Case Study:
White Hall Academy
Providing education for children aged 2 right through to 11-years-old, White Hall Academy take a homogeneous outlook when it comes to offering their pupils and staff online safety training.
Upon discovering our Certified School Package, which covers EYFS content up to Key Stage 4, Deputy Headteacher Ellie Eames was suitably impressed.
Better still, the Essex-based academy have been able to utilise National Online Safety to respond to current online developments, through a wide variety of resources on our platform.
A consistent online message
Looking back on the impact which several national lockdowns had in terms of a shift to remote learning, White Hall had to adapt to new ways of teaching their children in an online capacity.
Mrs Eames said: “We had a lot of online learning, which was face-to-face through Microsoft Teams or Zoom, but what came with that, is that they were then socialising on those platforms outside of the school day.
“It was really important for us, that even from our youngest children, from the age of 2 all the way through to 11, that the message was consistent for us.
“Online safety on a mobile phone, is very different to that on a laptop, an Xbox, a PlayStation, and it’s about being able to equip our staff to ensure our children understand what safety looks like on all of those different devices.”
“A well-respected provider”
Besides a broad spectrum of age ranges, Ellie spoke of the delight which came with discovering the sheer breadth of online safety content and training after signing up.
She reinforced that message of consistency too – a view which was aligned by ourselves here at National Online Safety.
“You’re a well-respected provider,” she stated.
“When we were looking at different support for our children and staff, it was really important to us that we had the range.
“National Online Safety starts from nursery and moves all the way up the school – so it’s that consistent message as we go through the school.”
Responsive to current trends
Our #WakeUpWednesday series has been of particular use to White Hall and their community too, with specific praise placed on the way in which each guide released has an intrinsic link with what’s relevant in the world of online safety at that moment in time.
Mrs Eames explained: “I must say, any of our issues that we’ve seen in school, normally align with what you publish in the #WakeUpWednesday guides, which is really helpful.
“It’s about transferring that knowledge and putting it into practice. It’s all very well us giving this advice all of the time, but the use of videos and different range of resources which you have, means that there’s something for everybody.”
The world’s most comprehensive online safety app
It goes without saying that online safety isn’t a 9:00am-3:00pm responsibility – if anything, children have the opportunity to explore further once they’re perhaps logged onto some of the devices which they might have access to at home.
With that in mind, White Hall have been encouraged by the volume of parents and carers who’ve signed up to our mobile app.
“When we signed up to National Online Safety, we ensured that all of our parents were aware of your app,” she declared.
“Lots tell me that they’ve signed up and, from the ones which I’ve spoken to, it’s really great that we can have a conversation and then point them in the direction of the app, which is a really user-friendly portal, to find a help sheet, explainer video or something that will help them as a parent.”