Case Study:
Sunmarke School
Sunmarke School is a Premium British Curriculum and International Baccalaureate school in Dubai, which offers GCSEs, A Level and IBDP programmes of study for their students.
As a school, they pride themselves on being at the forefront of all things digital, a quality that was recognised when they achieved their certified school status in March 2020.
Deputy Headteacher, Benjamin Atkins, kindly took the time to speak with us and explained how Sunmarke have implemented our resources.
Why did you choose National Online Safety?
After analysing our student’s behaviour data and reviewing our safeguarding training, we decided that we needed to enhance awareness and provision in the area of online safety to maintain our high standards.
National Online Safety provided exactly what we needed, with resources for students and online training for all groups of stakeholders.
What package/resources did you purchase and how did you find these?
The staff and DSL training have been the most valuable resources. In a school that is driving innovation and pushing digital boundaries, we had to ensure that our training and policies matched what we are doing in the classroom.
These National Online Safety courses ensure that staff are fully aware of the risks to both our students, the reputational damage that could be caused to the school and to be able to adequately protect themselves online.
As a Nursery to Sixth Form school, the lesson resources were useful across all year groups to supplement and enhance our Positive Education curriculum.
How have you found the service from National Online Safety?
We have had quick and responsive communication when needed.
How much of a benefit has National Online Safety’s resources been to your school?
The National Online Safety resources filled a newly identified gap in our safeguarding standards for the whole school community.
What were the goals for using our resources?
To address the concerns we had over keeping students safe online as we moved our curriculum further online.
If you could draw one positive from National Online Safety’s resources, what would it be?
It would be the ease of use for Parents to access the training. There are no complicated login options.
You recently achieved your Certified School Status – how rewarding has it been to be awarded with this?
It’s a great reassurance that we’re on the right track in maintaining high standards.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
As we find ourselves in turbulent times in the fight against the spread of Covid-19, we are moving our pupils further into an online world than ever before. As a school we are determined to stay ahead of the curve, and to safeguard our pupils as much as possible.
Although remote learning presents its own challenges, we appreciate all the efforts our parents, teachers and governors have made in striving to ensure excellence for Sunmarke as a Virtual School.
We encourage all of our parents to complete the National Online Safety online training. As we push the boundaries of innovation and seek to offer an unrivalled online learning experience for our students and their families, we want everyone to join us to ensure that Sunmarke, physically or virtually, really is ‘Where Amazing Happens’.