Practices and principles for schools' use of social media

Introduction

Schools and education settings use social media in a variety of ways, such as:

• for communicating with the wider school community, including parents and carers
• for engaging with events happening across Wales and beyond, for example Safer Internet Day, World Book Day or an Eisteddfod

While social media offers a useful way to communicate, there are risks when using social media platforms in terms of safeguarding, child protection and school and individual reputation. It is critical that schools and education settings take these risks into account when considering using social media platforms and developing their policies and school practice.

Who this guidance is for

This guidance aims to support schools and education settings (referred to as ‘schools’ throughout) in Wales to plan their approach to using social media in a safe, professional and positive way as part of school communications. It is relevant for all school staff and will be particularly useful for those who are responsible for managing internal and external school communication channels.

What this guidance covers

This guidance focuses on the possible uses of social media for schools and shares some safety implications that should be considered when sharing school messages to a wider audience through an official school social media profile. Examples include:

• updates or reminders
• raising awareness of campaigns
• using images and videos to showcase the school’s achievements and activities

The guidance also provides advice on using channels such as group chats and messaging services to communicate internally between smaller groups of people, for example staff (including one-to-one conversations).

Why use social media as a communication tool

Social media can be an effective tool for schools in broadening their reach to the wider community. There are a number of social media services that enable schools to share information and messages or other types of content to anyone who searches for or follows them.

As an alternative to a webpage, a key difference in these services is that once a user has subscribed, followed or connected to the chosen social media approach, they will become part of the community and will receive updates and notifications. Subscribers to these platforms can also comment on posts, leave reviews and, in some cases, create their own posts. Some services provide schools with the option to disable comments, which can be a helpful feature.

There are several services that provide these types of platforms, including:

• Facebook
• X (formerly Twitter)
• Instagram
• Podia
• Reddit
• Discord
• Slack

All of these operate differently but provide ways for schools to share content with their subscribers.

Making use of a social media platform can form part of a school’s official channels for communicating with their school community. Through posting on platforms like these, and through the community's engagement with that post, schools can reach and engage with a wider audience and increase the visibility of any updates. Social media engagement can serve as a valuable tool in promoting the school’s website. Include a link to the site on the profile and in posts where it is necessary to signpost to more comprehensive information.

Uses of social media platforms include for:

• keeping your community informed on the latest announcements and information, for example when the school is open or updates on planned events
• showcasing the school’s work, activities and achievements
• engaging with the school’s community by posting useful information for parents, carers, wider agencies and stakeholders, including prospective parents and carers
• engaging with wider conversations and awareness days, such as Safer Internet Day and Anti-Bullying Week

Do not assume that all members of the school community use or engage with social media. When communicating important messages and updates consider how you will engage with those who are not on social media or who may be digitally excluded.

Considerations before creating a social media profile or account

When considering the creation of a new social media account for school communications the senior leadership team should take a key role in decision-making and approve its use. It is recommended that school’s consult their governing body during the development and adoption of any new social media platform. This should include school-wide accounts in addition to specific staff or class accounts.

It is worth considering the questions below as part of any decision-making in the creation of a new social media account.

• What is the aim of the account?
• Who is the intended audience?
• How will the account be promoted?
• Who will manage the account? (It is recommended that at least 2 staff members manage any account, and notwithstanding this, schools should identify a responsible owner for each account, who may be a member of the senior leadership team)
• How will the account be monitored?
• How will the account be configured: open, private or closed? (In deciding this you should consider the content you wish to share.  For example, if the content is public facing, it should be noted that all content would be open to all. If the content contains images of learners, this should be a closed account.)
• Are staff clear as to how and for what purpose each communication method will be selected?
• From where will the account be accessed?
• What are the escalation procedures should something go wrong?

Following consideration by the senior leadership team and governing body, any request should be approved or rejected. The responsible owner, with input from staff, should develop a strong social media strategy. This should help ensure the school’s digital presence is professionally managed and that updates, from the planned content to the more responsive and conversational posts, are always relevant, informative and engaging. The questions above may provide a basis for the development of a school strategy for the use of social media as a communication channel.

Choosing the right platform

From sharing images and videos, to sending updates to parents and carers, social media platforms can be used for different purposes. There are a number of things to consider when you try to decide which platform will meet the needs of the school, but also the wider school community who may be interacting with the account.

There are many different type of social media platforms that provide mechanisms to communicate one to one, one to many or wider. It’s important to consider the safety and credibility of the platform along with ensuring the school’s needs can be met. It may be worth surveying the intended audience, for example parents and carers, on what social media they use as attracting people to join a new or less popular platform may be difficult and might limit the success of your communication.

Privacy and safety

When a school uses social media as a communication tool, safeguarding must be considered paramount. Ensuring the protection of privacy and safety of all members of the school community is essential.

When thinking about signing up for a new social media platform, it is important to research the privacy and safety settings that are available. This can include who can see what is posted on the account, how new users are given permission, whether the account is public or private, who can use the account admin settings and whether followers/users are allowed to comment on posts. Most popular social media services will provide explanation and advice on their privacy settings, sometimes in their ‘Safety Centres’.

There may be situations where social media is used to share time-sensitive or more specific content, such as pictures or updates about school activities. Check if resharing is enabled and be mindful that any content shared on social media may not remain private if someone takes a screenshot or screen recording of the media.

Data protection laws

Schools should consider the data protection obligations when selecting a social media platform and must be mindful of their obligations under UK data protection laws with regards the processing of personal data. The data protection guidance available on Hwb can offer further advice and you should also speak to your school data protection officer.

Safety and administrator settings

Many social media platforms will have different safety settings. Ensuring that the platform has appropriate settings for the school’s intended use is essential. Whatever platform the school chooses to use, it is important to keep abreast of new updates, as well as ongoing considerations around privacy and security of the account and the information shared. Being aware of these and using settings effectively will enable the school to be in control of what is shared with whom and who can interact with the account. Blocking and reporting tools as well as “private account” settings are often available. Information on the safety settings of some popular social media platforms is available in these app guides on Hwb.

Particularly when setting up accounts, it is important to think about who will need to operate the account and how it will be accessed. Any staff with access to the account should be familiar with the settings in order to respond appropriately when something goes wrong. Many platforms will often provide administrator accounts with enhanced permissions. It is worth looking into the administrator settings on the account and checking:

• what will be visible when administrators (also known as ‘admins’) post on the profile
• what levels of administrator permissions are available

Depending on the platform, it may be possible to give different staff members different levels of admin access and require posts to be reviewed to enable content checking before they are publicly visible. This may include developing a system where one member of staff has lead responsibility for drafting content and a separate member of staff has responsibility for checking and publishing posts.

Using personal accounts to manage school profiles

While social media profiles can be used as official school accounts, it is helpful to bear in mind that, depending on the platform, sometimes personal profiles are required to set up and operate these accounts. This means that certain information such as the profile picture and cover photo may be viewable. Personal accounts used to manage profiles will not always be visible publicly but may require users to check that they are logged into the right section of their account when interacting or posting on the school profile. Staff should not use personal profiles in this instance but create a separate professional profile in order to manage any school account. Remind staff to check their privacy settings to ensure they do not give away too much personal information in any profile or the images they use to represent themselves.

Accessing social media accounts and profiles on school-owned devices

Where possible social media accounts should only be accessed through a school-owned device. This reduces the risk of any staff member posting from the wrong account or profile, for example a personal profile.

Using a school device ensures that there is no requirement for staff to store on personal devices content intended for sharing on the school’s social media platform. Schools should have policies and procedures regarding the use or non-use of personal devices. For example, if personal devices are authorised, there should be clear expectations and agreement about when they can be used. All activity should be monitored and recorded.

When staff access a social media account through a shared school device, before closing the device staff should ensure they have logged out of the account.

School policies and guidance

Schools or educational settings should develop a clear strategy for using social media as an official communication tool. The strategy should outline clear expectations for the use of communications channels to ensure a consistent approach to messaging. It should include policies for use as well as guidance on privacy and safety, including:

• communications
• settings
• best practice

Policies and guidance should identify clear procedures to help reduce risks, respond to concerns, handle incidents and ensure that all members of the community are safeguarded appropriately. A social media policy should refer to the school’s online safety and safeguarding policies (you can find template policies on Hwb) and make use of 360 degree safe Cymru to review your school’s policy and processes.

The school leadership team must be satisfied that anyone running a social media account on behalf of the school has read and understood the school’s social media policy and received appropriate instructions for creating and managing the account. This also applies to anyone who is not directly employed by the school, including volunteers or parents and carers (for example a school’s parent–teacher association).

A social media training video is available through Hwb that can help promote understanding among staff of the importance of responsible use of social media by the entire school community as well as ways staff can play a part in achieving this. The training highlights:

• guidance on the latest social media trends and safety concerns
• ways to educate and engage with learners and their families on safe and responsible use

Setting expectations for use

Schools should set clear expectations for the use of any social platforms for communicating with the school community. These expectations should be clearly visible on all platforms, such as the school’s website and its profile on any social media accounts.

It is important to articulate the school’s policy and platform decision and promote engagement by informing the school community:

• about the intended use of the platform for communications, for example messages the community can expect
• about how the platform or channel will be monitored and how and when to expect responses
• about how the community can report concerns to the school (concerns regarding an individual learner or school policies or practice should not be raised on social media but should be directed to the school office or appropriate staff member)
• that no abuse will be tolerated, including comments that may bring the school into disrepute, and that accounts will be blocked

Schools should consider editing the acceptable use agreement for parents or carers within the 360 safe Cymru templates to clarify the expectations you have for the school’s community.

Managing social media accounts

When using social media for any school-related communications schools should adhere to the same safeguarding measures and level of professionalism that would apply in a school setting. Any social media presence should be viewed as an extension of the school and therefore should represent the school’s core values and principles.

Posting or sharing content

All communication through a social media platform should be respectful, inclusive and professional. It is important to think carefully about content or communications shared online as well as whom they are shared with, being mindful that even things shared privately can be redistributed by others via screenshots or screen recording.

Schools should exercise caution when posting content, especially with regards to warnings (for example online challenges). Further guidance on viral online harmful challenges and hoaxes is available on Hwb.

Ensure that you have consent before posting photos, videos or any content that features learners, staff or their work. Schools should adhere to these guidelines in the use of content such as images.

• Permission to use any photos or video recordings on social media should be sought in line with the school’s digital and video images policy. Where consent is not obtained or withdrawn then their wishes must be respected, and care should be taken to ensure that a learner is not isolated or disadvantaged by any consent decision made.
• Under no circumstances should staff share or upload learner pictures online other than via school-owned social media accounts.
• Staff should exercise their professional judgement about whether an image is appropriate to share on school social media accounts.
• Learners should be appropriately dressed, not be subject to ridicule and must not be on any school list of children whose images must not be published.
• Staff should minimise the use of any personal data such as the child's full name.

Protecting privacy of learners and staff

Do not share any sensitive or personal information and ensure that the privacy settings for the social media account are appropriate. Schools should regularly check settings that are available and be aware of the latest updates to platforms, which will be available in the help or safety centres. Guidance on some key social media platforms is available from the UK Safer Internet Centre. Schools should also ensure that any new terms and conditions issued by social media platforms are read and understood before they are accepted.

Monitoring and responding to posts

In using social media for communications schools should check for inappropriate or unauthorised content, promptly respond to and address any issues. However, any staff managing school accounts should not be expected to respond outside of agreed hours. During periods where the account is not monitored, for example outside of school hours or during school holidays, it may be possible to ‘pin’ messages to the profile advising when a response should be expected. These are prominent fixed messages and often appear at the top of a social media feed.

Schools should monitor the 'followers' of their social media account regularly, particularly if the account is open to the public. If any followers who are considered to be inappropriate or unknown are identified, schools should take action to remove or block these accounts.

Adopt a professional and polite tone when responding to posts from the school’s community, as would be expected in any face-to-face or formal interactions. Parents or carers publicly raising concerns on social media should be directed to the school’s formal channels, for example by contacting the school office or speaking directly to an appropriate staff member or senior leader.

In responding to posts such as these schools may choose to use the following as an example response.

“Thank you for raising your concerns with us, in order for us to respond please can you direct your concerns to schoolname@schooldomain.org.uk.”

Managing incidents

It is clear from the reports received on the Professionals Online Safety Helpline that there continues to be a wide range of abusive or harmful behaviours affecting staff and learners. These can be as a result of content shared by the school, a staff member personally, a parent, carer or a learner or another online user. This can include content created specifically to offend or harm an individual’s standing in society or something that brings the school’s name into disrepute. Sometimes offensive content may:

• use a staff member’s image
• use a school brand or logo
• be a comment on an existing post online

It is important to consider how you will respond to incidents as part of any planning for social media use. When an incident occurs it can lead to a large amount of negative comments from both online users and, even potentially, the media. These may be directed at an individual staff member or the school and, in serious situations, may begin to place the safeguarding of learners or staff at risk. Schools should seek to understand whether this is targeting an individual or the school generally and provide relevant support in the event of any comments resulting in a negative impact on an individual's mental health and well-being.

Incident response

Schools should have a robust plan in place that outlines how an incident on social media will be managed so that they are prepared to respond should the need arise. The plan should be included within a social media or communications policy for the schools, setting out clear responsibilities and defining escalation procedures. It should consider how and when key stakeholders, for example the governing body or local authority, need to be involved. This can be tested in a discussion-based exercise to ensure preparedness should a real event occur.

All online safety incidents should be recorded and monitored, as with any other safeguarding concern. This should include any identified potential patterns in behaviours so that such issues can be addressed proactively and protection afforded.

The flowchart below provides an example template to support schools in the development of their individual response plans.

Blocking and reporting

Most platforms have the option to block, report or mute content and users, but the process can differ from one platform to another. As detailed in the ‘Safety and administrator settings’ section, advice on the settings and specific procedures to follow for several popular social media platforms can be found in the app guides available on Hwb.

It may be necessary to block individuals from interacting with the school’s social media channel if they do not adhere to the acceptable use agreement. Grounds for blocking may include harassment, offensive language, inappropriate content, spamming and any other behaviour that goes against the school’s values or principles as set out in the expectations for use.

There may also be situations where an individual (for example a learner, parent, carer or member of the school community) asks for content on the social media platform, such as a post, image or comment, to be removed by messaging the school. This message will go to the individual from the school who manages the account for review and appropriate action.

However, an individual may choose to report the content to the platform. This reporting option may also be the best route for individuals managing the school account, if they find that they are unable to delete content that has been identified as inappropriate. If the school knows the person who created the content then the school should contact them directly, telling them the reasons why their post violates the community standards and asking them to delete it before the issue is escalated to the platform.

Supporting staff

Schools should recognise that incidents can have a serious impact on the well-being and professional reputation of staff and ensure that they can access appropriate support. This may include informing staff about the Professionals Online Safety Helpline, who can provide confidential support with a range of online safety issues. The helpline also has fast-track access to social media providers and can mediate on behalf of individuals, where necessary.

Checklists for creating and managing social media accounts

Using messaging services or group chats for internal communications

Following the experience of remote or hybrid working, many conversations and collaborations are now taking place online. Messaging service and group chats can be a helpful communication tool for staff and school leadership and the promotion of these might lead to an organically driven use of this platform in their school. These may be used to cascade staff-wide messages. However, there should be no expectation placed upon staff to use these services.

Messaging services allow reliable and secure connection with contacts via text messages, audio messages, voice and video calls. Many services will allow the sharing of information and files. Examples of messenger services include Microsoft Teams and GoogleChat.

Messaging services can be used for one-to-one conversations and, in some cases, for group messaging. Group messaging can facilitate voice and video calls for up to 8 people.

Some messaging services may require a mobile phone number. It’s important that staff are aware that any person they communicate with may be able to see their number.

Through Hwb, staff in maintained schools in Wales will have access to Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. The services provided through Hwb are subject to rigorous and robust safeguarding and should be considered in the first instance. Further information on the tools available through Hwb can be accessed in our support centre.

Schools or staff may want to use messaging services for:

• group check-ins within departments
• one-to-one communication with colleagues
• group chats
• sharing information and files quickly and securely

Consider the following when using messaging services.

1. Official school channels are to be encouraged as the most appropriate route for work-related conversations. Where possible Hwb tools and services should be considered in the first instance.
2. Ensure that school policy allows for the selected service to be used.
3. Be clear on the roles and responsibilities for managing the service, whether there will be an admin and how access to the service will be controlled.
4. Encourage staff to establish and share clear community rules, for example for:

• • who and what the group is for
  • access
  • boundaries for social conversations
  • policy around bullying and harassment

5. As per school policy, remind staff to uphold the reputation and professionalism of the school.
6. Ensure that staff are clear about their safeguarding responsibilities and the school’s expectations for how these should be communicated.
7. Regularly check privacy settings.
8. Provide links to the relevant trust and safety pages provided by the service provider so that staff can be familiar with the available admin controls and reporting tools.

Group chats provide spaces for group communication and for people to share their common interests and express their opinion. Platforms like these enable people to come together around a common cause, issue or activity to organise, express objectives, discuss issues, post photos and share related content.

Group chats can be public (open) or private and can be used in many different ways.

Before setting up a group chat platform, it’s important to consider whether this is the right platform for the school or staff needs. Not everyone who would benefit from the interactions in your chosen space will have access to this service. A group space could be used for internal school communication between staff members to share resources, activities and achievements.

Please be aware that these services should not be used for the sharing of confidential data about learners or the school.

A range of platforms offer group spaces such as WhatsApp, Discord, LinkedIn groups and Facebook pages. These all have a range of features, benefits, risks and opportunities.

Consider the following when using group services (chats).

1. Is there a need for this type of service and what does it offer that email or messaging services do not?
2. Consider which platform to use to manage private and professional communications, and whether all users would be comfortable using WhatsApp to conduct internal professional communications? Would an alternative platform be more suitable? Check that school policy allows for the service to be used.
3. Most school-related spaces will need to be ‘closed’ (private) rather than public, take time to review the settings, safety and moderation features.
4. Specify the intended aim for the group. If it is for staff communication then no learner or confidential information should be shared in the group.
5. Be clear on roles and responsibilities to manage the space, for example who the admin is and who should post. Assign available roles to help moderation and keep in mind that once someone is assigned an admin role, they will be able to remove members or admins, add new admins and edit the settings.
6. Keep membership to a manageable size, for example by only allowing known people into the space.
7. Staff should be aware that some services will share individual email or phone numbers as a requirement of participation.
8. Remind staff to think about what is shared in general, as it could be copied and shared by other members with a wider unintended audience.
9. All staff with access need to be familiar with the available safety tools and filters, for example:

• • a profanity filter
  • how to remove and block people
  • how to report abusive comments or violations

Using social media in a personal capacity

What you say and do online and what others say about you can have a major impact on your professional reputation. It can influence decisions that people make about you, for good or for bad. When engaging with a school account or profile in a personal capacity or from a personal account it is important to carefully consider what you post online and how you respond to what others post.

Key considerations for staff include:

• remembering that nothing on social media is truly private
• being cautious about the information you share
• understanding that social media can blur the lines between your professional and private life
• avoiding the use of school logos or branding on personal accounts
• checking your settings regularly and assessing your privacy
• considering your online reputation and digital footprint (guidance is available from the UK Safer Internet Centre and Hwb)
• regularly reviewing your connections or ’friends’, limiting them to those you want to be connected to
• considering the scale, audience and permanency of what you post online
• taking control of your images and asking yourself if you want to be tagged in an image as well as what children, parents or carers would say about you if they could see your images
• knowing where to report a problem, for example the Professionals Online Safety Helpline can help with issues concerning your reputation as well as with a range of other online safety issues

Further support

The guidance aims to support schools with managing any social media presence safely and responsibly. However, there may be instances where further support and advice are required. The following provide links and information on support and advice available to schools.

• Professionals Online Safety Helpline supports the children’s workforce with any online safety issues they, or children and young people in their care, may face.
• Reporting harmful content
• Keeping learners safe
• Wales Safeguarding Procedures
• Responding to incidents of sharing nudes
• Responding to viral online harmful challenges and hoaxes
• Social media information
• In the know app guides
• 360 degree safe Cymru