As part of our commitment to safeguarding and wellbeing, the College has done a lot of work to ensure that our pupils have a safe digital learning environment. By maintaining effective filtering and monitoring, we uphold our safeguarding responsibilities and promote safe, respectful use of technology for all. We want you to be aware of the enhanced filtering and monitoring taking place this year and to clarify expectations for out of hours filtering and monitoring.
In school, staff are able to use software called Senso within lessons, which monitors students’ usage ensuring they are on task. Additionally, we have adopted a new 24/7 filtering and monitoring provider, Securly, which has proved even more effective in blocking access to harmful or inappropriate material, both on-site and when school devices are used off-site. We understand that no filtering system can be 100% effective, however, we are pleased with its reactivity to safeguarding concerns and that it has not unreasonably impacted on teaching and learning. You can also be assured that our safeguarding team, IT specialists and teaching staff have the training to monitor devices during their lessons and to react to out of school concerns.
Whilst it is not a requirement to have 24/7 monitoring software in place, St Columba’s chooses to offer this enhanced level of monitoring and we would like to be clear about how alerts of this nature, received ‘out of hours,’ will be dealt with. In the very rare instance where the online activity indicates a threat to life, Securly contact our safeguarding team directly and they act accordingly. In the majority of cases, the safeguarding team and Heads of House will deal with concerns at the next available opportunity within the school day. During the school holidays, when there should be limited internet use, our safeguarding team has a rota to monitor and respond to alerts. If Securly cannot reach a member of our team (due to it being out of hours or for any other reason) then they will continue to escalate to ensure the students receive support.
We hope this reassures you of our digital systems to keep your child safe. Whilst the devices are intended primarily for the purpose of educational activity, we understand that for some pupils it is their main device. It is our intention to explore ways to offer parental monitoring controls in the near future. We are also intending to channel all AI work through Securly which will further enhance safety. Information about these initiatives will follow next term.
Thank you for your support in helping to keep our young people safe.
