A teacher's guide to safeguarding learners online
Online safeguarding concerns can cover many areas, including the risks from online content, contact and conduct. They may take place both in and out of school time, but like all safeguarding concerns, can have an impact on the health, safety, development or wellbeing of your learners. As practitioners, the best way you can safeguard your learners, is to provide safe online spaces within the school environment and effective online safety education, for both your learners and their families.
Safeguarding is about “protecting children and adults from abuse or neglect and educating those around them to recognise the signs and dangers” Welsh Government.
Top tips for keeping learners safe online:
Appropriate filtering and monitoring
Filtering and monitoring are a key element of your school's internet provision. Striking the right balance between giving your learners freedom online and managing illegal and inappropriate content is critical. Please see the Welsh Government guidance 'Recommended web filtering standards for schools in Wales'.
Online safety education
Learners need a variety of teaching and learning opportunities, as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, so they can use the internet safely under supervision, and then develop the skills and understanding they need to manage their own independent use of the internet. This should be appropriate to their age and developmental needs, building on their skills and understanding at each stage. Schools and other settings should be familiar with the Digital Competence Framework and consider how to put this into practice.
Age appropriate websites, apps and online tools
A great way to keep your learners safe is to introduce them to the age appropriate sites, apps and tools they can use both in and out of the classroom. For your younger learners this means they can develop their online skills in safer spaces, giving them alternatives to those aimed at adults and older learners.
Parents and carers awareness and involvement
Working in partnership with parents and carers is important for all aspects of a learners’ development .Parents and carers often feel their children know more than they do when it comes to technology. Keep them up to date with what’s happening in school, signpost them to parent’s resources and don’t forget to share age appropriate sites, apps and games as alternatives. You may wish to consider having a parents and carers evening focusing on a particular issue in online safety. There are two packs available for teachers to deliver parents sessions, which contains all you need to deliver a session around ‘Screen time’ and ‘Self-esteem in a digital world’.
Create codes of behaviour together
Remember, many concerns learners face online are not about technology but about behaviour. Rules should be created with your learners and extended to ‘online’ behaviour.
Working with learners when there’s a concern
Learners can often be worried about telling adults what’s happening online, so they need to feel reassured they are being listened to, their concerns are heard and you are going to support them, without blaming them for their actions and behaviour. Ensure learners know who they should go to if they become worried or concerned about something online.