Issue - meetings

360 degree Safe Online Safety Policy for Schools

Meeting: 08/10/2020 - Joint Education and Learning & Social Services Scrutiny Committee (Safeguarding) (Item 7)

7 360 degree Safe Online Safety Policy for Schools pdf icon PDF 420 KB

To consider the report of the Interim Corporate Director Education.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Education which presented the 360 Degree Safe Cymru Online Safety Policy for schools and sought Members’ views on the policy template prior to the adoption of the model policy for schools.

 

The Safeguarding in Education Manager spoke to the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.  The policy was provided by Southwest Grid for Learning who work in partnership with the Welsh Government and was intended to ensure that learners were able to use the internet and related communications appropriately and safely. The policy templates were extremely comprehensive and covered a whole range of considerations for online safety and schools were permitted free use of the policy to adapt to suit their particular setting.  Other pre-existing policies within schools would be superseded upon the implementation of this policy.

 

The Chair enquired what safeguarding tools were available for parents to put on their children’s devices.  The Safeguarding in Education Manager said that the Welsh Government regularly updated their ‘Keeping Safe Online’ website and would include a link to the website within the Policy document.  The Corporate Director of Social Services said that the Gwent Safeguarding Board website also gave advice in a simple format on parental controls in relation to mobile and computer devices.  He would liaise with the Safeguarding in Education Manager to forward the online link to parents.

 

The Strategic Education Improvement Manager echoed the Director’s comments and said that during the COVID-19 situation a protocol for streaming online teaching etc. had been developed to support parents and some form of communication from schools could be passported onto parents to support them with this issue.  

 

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1, namely:

 

·        that the Welsh Government ‘Keeping Safe Online’ link be forwarded to parents; and

·        the policy be recommended for approval by the Executive Committee.