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Review your remote education provision (DfE)
Last week the government published a document to help schools review their remote learning offer. The DfE says it is 'not intended as a compliance or accountability tool. The framework covers a whole range of topics and I am just looking at 'safeguarding and wellbeing' here. Schools are encouraged to scale their implementation, against a list of criteria, 1 - 5 where 5 is best. (Summarised below)
Ensuring safety
- clear safeguarding protocols in place
- clear process for children, parents and staff to raise concerns
Online safety
- teachers understand how to keep children safe online during remote learning
Wellbeing
- staff and pupils are aware of how to spot potential wellbeing or mental health issues and how to respond
- regular catchups with pupils, 1:1 and via assemblies
Data management
- appropriate and compliant data management systems in place
Behaviour and attitude
- clear rules for behaviour during remote lessons which pupils and teachers know
teachers monitor and enforce them
- teachers monitor and enforce them
Download: Review your remote education provision (DfE, January 2021)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-your-remote-education-provision
SWGfL Donate Reputation Alerts And Whisper To All Schools
In response to the January 2021 lockdown measures, SWGfL would like to offer their support by donating two of their products to schools and the wider community free of charge for a five weeks trial. Communication and awareness are vitally important, especially right now, and with Reputation Alerts and Whisper, you can take back some control and still feel connected to your community.
Find out more here: https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/swgfl-donate-reputation-alerts-and-whisper-to-all-schools/
Remote learning and pupil privacy
Recently the Liverpool Echo reported that parents had 'overwhelmed' a school with complaints after parents watching an online lesson claimed to see children whose parents are not critical workers.
This is an example of the challenge of live-streaming lessons with children in the classroom. Whilst live-streaming can be beneficial, it is difficult to maintain privacy. Speaking from a safeguarding perspective, school risk assessments for live-streaming should include how the privacy of children will be maintained. My own view is that only the teacher should be visible.
I don't think you can just point a camera and a microphone at a classroom and think it will all be fine. This can create the circumstances where safeguarding risks are raised. Caution is needed when 'broadcasting' lessons from real classrooms where there are children.
In this Liverpool case, parents said they were seeing children whose parents are not critical workers. They might well not be. They could be vulnerable children. The reason for their vulnerability shouldn't be known by the school's parents. For me this is a breach of privacy.
Remote learning and safeguarding
Last week I drew together many of the links and resources that I had written about into an updated list.
In many cases the original material was collated from a number of different sources at the beginning of the first lockdown. It's hard to believe now, but many people had never even heard of Zoom. Lots of support and advice was produced and I tried to summarise it as best I could to ensure that you had speedy access to the knowledge you needed.
Some of the guidance I gave at the outset has evolved over time, as risks and mitigating steps became clearer. Zoombombing anyone?
Originally I wrote that remote lesson delivered live should be recorded. This was on the basis that it may need to be reviewed for issues around safeguarding for example.
As the use of remote learning has evolved over the past year, it is much more important that schools look at their own risks and provide appropriate mitigation. One approach could be take record live lessons; there are others.
I've now edited the 'Remote learning and safeguarding' document to say, 'Any live classes could be recorded and backed up elsewhere, so that if any issues were to arise, the video can be reviewed; access and retention policies need to be in place.'
You can download the revised document here: https://safeguarding.pro/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Remote-Learning-January-2021.pdf
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Operation Encompass Helpline - Extended Opening Hours
The Operation Encompass Teachers Helpline, funded by Home Office and the Department for Education, has extended its operating hours from Monday 4 January. It is now available Monday to Friday from 8am to 1pm throughout term-time, including during lockdown restrictions and is available for all staff in educational settings.
The Helpline allows staff to speak in confidence with an educational psychologist about how best to support children experiencing domestic abuse.
Operation Encompass website: https://www.operationencompass.org/teachers-helpline
St John Ambulance Safeguarding Briefings
The National Child and Vulnerable adult officer, Linda Dominguez MBE, from St John Ambulance got in touch this week to tell me about the safeguarding briefings they produced to support their volunteers, especially during the COVID pandemic.
Although not all the information is directly relevant to schools, some of it is. The briefings are also beautifully laid out. An enormous amount of work has gone into them.
You can download the A - Z here: https://6282.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/St+Johns+Ambulance+Safeguarding+and+COVID-19+briefings+A+-+Z+compendium+of+Topics+2020.pdf
EAL resources for Online Safety
A colleague this week asked for help locating EAL resources for online safety, particularly to support parents. Surprisingly, I could fine very few resources for this.
Parents: Supporting Young People Online (Childnet)
https://www.childnet.com/ufiles/Supporting-Young-People-Online.pdf
Leaflets available in a range of other languages here
https://www.childnet.com/resources/supporting-young-people-online
- Arabic
- Bengali
- English
- Farsi
- French
- Hindi
- Polish
- Punjabi
- Somali
- Spanish
- Turkish
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
- Welsh
Better Internet for Kids has sites for all European countries: https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/sic
Do let me know if you know of other resources that might help.
Keeping Children Safe in Education translations (LGfL)
LGfL have KCSIE translations here: https://national.lgfl.net/digisafe/kcsietranslate
Safeguarding and Child Protection Temporary Policy - UPDATED
As you may remember, things changed rather quickly on Monday 4th January 2021. Some schools opened, but by the end of the day they had closed across the country to the majority of children.
Stowe Valley MAT Safeguarding Manager, Louis Donald, shared a temporary safeguarding policy with me in the morning. By the afternoon he had updated it, but I inadvertently sent out the wrong one last week's Safeguarding Briefing (although it is current in Safeguarding.Pro).
The correct update policy draft is here: https://safeguarding.pro/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/covidpolicySG.docx
Thanks again Louis.
Forthcoming Courses
Advanced Safeguarding for DSLs
ONLINE Thursday, 28 January 2021 BOOK NOW
ONLINE Thursday, 4 February 2021 BOOK NOW
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Safeguarding for Everyone
Excellent as an online safeguarding session for all staff. Set up for your school on request.
For more information, go to: Whole School Safeguarding Course (Online)
Until next time, keep safe.
Best regards,
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