Safeguarding
Monitoring and Filtering

Digital Safeguarding:

From Compliance to Culture

Safeguarding in a digital world is about far more than just blocking websites. It's about creating an environment where students can explore, create, and connect safely, without fear of encountering harm. It's also about equipping them with the critical thinking skills to navigate the online world independently. Your role as a leader is to go beyond mere compliance and see monitoring and filtering as core components of a comprehensive strategy that protects your students while empowering them to be responsible digital citizens

Part 1 - Understanding the differences between the two

The terms monitoring and filtering are often used interchangeably, but they serve distinct purposes. Understanding the difference is crucial for effective safeguarding.

Filtering

This is the reactive, defensive part of your strategy. Filtering prevents access to inappropriate or harmful content by blocking websites, images, or videos. It acts as a safety barrier, protecting students from explicit material, hate speech, or other content that could be damaging.

Monitoring

This is the proactive, educative part of your strategy. Monitoring involves actively checking how technology is being used to identify potential risks or concerning behaviours. This can include flagging keywords in emails, detecting attempts to access blocked sites, or identifying signs of cyberbullying. Monitoring helps you identify and intervene in situations that filtering might miss, like students engaging in harmful conversations.

When used together, monitoring and filtering create a robust system that both prevents harm and allows for timely intervention.

Part 2 - Understand the Statutory guidance for all schools

Keeping Children Safe in Education

The Department for Education's statutory guidance, "Keeping Children Safe in Education," is clear that online safety is a shared responsibility. The document states that governing bodies and proprietors are responsible for ensuring their school or college has appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place and that they regularly review their effectiveness. All staff must receive training on online safety, including an understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring. Furthermore, a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) should take the lead responsibility for online safety, including understanding the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place.

Key Questions

How are we balancing the need for safety with the need for student autonomy and digital literacy?
Do our staff, students, and parents understand the difference between monitoring and filtering, and how our systems work to keep children safe?
How do we ensure that our monitoring systems don't just identify problems, but also prompt meaningful conversations about online safety and behaviour?
Are we/can we leveraging the insights from our monitoring data to inform our online safety curriculum and professional development for staff?

Part 3 - Understand how to comply

LGfL Resources

Safe Filtering
KCSIE requires that the DSL be asked to take lead responsibility for web filtering as per the DfE standards. The videos and downloads on this page will support your journey towards this - whether you are a beginner or have worked for years with your technical teams to better understand and effectively manage filtering.

Find out more

Safe Monitoring

Schools are expected to have both filtering and monitoring systems (as per KCSIE). LGfL offers 2 monitoring services, along with the same great advice, guidance and support you have come to expect from LGfL.