best online practice, successful monitoring
For the first time, Ofsted refer to online safety in significant areas of the new inspection framework. Safeguarding online is not just about protecting students, instead being a much bigger area of education and the curriculum. Educating your students on best online practice, successful monitoring of their technology habits, and effective strategies for concerns to be escalated and dealt with are all required to call a school effective in safeguarding.
By developing Acceptable Usage Police in class with your students, you can create user boundaries that reflect Moral British Values. Alongside key word detection, filtering libraries and anonymous reporting tools, your school can implement fundamental strategies that protect your students from the risks online.
As of summer 2015, all adults in a position of care are subject to a Prevent Duty. In accordance with the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, schools must have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This means that a school must be able to clearly identify those children at risk or vulnerable to radicalisation. The Prevent Duty extends to having suitable procedures in place to action these concerns, and minimize the risk to children where possible. It is part of the safeguarding that a school is required to implement.
Some children may slip under the radar, or be very guarded when it comes to disclosing their concerns, especially when they believe that these concerns may get them in trouble. In light of these factors, and the changes to the Ofsted inspection framework, it is ever more important that your school can monitor and respond to radicalisation online – a platform that has the potential to be tricky to manage without a comprehensive, user-friendly solution.