Monitoring can have an impact on many different aspects of an Ofsted inspection, so it’s important to understand the kind of questions they may ask you to ensure you are prepared.
Ofsted wants to ensure your school safeguarding is effective, including the online aspect of safeguarding. They expect to see a correct understanding of statutory guidelines and that the correct policies are in place to implement them. They want to see evidence that your school effectively identifies risk and checks that effective action has been taken.
Monitoring helps identify students at risk. Effective solutions are up to date and understand the risks that schools need to detect. They can categorise risk and work at speed so that serious concerns can be raised and actioned quickly. Monitoring can identify students at risk by their online behaviour and can pick up concerns that a school may not otherwise be aware of.
Ofsted are likely to talk to a range of staff members, governors, and pupils and will ask for feedback through parent view or sometimes speak to parents directly.
Sometimes there can be a disconnect between what the school thinks the safeguarding culture is and the reality experienced by pupils and teachers. For example, teachers may feel there is no bullying in the school, but parents and pupils may see it as a problem. Digital monitoring systems can be effective in identifying bullying without pupils having to tell anyone.