s exactly what happened to Willow Lee.
Willow’s Law closes that gap for good.
What Willow’s Law Introduces
Mandatory Link Between School Safeguarding Records & GP Mental-Health Records
Every bullying report or safeguarding concern recorded by a school must be:
Added to the child’s official safeguarding file
Shared securely with the child’s registered GP
Flagged with mental-health indicators such as:
Behaviour changes
Self-harm
Anxiety or PTSD symptoms
CAMHS referrals or concerns
No more fragmented information. No more siloed agencies.
A Dual-Access Safeguarding System
A single, secure record must be accessible to:
Schools (DSLs/safeguarding leads)
Parents/guardians
GPs and approved mental-health professionals
Social workers or safeguarding officers (when involved)
Each party must be able to:
View and update entries
Record intervention steps
Set review dates and escalate concerns to relevant services
This creates accountability, transparency, and continuity of care.
Safeguarding Records That Follow the Child
The record must:
Transfer automatically as a child moves schools
Form part of any EHCP for students with ongoing needs
Be fully encrypted and GDPR-compliant
Include access logs to prevent misuse
A child’s safety information should never get “lost” just because they change school.
Why This Closes Dangerous Loopholes
No more “miscommunication” between schools and GPs
No more missed trauma patterns across different settings
Schools can’t hide incidents in off-record chats or internal-only logs
Creates legal transparency and shared responsibility
This is how Willow’s Law protects children who would otherwise be left invisible in the system.
CAMHS Discharge Reform & Suicide Prevention
Why This Matters
A suicide attempt is not a “close call.”
It’s a life-or-death warning — and the system treats it like a paperwork tick-box.
Too many children are discharged from CAMHS the moment they “seem better.”
This false sense of recovery leaves them unprotected during the first six months, when risk is highest.
Willow Lee attempted suicide once.
She was discharged too early.
Months later, she died by suicide.
We cannot allow this to happen again.
What Willow’s Law Mandates
Safer CAMHS Discharge Rules
No child can be discharged based on verbal reports alone.
Discharge must only happen after:
8 weeks of proven emotional stability with in-person check-ins
Confirmation from all of the following:
School safeguarding lead
Parent or guardian
CAMHS clinical supervisor
High-risk cases reviewed by an independent trauma specialist
2. Mandatory Mental Health Follow-Ups
Every discharge must include:
Fortnightly mental-health follow-ups for 4 months
Monthly follow-ups for 6 months
Direct communication between CAMHS, the child’s school, and their GP — fully logged in the shared safeguarding record
3. Suicide Attempt Safeguarding Requirements
Every suicide attempt must be:
Logged by CAMHS
Shared with the school, GP, and local safeguarding board
Flagged for high-risk monitoring for 7 months minimum
Paired with a Recovery Risk Pathway accessible to all agencies
This guarantees no child falls through the cracks.
Why This Fixes System Failures
✔ Prevents children being discharged just because they “look better”
✔ Stops one-off referrals being treated like a solution
✔ Forces schools, GPs, and CAMHS to work together
✔ Protects the most dangerous period — the first 6 months
✔ Holds agencies accountable for outcomes, not paperwork
The Positive Change This Brings
Protects the children most at risk of suicide
Shifts mental-health care from panic-response to long-term safety
Creates genuine joined-up support between families, schools, GPs, and CAMHS
Ensures no child recovers alone
Ensures no parent buries a child because the system moved too fast
Fast-Track CAMHS Access for Bullying Victims & On-Site School Integration
Why This Matters
Children who are bullied aren’t “having a bad week.”
They are experiencing sustained trauma — and untreated trauma leads to:
Suicidal thoughts
Self-harm
School refusal
Eating disorders
Lifelong mental health conditions
Right now, CAMHS waiting times can be 6 months or more, which is completely unacceptable for a child in crisis.
Willow Lee was one of those children.
She was discharged early based on a checklist — asked if she was “feeling better.”
She said yes, because children say what adults want to hear and those with SEND needs are known to “mask”
I had asked CAMHS to support her again when I noticed she was going back to self harming and they put her on a 6 month waiting list…. with her history of both self harm and suicide attempts, this shouldn’t have happened it should have been IMMEDIATE help!
Months later, she died by suicide.
We cannot expect traumatised children to assess their own safety.
Professionals need to be inside schools, not behind a waiting list.
What Willow’s Law Proposes
National Fast-Track CAMHS Pathway for Bullying Victims
When a child is confirmed to be experiencing sustained bullying or a safeguarding concern, they must:
Be referred to CAMHS within 72 hours
Have a first-line assessment within 5 working days
Be prioritised above general referrals under a new “trauma-response pathway”
Mandatory CAMHS Integration in Every School
Every school (primary, secondary, and alternative provision) must employ at least a minimum of four permanent CAMHS professionals, including:
Clinical Child Psychologist
Mental Health Practitioner (CBT/DBT trained)
Safeguarding Liaison Officer
Neurodevelopmental Specialist (autism, ADHD, trauma-informed care)
Schools must provide safe therapeutic spaces:
Confidential one-to-one counselling rooms
Crisis response areas
A reception-free calming zone away from noise and foot traffic
3. What On-Site CAMHS Teams Will Do
These permanent teams will:
Provide daily and weekly mental-health support
Attend all safeguarding reviews for bullied students
Train school staff to recognise trauma
Liaise with parents, GPs, and social services for fully joined-up care
4. Shared Data & Unified Records
CAMHS notes and actions will be:
Digitally linked to school safeguarding records
Connected to GP systems with secure consent
Accessible to parents and relevant professionals
This transparency allows:
Earlier detection of trauma patterns
Unified intervention plans across all agencies
Evidence trails for external agencies and court proceedings if required
CAMHS discharge reforms
A child may not be discharged based on “feeling better”
Instead, discharge must follow:
A minimum of 3 months stability review period
Joint approval from school safeguarding staff and the child’s parent/guardian
an assessment by a third party trauma expert in high risk cases
Mandatory follow ups:
Every 2 weeks for 6 months
Monthly for 4 months thereafter
Mandatory specialist training for CAMHS staff
All CAMHS staff must receive the following:
Annual training in trauma- informed practice
Bullying- specific psychological impact education including:
Masking
Peer shaming
Emotional shutdown
Cultural and socio economic awarenness training
Neurodiversity education including
ADHD
Autism
Sensory regulation
Psychological disorder's
Bipolar
Borderline personality disorder
Schizophrenia
Accountability for CAMHS & Schools
What Happens When CAMHS Fails to Act
CAMHS services that do not follow Willow’s Law will:
Be investigated by NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups
Face review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Risk losing school service contracts
Be reportable to the Ombudsman by families and GPs
No more silent failures. No more unchallenged mistakes.
What Happens When Schools Fail to Support CAMHS
Schools that refuse to refer, host, or cooperate with CAMHS teams will:
Face safeguarding audits and regulatory action
Risk Ofsted downgrades and funding penalties
Be held legally accountable under breach of care laws
Schools don’t get to look the other way anymore.
The Positive Change This Brings
Protects children on the frontlines — by placing CAMHS support directly where harm is happening
Creates safer school cultures, where wellbeing isn’t an add-on, but part of daily life
Reduces suicide and crisis escalation through continuous, early intervention
Ensures no child slips through the cracks just because they “seemed fine”
Gives teachers and parents a real team, not just a phone number
Safeguarding Integrity Protocol
Stopping the Misuse of Self-Harm Claims by Bullies
Why This Matters
Most claims of distress from children must always be taken seriously — but there are rare cases where known bullies weaponise self-harm claims to:
Avoid consequences
Reverse blame
Frame the victim
Disrupt investigations
Manipulate safeguarding systems
This not only harms the victim — it undermines the entire safeguarding process.
Willow’s Law closes this loophole.
What Willow’s Law Proposes
Dual Investigation Process
When a student accused of repeated bullying suddenly shows signs or claims of self-harm:
Their mental-health needs must be treated with compassion
BUT the bullying investigation continues — it cannot be paused or dismissed
Two safeguarding pathways run at the same time:
One protecting the victim
One assessing the emotional needs of the bully
Forensic Documentation of Behaviour
Schools must document:
Patterns of manipulation (timed claims, threats, avoidance behaviour)
CCTV evidence
Witness reports
Digital messages
This ensures behaviour is assessed alongside mental-health claims — not instead of them.
Mandatory Safeguarding Review Meeting
If a known bully claims self-harm or distress, a multi-agency meeting must happen within 5 days, involving:
School safeguarding leads
CAMHS professionals
Parents of both children
This prevents false claims from derailing investigations or silencing victims.
False Claims Accountability
If evidence confirms a self-harm claim was fabricated to avoid consequences or harm a victim:
A serious safeguarding breach is recorded
Behavioural sanctions must be applied
Counselling must be offered to address manipulation
Parents must be formally warned
Repeated cases move the child into Tier 2 or 3 of the Willow’s Law Tiered Response System
Protection of the Victim
A victim must never be suspended, punished, or blamed solely on a bully’s claim
Safeguarding decisions must rely on evidence and neutral assessment, not panic or manipulation
Positive Impact
Protects real victims from being silenced or framed
Stops emotional manipulation from weakening safeguarding systems
Encourages honest engagement with mental-health services
Builds a safeguarding culture based on truth, fairness, and urgency
