Grazeley Parochial CE (Aided) Primary School

'Be courageous; Be strong; Do everything in love'

Online Safety

At Grazeley we take the safety of our children online extremely seriously. In line with the expectations of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 we have a robust filtering and monitoring system in place.

Online Safety

It is always helpful for parents to understand what safeguarding systems we have in place to protect our pupils and as well as an extensive range of policies, procedures and training for staff, every year group has online safety lessons as part of the Computing Curriculum in the autumn term.  It is also covered in our PSHE curriculum when pupils are taught about staying safe.

In addition, we also have filtering and monitoring systems in place.

What is filtering and monitoring?

Filtering systems block access to harmful websites and content.

Monitoring systems:

  • Identify when someone searches for or accesses certain types of harmful online content on school devices;
  • Identify who is searching for or accessing the harmful content;
  • Alert the school about it so we can intervene and respond;

Whilst no filtering and monitoring software is perfect, all of our staff are vigilant when pupils are online and ensure the appropriate use of the internet by:

  • Monitoring what pupils are accessing on devices during school hours;
  • Ensuring that children do not use any device unless in the presence of an adult;
  • Ensuring that screens are visible at all times;
  • Circulating around the classroom during computing lessons or when the iPads or Chromebooks are in use.

What systems do we use?

  • Our internet provider is Schools Broadband;
  • We use NetSweeper software which provides our firewall and our filtering and monitoring combined;
  • The software blocks certain websites or search terms and alerts the Designated Safeguarding Lead with a daily report.

From this, we are able to identify the computer, user, time and date of the search, as well as the URL. This enables us to view the information that the user was trying to access and take appropriate action.

   Inappropriate content includes:

  • Illegal content (e.g. child sexual abuse);
  • Discriminatory content (e.g. sexist, racist or homophobic content);
  • Sites that promote drugs or substance abuse;
  • Extremist content (e.g. the promotion of terrorism);
  • Gambling sites;
  • Malware and/or hacking software;
  • Pornography;
  • Pirated material (copyright theft);
  • Sites that promote self-harm, suicide and/or eating disorders;
  • Violent material.

All staff have a safeguarding duty for filtering and monitoring, which is why we ask all of our staff to complete certificated online safety training each year. Online Safety also features in our staff weekly safeguarding updates and refresher training through the year. Should you have any queries regarding filtering and monitoring, please contact [email protected]