Student Safeguarding - What Schools Need To Do To Protect Online Safety

In 2023, schools in the UK have continued to face waves of disruption throughout the year. Whether it’s teachers striking for better pay, organised ransomware and cyber attacks, or, most recently, the discovery of unsafe concrete forcing schools to close, students are certainly not having an easy time.

Disruption in schools has also already had a knock-on effect when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of children across the UK. Earlier this year, the NSPCC found that 93% of teachers reported that the number of safeguarding referrals made within their school over the past year had increased. On top of this, 87% of teachers also reported an increase in the number of neglect referrals.

The role of schools in safeguarding students has therefore never been more important. Yet in the face of ongoing disruption and ever-thinly stretched resources, many schools are now turning to technology to help keep students safe, while also keeping up with evolving government standards.

Today we’re going to take a closer look at exactly what schools need to be aware of when it comes to the latest government guidelines on student safeguarding, and how you can effectively meet these standards by implementing a comprehensive safeguarding solution.

What is safeguarding?

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As defined by the NSPCC, “Safeguarding” refers to the action taken to promote and protect the welfare of children. This means protecting children from things like abuse, maltreatment, harm, and making sure that children develop in a safe environment.

In terms of the specific actions taken to protect children, this means having child protection procedures and solutions in place to swiftly identify children potentially or already at risk of harm, and to be able to intervene appropriately.

To ensure schools in the UK maintain high standards for student safeguarding, the Department for Education provides both legally binding and advisory guidance through its Keeping Children Safe In Education (KCSIE) Guidelines. Let’s take a look at exactly what’s involved and what this means for school IT teams.

What is Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)?

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) is crucial statutory guidance issued by the Department for Education (DfE) under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002. It establishes the legal obligations that all educational institutions in England, including schools and colleges, must adhere to in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children under eighteen.

Introduced in 2014, KCSIE recognises the pivotal role of education staff in safeguarding children and integrating the education sector into the broader safeguarding framework. The guidance, spanning 179 pages, is structured into five key sections:

Safeguarding Information for All Staff: This section is essential reading for all school and college personnel, even those not in direct contact with children.

The Management of Safeguarding: Targeted at headteachers, designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), and governance teams, this part delineates the responsibilities of governing bodies and proprietors.

Safer Recruitment: This section details an institution's recruitment processes, covering advertising, applications, interviewing, checks, and record keeping.

Allegations Against Educational Staff: This part addresses concerns and allegations regarding teachers, including supply teachers, other staff, volunteers, and contractors.

Child-on-Child Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment: Expanded in the 2022 update, this section now incorporates the previously separate DfE advice on this topic.

KCSIE also includes six annexes:

A. Shortened Version of Part 1: Designed for staff not directly working with children.

B. Additional Guidance on Specific Safeguarding Issues: Covers various topics, including child abduction, exploitation, domestic abuse, and more.

C. Role of the DSL: Explains the role and responsibilities of the designated safeguarding lead.

D. Host Families and Homestays During Exchange Visits: Focuses on safeguarding during exchange programs.

E. Statutory Guidance for Regulated Activity (Children): Pertains to supervised activity with children.

F. Annual Changes: Highlights substantive modifications in each year's guidance.

Additionally, KCSIE outlines the essential structures educational institutions must establish, including a publicly accessible safeguarding policy on their website. Ensuring compliance with KCSIE is vital to upholding the safety and well-being of children within educational settings, but that doesn’t mean it has to be an overwhelming challenge. By implementing a comprehensive safeguarding solution, schools can rapidly improve and advance their safeguarding procedures and capabilities to meet both the KCSIE legal and advisory requirements.

What are the 2023 KCSIE Guidelines that School Leaders and IT teams need to be aware of when considering a safeguarding solution?

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The 2023 KCSIE Guidance firmly places the duty for implementing and overseeing web filtering and monitoring solutions on school leadership, rather than solely relying on the IT team to manage this responsibility:

When it comes to monitoring students, KCSIE guidance says that “monitoring user activity on school and college devices is an important part of providing a safe environment for children and staff. Unlike filtering, it does not stop users from accessing material through internet searches or software”.

“A variety of monitoring strategies may be required to minimise safeguarding risks on internet connected devices and may include:”

In terms of web filtering, there are a number of standards that must be met by your school’s filtering provider. For example, this includes:

How can Safeguarding solutions help my school to meet the 2023 KCSIE guidelines?

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Credit: Securly

Well-recognised and comprehensive safeguarding solutions such as Securly can help your school to fully meet the KCSIE’s guidelines for student safeguarding. With cloud-based web filtering and AI-powered monitoring, Securly effectively prevents access to inappropriate websites, issues alerts for detected student safety concerns, monitors student well-being, and enables teachers to supervise student device activities in the classroom.

Throughout the solution, there's a strong emphasis on reducing staff workload while identifying students at risk and facilitating early intervention. Securly's suite of solutions is designed exclusively for schools, offering intuitive and user-friendly products tailored for teaching staff and Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs).

Delegated Administration

Securly's delegated administration options grant teaching staff direct access to web filter policy management, alerts, and wellness dashboard data. Securly Filter and Aware are customisable to ensure that staff only access information pertaining to the students they are responsible for, streamlining workflow and safeguarding data.

Filtering and Monitoring - Any Device, Anywhere

Securly's cloud architecture supports all device types (Windows, Chrome, iOS, MAC, Android, etc.) in any location, both within and outside the school premises. It accommodates school-owned devices, guest networks, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies.

Student Safety Alerts

Securly Aware employs advanced AI technology to analyse student internet activity across various platforms, including searches, social media, web browsing, email, chat, and shared documents. It detects potential issues such as bullying, violence, self-harm, grief, and suicide and promptly notifies DSLs.

Monitoring Wellness Levels

Securly Aware continuously assesses student activity in real-time to identify signs of distress and assigns an accurate wellness level. Wellness level scores offer a straightforward indication of an individual student's emotional state and its changes, aiding DSLs in identifying those requiring immediate attention.

Monitoring Devices

Securly Classroom provides cloud-based classroom management, enabling teachers to view student screens during class sessions. This feature assists teachers in guiding lessons, tracking student progress, and maintaining a focus on learning.

Minimising Staff Workload

Securly's AI and configuration options work together to minimise false positives and alleviate staff workload. By analysing complete sentences and employing sentiment analysis to identify negative context, Securly reduces false alarms. Alert triggers can also be tailored for different student groups, adjusting the threshold for triggering alerts.

Outsourcing Alert Monitoring and Investigation with On-Call

Schools rely on Securly On-Call to help identify and respond to students at risk of self-harm, suicide, bullying, and violence. The On-Call Team reviews alerts from Securly Aware and promptly notifies school staff, ensuring swift follow-up on alerts, allowing teachers to focus on teaching.

Why is it important to have a safeguarding solution in place for your school?

Ensuring safeguarding measures are firmly in place is key to shielding vulnerable children from harm, abuse, and neglect. Neglecting these crucial responsibilities risks exacerbating the distress endured by those already suffering. The essence of effective safeguarding lies in its ability to swiftly recognise  signs of abuse and promptly engage the relevant authorities.

In schools, the significance of safeguarding takes on added importance. Educators possess a distinctive vantage point, affording them insight into children's development, behaviour, and social interactions. This unique perspective equips them to identify potential signs of both physical and psychological abuse. Additionally, they can harness this unique position to impart vital knowledge to students, empowering them to comprehend the hazards they may encounter within and beyond the school environment, while also guiding them on seeking help when they encounter uncomfortable or difficult situations.

How can you keep your students safe while online?

Throughout this post, it’s easy to see how keeping students safe online at school remains a top priority for educators and school leaders. Below are just a few of the steps we'd recommend you take to help protect your students and staff from cyber threats and harmful content:

  1. Robust Filtering and Monitoring: Implement a strong student safeguarding solution with content filtering and real-time monitoring to block inappropriate content and spot risks.
  1. Educate: Teach students responsible internet use, privacy protection, and how to identify online threats.
  1. Regular Training: Provide ongoing digital literacy and online safety training.
  1. Password Security: Encourage strong, unique passwords and educate students on password safety.
  1. Safe Browsing: Promote safe online habits, like avoiding suspicious links and not sharing personal information.
  1. Reporting: Set up clear reporting procedures for students to report online concerns.
  1. Secure Network: Maintain a secure school network with up-to-date security measures.
  1. Privacy Awareness: Emphasise the importance of safeguarding personal information.
  1. Supervision: Monitor online activities during school hours.
  1. Parental Engagement: Keep parents informed and involved in their child's online life.
  1. Regular Updates: Continuously assess and update your safeguarding solution to stay ahead of online threats.

With these steps and a strong safeguarding solution in place, schools can create a safe online learning environment for students.

Conclusion

When it comes to student safeguarding, we take it seriously. If your school is in need of assistance in selecting and implementing a robust safeguarding solution, talk to our friendly team of specialists and we can help you to protect and improve the wellbeing of your students.

Affordable Access To Tech For Every Student - CommunITy 1:1 Parental Contribution Scheme - Upcoming Webinar Series

This March we're running a series of webinars to raise awareness of CommunITy 1:1 - our parental contribution scheme designed to help schools regain control of their technology budgets - at a time where the sector is under unprecedented pressure.

Last week saw schools across the country making front page news, as teachers and workers took part in the largest day of industrial action in a decade.

Over half of the UK's state-funded schools partly or fully closed as teachers sought to make their voices heard, with the National Education Union (NEU) citing low pay and excessive workloads as key reasons behind the strikes.

The financial pressures schools are facing will therefore be at the forefront of everyone's minds heading into BETT 2023 this year, and there's big questions that need answers.

If you're a school leader, you might be asking: "How can I continue to keep my school up to date with technology when the funds just aren't there?"

Or if you're on the IT team, you may be wondering: "How will I cope with increasing workloads if my team can't be grown?"

Well, before you consider facing down the hoards of exhibition stands and goodie bags, if you've got 20 minutes on 1st March we'd like to show you an alternative approach towards how technology in schools can be funded and managed.

We want to put the power into the hands of your community, to ensure that every child can be given equal access to technology. This is the goal of CommunITy 1:1, our fully managed parental contribution scheme.

Through our webinar series, we'll show you how adopting a 1:1 approach can be financially sustainable for schools and parents - while being simple to manage for IT - to enhance the teaching and learning experience.

Some of the key benefits of introducing a 1:1 scheme include:

Here's what's coming up this March:

Webinar 1: CommunITy 1:1 Parental Contribution Scheme Overview - Why Should You Consider A 1:1 Scheme for Your School?

1st March 2023 - 2:30pm

Ideal for: School Headteachers, Senior Leaders, IT, Teaching & Learning Coordinators

Webinar 2: How Does A 1:1 Scheme Benefit Students & Parents?

14th March 2023 - 2:30pm

Ideal for: School Governors, Senior Leaders, Teaching & Learning Coordinators

Webinar 3: How Can A 1:1 Benefit My School's Finances?

22nd March 2023 - 2:30pm

Ideal for: Finance Officers, IT, Senior Leaders

So join us at our CommunITy 1:1 parental contribution scheme webinars, and we'll give you a full overview of what a 1:1 scheme looks like in practice. We'll also be taking a deeper dive into the benefits a parental contribution scheme can provide to students & parents, as well as exploring the key financial advantages CommunITy 1:1 can bring to your school.

Over the last 15 years, we've seen the pressures schools have faced firsthand in trying to make their budgets stretch to keep up with technology. But we've also seen the positive effect technology can have on enhancing the teaching & learning experience. This is why we're keen to help as many schools as possible to prioritise digital inclusion for their students in a way that's financially viable for the future ahead.

CommunITy 1:1 parental contribution scheme logo. 3 figures hugging in a circle around the Haptic fingerprint logo.

How DfE funding is helping schools

Since the Department for Education began authorising funding for schools to enable cloud learning, we've been asked what the funding can help with. Here's more on why schools should embrace a Google Learning environment and utilise the DFE funding pool.

Teach Remotely using Google Meet

Video calls within Google Classroom with pupils, keeping the teacher in control of the room 

Video call with up to 250 staff members from a Chrome browser 

Use Google Chat to send private messages to staff or create group conversations

Assign work using Google Classroom

Handout work digitally using Google Classroom assignments and grade them in the same place

Utilising existing resources such as word docs and pdfs that are already in your Google Drive 

Ask questions within the Class and differentiate learning resources between specific students quickly and easily 

Store it all in Google Drive 

Completely unlimited cloud storage for each user 

Can store anything from pdf up to large media format video projects 

Links directly to others apps in G Suite and other apps you may use already 

Self Marking Assessment using Google Forms

Create easy surveys and quizzes within Google forms and distribute them through Google Classroom

Create your answer keys so the quiz can mark itself with multiple question formats available 

Analyse results quickly with Google forms directly integrating data collection into Google Sheets

Preserve Student Safety 

Google Admin console allows you to control what parts of GSuite students experience while logged into a school account 

Google Meet can allow a teacher to record all calls so you have an audit trail in case of safeguarding concerns 

Google Vault and Google Drive provide the ability to search and export data on a user basis to help understand interactions that happened with GSuite applications

So there you have it, a very brief rundown of some of the outcomes you can expect if you harness the funding available to partner with Haptic Networks. We guide you through the set up process, we can even offer your school ongoing support to help during lockdown. Contact us here for more info

Haptic Networks Google Learning Festivals are "much better than school"

Google learning festival
Google learning festival

by Darrell Raynard, Cloud Services Specialist

If you don't know what a Google Learning Festival is, it's an education programme created to help end-users understand the power of Chromebooks in the classrooms and see the impact on the real users of the technology - the learners.

After seeing teachers and leadership staff coming to other IT channel events and being talked 'at' all day, with no context or application being delivered to them, we identified the gap in getting the message and value across to the learners and BANG! - the Haptic Networks Google Learning Festivals were born.

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Click here for YouTube interview

Friday, 8 November 2019:

" It's not often I'm excited to be out my front door in the freezing cold at 5:30 am, but today was another one of our Google Learning Festivals at the awesome Google reference school Aylesbury High School. So with my other half's travel mug “borrowed” and not nearly enough coffee in it I was merrily on my way.

09:00: After wrestling with the slightly frustrating marketing stand, and getting a superb amount of support from Caroline and the team at Aylesbury High School, the kids and their teachers started to file in. Everyone collected there own Wonde magic badge and sat at one of the 4 colour coded desks in front of a Lenovo 300e Chromebook for them to use for the tasks at hand.

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Click here for the YouTube Video

We told everyone to login using the Wonde badge by holding it up to the camera and in the words of one of the kids, Boom I'm in, that was easy!. After a brief play around with Google experiments, our Google guides, Hardeep and Joe from Tablet Academy UK, got everyone started on the tasks:

All of the tasks and resources were distributed to students using Google Classroom, with instructions in Google sites. Learners were allowed to work at their own pace and explore the tools independently and with their peers.

I'm always in awe of the feedback and soundbites we get from teachers and learners who come to these events, you can see for yourself from the video testimonials included in this blog why we love doing them.

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Click here to view the Youtube video

In summary, today we hosted 50 learners from Years 6 - 8 and there wasn't a moment in the day where they were disengaged or looked to be at a loss with the technology.

The Haptic Networks Google Learning Festivals are always well-received, senior leaders and learners alike are inspired and excited about the possibilities available to them, and I have a fulfilling day at the office. "

Till next time,

Darrell Raynard

Cloud Services Specialist

Interested in hosting a Google Learning Festival with us?

Please click below to register your interest