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Whole-school approach to safeguarding children from harmful online material.

“It is essential that children are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material. An effective whole school and college approach to online safety empowers a school or college to protect and educate pupils, students, and staff in their use of technology.”

The 4Cs framework: Content, Contact, Conduct, Commerce. The standard categorisation of online risk in UK schools.

“The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable and ever evolving, but can be categorised into four areas of risk: content, contact, conduct, commerce.”

Online safety must be a running theme through all relevant policies, the curriculum, teacher training, the role of the DSL and parental engagement.

“Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure online safety is a running and interrelated theme whilst devising and implementing their whole school or college approach to safeguarding.”

Mobile and smart technology policy: schools must address how phones are used on premises, including unrestricted access via 3G/4G/5G.

“The school or college should have a clear policy on the use of mobile and smart technology, which will also reflect the fact many children have unlimited and unrestricted access to the internet via mobile phone networks.”

Schools should use parental communications to reinforce online safety. Parents and carers need to know what their children are being asked to do online.

“Communications [with parents and carers] should be used to reinforce the importance of children being safe online. It will be especially important for parents and carers to be aware of what their children are being asked to do online.”

Schools must have appropriate filtering and monitoring systems and review their effectiveness; the Prevent Duty risk assessment informs the appropriate level.

“Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure their school or college has appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place and regularly review their effectiveness.”

New in KCSiE 2025: schools must apply filtering and monitoring requirements to generative AI use in education. The DfE has published Generative AI: product safety expectations.

“The Department has published Generative AI: product safety expectations to support schools to use generative artificial intelligence safely, and explains how filtering and monitoring requirements apply to the use of generative AI in education.”

Schools have a role in supporting pupils' mental health and must have clear systems to identify possible problems, escalate and refer.

“Schools and colleges have an important role to play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils. Mental health problems can, in some cases, be an indicator that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering abuse, neglect or exploitation.”

Schools must have a whole-school approach to preventing bullying, including online and cyber-bullying, as part of mental health and wellbeing.

“The Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges guidance sets out how schools and colleges can help prevent mental health problems by promoting resilience as part of an integrated, whole school/college approach.”

Children with SEND face additional safeguarding challenges online and offline. Schools must reflect this in their child protection policy.

“Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) or certain medical or physical health conditions can face additional safeguarding challenges both online and offline.”

Online sexual harassment (including sharing of nudes/semi-nudes, sexualised online bullying, coercion online) is in scope and must be responded to.

“Online sexual harassment ... may include consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude and semi-nude images and/or videos, sharing of unwanted explicit content, sexualised online bullying, unwanted sexual comments and messages.”

Schools have a Prevent duty (s.26 Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015) to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

“All schools and colleges are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This duty is known as the Prevent duty.”

Channel is the voluntary, confidential support programme for individuals identified as susceptible to being drawn into terrorism. Schools may be asked to attend Channel panels.

“Channel is a voluntary, confidential support programme which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being susceptible to being drawn into terrorism.”

Where children have suffered abuse, neglect or other adverse childhood experiences, this can have a lasting impact on mental health, behaviour, attendance and progress at school.

“It is key that staff are aware of how these children's experiences can impact on their mental health, behaviour, attendance and progress at school.”

Cyber-bullying is treated alongside bullying in school safeguarding. The DfE 'Preventing bullying' advice covers both.

“Schools and colleges should consider how online safety is reflected as required in all relevant policies … including bullying and cyber-bullying.”

Taking and sharing nude photographs of those aged under 18 is a criminal offence. UKCIS guidance applies.

“UKCIS Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people provides detailed advice for schools and colleges of non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes.”