Schools e-Safety Policy
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- Why write an e-safety policy?
- What is e-safety?
- How do I use the policy template and online generator?
- Statement of authority
- Responsibilities of school staff
- Routes to e-safety - primary pupils
- Routes to e-safety – secondary pupils
- e-Safety for vulnerable children and young people
- Response to an incident of concern
- School responsibilities
- Use of Social Media Tools as a school or establishment
e-Safety for vulnerable children and young people
In terms of e-safety information, ‘vulnerable’ is a term of reference that would include children and young people who may:
- have special educational needs
- have been excluded
- demonstrate social / emotional / behavioural needs
- be Looked After Children
- be from ethnic minority groups
- be “at risk” in terms of safeguarding concerns
It is acknowledged that this group encompasses a large range of abilities and needs.
It is typical practice to establish whole school e-Safety strategies to protect a cohort of children and young people. Strategies also need to provide the scope to include individual needs that vulnerable students may display. The impact of not considering individual requirements would be to increase the safety risks for these students. It is important to recognize that some students in this group will intentionally contravene rules and acceptable use policies. There would be an expectation that they would be subject to the same sanctions and consequences as peers if the evidence shows intent.
Potential incidents need careful investigation to consider a whole range of factors for children and young people in this vulnerable group. Investigation would be facilitated if the setting had profiled a student’s needs and abilities clearly and shared these with any staff likely to use technology within curriculum delivery.
It is advisable to consult with the school SENCo for input into the writing of the e-Safety policy; this would provide a specialist perspective to synchronize support with policy.
There are four specific areas of concern that all schools should consider in their e-safety policy:
- Information presentation: can students read and understand words and messages?
- Communication skills: how will students communicate what has happened?
- Differentiation: do they remember concepts and ideas?
- Consistency: can they transfer skills from one activity to another?
There will need to be specific measures in place to ensure that all students and their parents/carers understand the meanings of “use” policies and the content of teaching activities and/or information posters or leaflets.
It is difficult to find generic resources for promoting and supporting e-safety for vulnerable groups as their needs are wide ranging. Resources that may help with communication skills are available from www.kentrustweb.org.uk/senict/ e-safety for SEN.
Crick software have developed some resources in collaboration with Childnet International to provide Clicker 5 grids about their SMART rules www.learninggrids.com These are intended to support the existing resources from Childnet SMART adventures.
Page last updated: 06/05/2010
