Governors play a key role within schools - driving strategy, ratifying policies and helping to maintain and raise standards. As schools, colleges and MATs adjust to expanding requirements around online safety, governors should incorporate such considerations into their duties.
This article details 5 practical steps governors can take towards fulfilling their digital safeguarding responsibilities, to achieve optimal outcomes for the students and institutions they support.1. Understand the central aspects of digital safeguarding
Digital risks are constantly evolving. As a result, safeguarding technologies and guidelines designed to protect students online are regularly updated and improved. For example, the definitions of appropriate filtering and monitoring within schools are revised on an annual basis, to meet changing demands.
It’s important for governors to educate themselves on these topics and understand the types of technologies available, so that they can make an informed decision on the right solutions for their organisation.
Filtering and monitoring
To navigate today’s online landscape, a filter needs to be able to track and decipher a variety of content that is continually updating, evolving and proliferating. While no web filter can guarantee 100% protection against online threats, deploying the right filtering technology for your school can help mitigate the vast majority of risks students face online.
Two major components of a school’s digital safeguarding approach are filtering and monitoring. According to KCSIE 2023, all schools must have filtering and monitoring systems in place, and certain staff members (such as DSLs and IT managers) need to have a clear understanding of how their institution’s solutions work. This is further confirmed by their inclusion in the draft of KCSIE 2024, due to come into effect in September.
Filtering and monitoring systems operate together to protect students online. Though most people in education are aware of these terms, not everybody is aware of what they are or how they differ from one another.
In simple terms, web filtering can be seen as a playground fence. It protects those within its parameters from many potential risks, but it is not an impenetrable brick wall - certain things are still allowed to enter and exit. There are 4 main types of web filter used in UK education, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
Digital monitoring acts as the member of staff on playground duty. It observes and moderates activity on the school network in order to detect any risks or incidents that require intervention.
Learn more about digital monitoring in our Governor’s Guide to Digital Monitoring.
The risks students face online
In addition to understanding the solutions in place to protect children in digital spaces, governors should be aware of the types of risks students face online. This includes issues such as:
- Cyberbullying
- Sextortion
- Exposure to extreme content
- Machine drift
The data produced by filtering and monitoring systems may highlight the specific online risks a school needs to address, so this is a useful topic to discuss in governing board meetings.
2. Stay up-to-date with statutory guidance and legislation
To meet the demands of a rapidly changing online world, the statutory guidance around protecting students from digital threats is regularly updated. By staying informed of the latest guidance and legislation, governors can help their school stay ahead of the curve as much as possible.
This includes requirements laid out by KCSIE and publications from the Department for Education, such as Filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges and Working together to safeguard children.
As well as helping governors to ensure that school policies meet regulatory requirements, a strong knowledge of digital safeguarding guidelines provides valuable insights that may be used to support schools through inspections. For example, the KCSIE 2023 updates were predominantly focused on filtering and monitoring. Not only does this emphasise the importance of such systems within schools, but the guidelines themselves can offer governors an idea of the types of questions Ofsted or the ISI may ask around digital safeguarding.
The Online Safety Act
An important piece of legislation that is likely to have a big impact on digital safeguarding is the Online Safety Act. It is a collection of laws that aim to “make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.”
In terms of legislation aimed at protecting children online, the rules have a zero tolerance approach to online harm. Social media platforms are forced to take more responsibility for the safety of minors through measures demanding strict age limits, the swift removal of illegal content and the publishing of risk assessments.
3. Apply digital safeguarding knowledge when ratifying policy
A key role of school governors is to ratify policy documentation. Once armed with a strong knowledge of digital safeguarding and the legislation around it, governors can utilise this information to make informed decisions on policy proposals and updates. Taking this approach can help to ensure that all policies (acceptable use, child protection, staff code of conduct…etc.) are cross-referencing and thus contribute to a robust and cohesive safeguarding strategy.
Section 138 of KCSIE, for example, states that an institution’s approach to online safety “should be reflected in the child protection policy,” and that this “should include appropriate filtering and monitoring on school devices and school networks.” Similarly, a school’s filtering and monitoring procedures in relation to staff needs to be included in their staff code of conduct.
School policies should also take into account any terminology changes announced within digital safeguarding legislation. A recent example of this would be the need to replace any references to “peer-on-peer abuse” with “child-on-child abuse”. Applying such changes to policies and curriculum is a simple way for a school to demonstrate that it is well-informed of safeguarding legislation and procedures.
4. Contribute to effective policy communication
A vital part of implementing digital safeguarding policies is communicating them across the school community. When ratifying policies, governors can make sure that consideration is given to how to educate staff, students, parents and visitors on online safety and the procedures that impact them.
Staff
As well as being made aware of the digital safety policies they must enforce and adhere to, governors should ensure that staff receive training to help them fulfil these duties. According to KCSIE, safeguarding training should cover “online safety which, amongst other things, includes an understanding of the expectations, applicable roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring” and be regularly updated.
DSLs, given their increased responsibilities in this area, will require additional training and resources.
Students
When communicating digital safeguarding policies to students, different age groups will require different approaches. Younger year groups in primary schools, for example, are unlikely to take in the information if it is only in writing. Schools may need to find more creative and interactive ways to help young students understand how to behave appropriately within digital environments.
Parents
It’s important that parents receive up-to-date information and guidance on digital safety procedures and the potential risks their children may be exposed to online. One way schools can achieve this is by hosting sessions for parents on digital safety. Keep in mind that some parents may avoid attending such events if they feel they will be scolded for unhealthy use of digital devices. Make it clear that the sessions are designed to be non-judgemental, informative and helpful.
Facilitating parental engagement in digital safety protocols can benefit the whole school community. It helps to build trust between parents and the school, and can encourage the adoption of healthy digital habits outside of school hours.
Visitors
Any visitors to school premises will need to be informed of the digital safeguarding measures that impact them. This includes things like mobile phone policies and the fact that any devices they use on site may be subject to filtering and monitoring.
Communicating these procedures on a case-by-case basis is likely to be laborious. Instead, governors can help schools to decide on a single suitable approach, whether that be a leaflet that is handed to visitors at the door, or a short safeguarding briefing that is included on check-in systems.
5. Perform regular digital reputation management
Checking the organisation's digital reputation is a useful task that all governors should undertake on a regular basis. This involves searching for the organisation online and checking that the results paint a positive picture.
A school’s online reputation matters to prospective parents, students and teachers. Furthermore, digital reputation is something that Ofsted and the ISI are likely to check, so it’s beneficial for governors to know the type of information that is obtainable to the public. Aspects to consider are reviews, complaints, news stories and the quality of the school website.
In addition to assessing the school’s online reputation, it’s wise for governors to do these searches on themselves too. A quick search of a person’s name, alongside their location, hobbies or friends can be revealing. Governors are also advised to perform reverse image searches on Google, which will reveal any areas of the web where their pictures are being used. As representatives of the school, it all feeds into the institution’s wider digital reputation.
Useful resources for governors
Governors, parents, students and teachers are all members of the digital community and therefore have a responsibility to report harmful online content.
To further contribute to a whole-school approach to digital safeguarding, governors may want to share the following resources with the rest of the governing body and on their school’s website:
- Report Harmful Content
A resource from the UK Safer Internet Centre that allows adults and children to report harmful content they find online. - Report Remove
A resource from the Internet Watch Foundation and Childline that enables young people to report when sexual videos/images of them have been shared online and get them removed. - CEOP report abuse button
A service from the National Crime Agency that allows children, parents and safeguarders to report online abuse. CEOP can arrange for a special button to be added to a school’s website.
To learn more about digital safeguarding and the technologies that can enable schools to meet statutory guidelines, download our free whitepaper Bridging the Language Gap.
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