3 Ways to Improve E-safety for Your Pupils at School
Wed 09 September, 2020
The online world has never been more open, more vibrant and more important. If lockdown has shown us anything, it is the undeniable power of the internet and technology.
We have all developed a newfound appreciation for how easy remote communication can be. This event will likely have long felt repercussion for our world, particularly as the world of work moves to an ever-greater focus on remote working.
This also means that E-Safety is even more important to parents, teachers and pupils. This goes beyond the traditional whole school assembly on ‘’stranger danger’’ and avoiding ‘’creeps’’ online.
CONTENT FILTERING & MONITORING
A good starting point for in school E-safety is to ensure pupils can’t access inappropriate content through school-based computer devices. Which is why we offer content filtering on all computers, and devices will block inappropriate content as standard.
The key is to consider what level of filtering is appropriate and effective for your school. For example, at a college you may feel able to have less strict filters compared to in a primary school.
Another effective tool for in school E-safety is a monitoring system, these can be set up to highlight when a pupil may have accessed something inappropriate.
We recommend installing a smart computer monitoring system which can alert you if one of your pupils has viewed something that might be upsetting, worrying or harmful. This way teachers or support staff can check the student is safe following the event.
We don’t recommend using this to punish or chastise students, but rather as a safety net to ensure the wellbeing of pupils following a potentially upsetting event.
SPEAK TO CHILD PROTECTION PROFESSIONALS
We don’t expect you to know everything about E-safety, so when you are looking to review or improve the E-safety within your school it is worth speaking with a child protection specialist.
By speaking with a fully trained specialist you can discuss the specific concerns and needs of your school, allowing to the gain expert, personalised advice and support. This also allows you to learn from experts about E-safety, helping you to feel more prepared and aware when supporting your teaching staff and parents.
That is why we offer your clients access to fully-trained specialists to give you peace of mind.
SUPPORT MATERIALS & ENGAGING STUDENTS
Rather than just doing a big assembly on E-safety where most of the pupils are unlikely to be listening and even more of them won’t retain the information anyway, why not consider how you can include E-safety education throughout your whole school curriculum. Sitting crossed-legged in a hall at 8:30 am while the headteacher waxes on about how important it is not to accept ‘’friend requests’’ from people you don’t know, is unlikely to inspire engagement or enthusiasm from many of your pupils.
If you can find new ways to weave this teaching into other subjects you may just gain their attention. A Sex Ed class could be a great place to discuss the issue of online harassment and the possible future impacts of sending private images across the internet. A careers day or CV writing exercise could form an ideal setting to discuss privacy settings and what employers may find when researching candidates for a role.
We support our e-safety services with a variety of materials including an advice website, regular updates and emails. All of these resources provide you with the means to support your pupils and help them to understand the dangers of the Internet.