Online safety: requirements and guidance

Understand what arrangements you should have in place to keep pupils safe online, and get further resources to help you manage online safety in your school.

Last reviewed on 8 June 2022
See updates
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 13530
Contents
  1. Develop policies that cover the 4 areas of risk
  2. Put in place appropriate filtering and monitoring systems
  3. Take action to prevent online child-on-child abuse 
  4. Teach online safety through the curriculum
  5. Safeguard pupils and staff during remote learning
  6. Include online safety in staff safeguarding training
  7. Ofsted expectations
  8. Further guidance and resources

Develop policies that cover the 4 areas of risk

You should consider the 4 areas of online safety risks when developing your online safety policy: content, contact, conduct and commerce. See paragraph 135 of KCSIE to get details on each area. 

Use our model online safety policy to help you cover these issues. 

Make sure online safety is a running and interrelated theme while you devise and implement your whole-school approach to safeguarding and related policies and/or procedures (this is explained in paragraph 136 of KCSIE).

Adopt a policy on mobile and smart technology

You should also adopt a policy on the use of mobile and smart technology at school. 

This policy should, among other things:

This