Meeting Digital and Technology Standards: Filtering and Monitoring

Effective filtering and monitoring are essential components of school IT systems. While filtering systems block access to harmful content, monitoring systems track students’ on-screen activity. In this article, we examine the standards your school should adhere to regarding filtering and monitoring

Schools and colleges are responsible for creating a safe learning and working environment, including in the online realm. However, ensuring this safety has become increasingly complex in the digital age. Effective filtering and monitoring are crucial for safeguarding, making it essential to have well-defined roles, responsibilities, and strategies to successfully implement and maintain these systems.

Identify and assign responsibilities

Governing bodies and proprietors hold strategic responsibility for filtering and monitoring and must ensure that standards are being met. Meanwhile, the school senior leadership team (SLT) should handle the selection and procurement of filtering and monitoring systems, document decisions on what content is blocked or permitted and the rationale behind these choices, review the effectiveness of the systems, and oversee reporting. Senior leaders need to collaborate closely with governors or proprietors, the designated safeguarding lead (DSL), and IT service providers, and may require specific training and support for the systems in use.

Conduct regular reviews

Guidelines suggest conducting an annual review of your filtering and monitoring provisions. This review should involve the senior leadership team, the designated safeguarding lead (DSL), the IT service provider, and the responsible governor.

A review should be conducted to assess your current provisions, identify any gaps, and address the specific needs of your pupils and staff. It is essential to complete and document checks on your filtering system as part of this review process. For guidance and templates, refer to the “reviewing online safety” section of “Keeping Children Safe in Education.”

It is crucial that any filtering system effectively blocks access to harmful sites and inappropriate content. However, it should not unduly hinder teaching and learning, school administration, or prevent students from learning to assess and manage risks on their own.

Monitoring activity

Monitoring user activity on school and college devices is essential for maintaining a safe environment for children and staff. Unlike filtering, which restricts access to harmful content, monitoring does not prevent users from searching for or accessing material online.

Your monitoring strategy should be guided by the findings of your filtering and monitoring review. To effectively minimise safeguarding risks on internet-connected devices, you may need to implement a range of monitoring strategies, which might include:

• physically monitoring by staff watching screens of users
• live supervision by staff on a console with device management software
• network monitoring using log files of internet traffic and web access
• individual device monitoring through software or third-party services

As with previous instalments in this series, the above provides a brief look at the essential standards for filtering and monitoring within school IT systems. For a more comprehensive understanding and detailed guidance, school business leaders (SBLS) should consult the relevant sections on the government website at www.gov.uk