Case Study:
Sewell Park Academy
Speaking to Richard Moore, Assistant Head Teacher: Safeguarding, Child Protection, Attendance and Year 9 at Sewell Park Academy, it is clear to see his passion for all things online safety.
Having National Online Safety by their side has only enhanced this capability for Sewell Park, who achieved their Certified Status in September this year.
However, Richard and his colleagues view the accreditation as a platform to build on, rather than a full stop.
A culture of online safety
The Norwich-based academy had already embedded that crucial online safety ethos. It’s a philosophy which doesn’t just encompass the more traditional routes of internet use, but in pupils’ lives across the board.
Richard said: “Online safety is not only interwoven in terms of teaching it as a standalone: we also make sure that every subject teaches it as part of their curriculum, too.
“Myself and the head of computing make sure that we give all of the staff regular updates. We encourage everybody to, as a minimum, mention how to report concerns every time they teach a student in a computer room or using Chromebooks.
“Each subject has its own way of teaching not about just the online world, but also about the online safety aspect.”
“It’s a really easy platform to use and really user friendly.”
National Online Safety has only further empowered Mr Moore and the rest of the staff, and he praised our platform’s intuitiveness.
“The National Online Safety platform is so easy for us to use in terms of completing training; but also for myself and the head of computing, who oversee the training, it’s a really easy to use and really user-friendly,” he declared.
“We highlight the importance of this to parents and the importance of their involvement in it.
“It’s very much not just a school issue – in fact a lot of the things which we’re educating them about would be things that they would be doing outside of school.
“Twice a half-term, we do online safety lessons in form time, and they (the lesson plans) form part of what we do there.”
A foundation, not an end
Sewell Park’s accreditation reflects their whole-school attitude to online safety, and Richard is excited to see what comes next.
He stated: “We’re very satisfied that we’re taking this seriously, but we’re keen to ensure we continue to do this for our young people and educate them further.
“It’s not just us leaders taking it seriously, but the whole school.
“One of your webinars was about how students can accept behaviour because everyone does it.This certification shows that just because something’s seen as the norm, doesn’t mean it’s accepted behaviour.”