Governing Body / Proprietors/ Owners

You need to:

• Be aware of your responsibilities and accountability for online safety.

• Be aware of trends, risks and threats from internet use - this includes breaches of data protection.

• Be a critical friend when approving the online policy, procedure and practice.

• Ensure that the school’s firewalls provide appropriate filters and monitoring to protect students from inappropriate online content and contact. This includes ensuring all school handheld devices have the necessary filters.

• Ensure Board meetings include a fixed item of safeguarding, which should include a report on online safety.

• Ensure the curriculum includes the teaching of online safety; this should include teaching on the aspects of grooming, radicalisation, inappropriate contact and content.

• Ensure teaching faculty have training on online safety as part of their safeguarding training; this includes their social media presence and the code of conduct around posting images of students on their personal social media accounts.

Online safety requires a team approach of governing body, leadership team, teachers and students.

How well are you meeting your responsibilities?

Read this short article on international school governance

https://www.cois.org/about-cis/perspectives-blog/blog-post/~board/perspectives-blog/post/safeguarding-reflections-on-school-board-trainingwww.cois.org

Review these two documents to help you understand your responsibilities. They are from the UK but apply to the concerns facing all schools.

Ofsted reveals new ‘Online Safety in Schools’ survey - UK Safer Internet CentreUK Safer Internet Centre

An interesting article about online safety in UK schools.