Safeguarding Lead and/or Counsellors
Part of the role and responsibilities of a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is to ensure they understand the risks associated with online safety and have the confidence to embed safety measures into the policy, curriculum, staff training and parent education. Their responsibilities include collaborating with the IT department to ensure there are appropriate filters in place, collaborating with staff when there is a concern around online safety as well as reviewing practices. As a DSL you should also keep up to date with the latest reports & training, for example:
The DSL is responsible for staff training for safeguarding and can make a real impact in this area by including online safety.
Staff training is vital to remind educators of both the identified risks associated with the internet and also for them to be aware of current trends and what to look out for in the classroom. E-Safety is constantly evolving and most educators are not IT experts and can, therefore, feel overwhelmed by the risks posed. As a school, you may want to have a few relevant staff trained as online safety ambassadors however this does not rule out the need for all teachers to have basic training. This may be delivered during the yearly INSET programme as part of the annual safeguarding training or as a bespoke training module.
These links may help implement the above.
Staff Led Online Safety INSET Presentation and Free Resources
Parent education:
The DSL should ensure they are available to parents and are able to offer support and guidance around online safety. Many schools are now moving towards a model of parent education sessions to cover all aspects of a student's life. More help can be found in the section linked below.
pageCollaborating with Parents/GuardiansCurriculum:
The DSL should work alongside the Ed Tech Lead and the Pastoral Leads to ensure online safety is part of a wider Socio-Emotional Learning Programme. There are a number of great organisations which provide online safety curriculums, some of which are listed below:
Policy:
A school’s Safeguarding and Child Protection policy should have a section focused on the four main areas of online safety namely: content, contact, conduct and commerce.
The 4 main online safety areas;
Content
Contact
Conduct
Commerce
Confidential records:
A reminder that Safeguarding and counselling records need to remain confidential and restricted to viewing by only authorised personnel.
Electronic records need to be locked and saved within a management system.
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