Implementing Filtering and Monitoring in your School

Updated May 2024

Discover the criteria that your school or college must adhere to regarding filtering and monitoring as outlined by the DFE. 

Strand 1 – Identify Roles and Responsibilities

 

The Importance of Meeting the Standard

Schools and colleges aim to create a secure online environment for learning and working. Filtering and monitoring play key roles in protecting students and staff from harmful online content. Establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and strategies is crucial for implementing and sustaining effective filtering and monitoring systems, requiring collaboration among professionals to make well-informed decisions.

 

How to Meet the Standard

Governing bodies and proprietors hold strategic responsibility for filtering and monitoring standards, requiring assurance of compliance. To achieve this, they should designate: A senior leadership team member and a governor to oversee standards implementation. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for staff and third parties, such as external service providers. While full-time staff may not be available for each role, responsibilities may be integrated into broader roles within the school, college, or trust. Nonetheless, clarity regarding responsibilities and the ability to swiftly adjust provision are essential.

 

Technical Requirements to Meet the Standard

The senior leadership team holds responsibility for:

·      Procuring filtering and monitoring systems

·      Documenting decisions on content blocking or allowance and rationale

·      Evaluating the effectiveness of provisions and overseeing reports

They ensure staff:

·      Understand their roles

·      Receive appropriate training

·      Adhere to policies, processes, and procedures

·      Act on reports and concerns

 

Collaboration between senior leaders, governors, designated safeguarding lead (DSL), and IT service providers is essential. The DSL coordinates safeguarding efforts, including overseeing filtering and monitoring reports and system checks. IT service providers maintain systems, generate reports, and address concerns. They collaborate with senior leaders and the DSL in procurement, risk identification, reviews, and system checks.

 

Strand 2 – Review Filtering and Monitoring Provision at least Annually

 

The Importance of Meeting the Standard

Effective filtering and monitoring must cater to the requirements of both students and staff while aligning with your technological practices to mitigate risks. Regular review, at least annually, is essential to comprehend and assess the evolving needs and risks of your institution. Supplementary checks to filtering and monitoring should be guided by these reviews, ensuring that governing bodies and proprietors are confident in the systems' efficacy and adherence to safeguarding duties.

 

 

 

 

How to Meet the Standard

Governing bodies and proprietors bear the strategic responsibility for upholding this standard, ensuring that filtering and monitoring provisions undergo an annual review, potentially as part of a broader online safety assessment. 

 

Technical Requirements to Meet the Standard

A thorough review of filtering and monitoring practices is essential to identify current provisions, gaps, and the specific needs of pupils and staff. Key aspects to understand include the pupil risk profile, current filtering settings and rationale, external safeguarding influences, digital resilience, curriculum requirements, technology use, existing policies, checks in place, and handling of resulting actions. This review informs updates to policies, procedures, roles, training, curriculum integration, procurement decisions, monitoring strategies, and frequency of checks. Reviews should occur annually or when specific triggers like identified risks, changes in practice, or new technology arise. Tools like SWGfL's testing tool can aid in verifying that filtering systems block inappropriate content effectively.

 

Strand 3 – Filtering System should Block Harmful and Inappropriate Content without unreasonably Impacting Teaching and Learning

 

The Importance of Meeting the Standard

An effective filtering system is crucial for maintaining a safe learning environment for students, although it cannot guarantee complete protection. Understanding the scope and limitations of the filtering system is essential to minimize harm and fulfil statutory obligations outlined in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and the Prevent duty. The system should block access to harmful sites and inappropriate content without unreasonably hindering teaching, learning, or school operations. Importantly, it should also allow students to develop their skills in assessing and managing online risks independently.

 

How to Meet the Standard

Governing bodies and proprietors play a key role in assisting the senior leadership team to acquire and establish filtering systems that align with the school or college's risk profile. Effective management of these systems necessitates expertise from both safeguarding and IT staff. Additional training and support from filtering providers may be required to ensure optimal functionality and compliance with standards.

 

Technical Requirements to Meet the Standard

Ensure your filtering provider meets specific criteria:

·      Membership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)

·      Registration with the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit list (CTIRU)

·      Blocking of illegal content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM)

If procured with broadband service, ensure compatibility with school or college needs. The filtering system should be operational, up-to-date, and applied universally to users, school devices, and those using the school's broadband connection. It should:

·      Filter all internet feeds, including backup connections

·      Be age-appropriate and suitable for educational settings

·      Handle multilingual content, images, misspellings, and abbreviations

·      Identify and block technologies allowing users to bypass filtering, such as VPNs and proxies

·      Provide alerts for blocked web content

For mobile and app content, confirm with the provider if filtering is available and apply technical monitoring. Identify individuals attempting to access unsuitable material for appropriate support. Ensure the system allows identification of device details, time, date, attempted access, and blocked content.

 

Conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and review privacy notices. The UK Safer Internet Centre offers guidance on filtering. Consider enforcing Safe Search or child-friendly search engines. Staff should be aware of reporting mechanisms for safeguarding and technical concerns, reporting any issues promptly.

 

Strand 4 – Effective Monitoring Strategies that meet the Safeguarding Needs of School / College

 

The Importance of Meeting the Standard

Monitoring user activity on school and college devices is essential for creating a safe environment. Unlike filtering, monitoring doesn't prevent access but allows reviewing of user actions. Effective monitoring promptly detects incidents, often through alerts or observation, facilitating swift action and documentation of outcomes. The monitoring strategy should align with filtering and monitoring reviews. Various strategies, including physical observation, live supervision via device management software consoles, network monitoring using internet traffic log files, and individual device monitoring through software or third-party services, may be necessary to minimize safeguarding risks.

 

How to Meet the Standard

Governing bodies and proprietors play a crucial role in assisting the senior leadership team to ensure effective device monitoring aligns with school or college standards and risk profiles. The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) assumes primary responsibility for addressing safeguarding and child protection issues identified through monitoring. Managing technical monitoring systems requires expertise from both safeguarding and IT staff, with ongoing training to maintain current knowledge.

 

Technical Requirements to Meet the Standard

Governing bodies and proprietors play a crucial role in supporting the senior leadership team to review the effectiveness of monitoring strategies and reporting processes, ensuring incidents are promptly identified, acted upon, and recorded. Incidents may vary in nature, including malicious, technical, or safeguarding issues, with clear protocols for staff on handling them. The UK Safer Internet Centre offers guidance on establishing appropriate monitoring practices.

 

Device monitoring, managed by IT staff or third-party providers, should ensure systems are functional, provide comprehensive reporting on pupil activity, and receive appropriate safeguarding training. Monitoring systems should align with the four areas of online risk outlined in Keeping Children Safe in Education, alerting to associated behaviours. Monitoring procedures should be integrated into Acceptable Use Policies and other relevant policies, such as privacy notices. Schools and colleges employing technical monitoring systems should conduct their own Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and review third-party providers' privacy notices, with guidance available from the ICO and DfE.

 

Resources

KCSIE - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2

DFE Guidance on Filtering and Monitoring - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-digital-and-technology-standards-in-schools-and-colleges/filtering-and-monitoring-standards-for-schools-and-colleges

DFE Date Protection Toolkit - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-in-schools/data-protection-policies-and-procedures

Data Protection Impact Assessment - https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/accountability-and-governance/guide-to-accountability-and-governance/accountability-and-governance/data-protection-impact-assessments/

UK Internet Safety Centre - https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/teachers-and-school-staff/appropriate-filtering-and-monitoring/appropriate-monitoring

SWGFL Filtering and Monitoring - https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/filtering-and-monitoring/

Prevent Duty - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance