Case Study:
Westminster Primary Academy
The online world is constantly evolving, of course – so astute schools are looking for ways to keep themselves informed about the latest online trends, developments and risks.
Lisa Fleet, Deputy Headteacher at Westminster Primary Academy, opted for National Online Safety’s Certified School Membership to help safeguard the school’s pupils in the online world.
Recognising the importance of online safety
It can be challenging to stay abreast of the changes in a continually shifting digital landscape. Westminster Primary Academy appreciates the usefulness of a strong online safety education.
"The online world is constantly changing." Lisa asserted. "For a parent, it's very difficult to keep up with that."
"We try, as a school, to support any of those worries that parents or children have."
Lisa revealed: "Online safety is one of those areas where we can share our expertise, alongside the resources from National Online Safety, to help support the whole school community to keep children safe online."
Engaging with the school community
Reflecting on the move to remote education, Westminster Primary Academy had to adapt to new ways of safeguarding their pupils when lessons transferred online early in the pandemic.
Lisa stated: "We initially came on board when we moved to remote learning."
Protecting children online is a collective responsibility which sits with not only the teaching staff, but with the whole school community.
The breadth of resources available on the National Online Safety learning hub – and the ease with which these can be rolled out to staff, parents, carers and pupils – was an essential factor in Westminster Primary Academy’s decision.
"The advantage of National Online Safety is that it's aimed at parents as well,” Lisa commented. “We've found it really useful to share those resources with parents, so that they can keep up with the online world."
She continued: "With the ever-changing world of apps, games and devices, we thought it would help us keep on top of online safety issues."
A wealth of high-quality resources and training
Our training can be rolled out quickly and easily to all staff, helping to foster a whole-school approach to online safety.
At Westminster Primary Academy, the entire school community is taking advantage of our multi-award-winning resources.
Lisa explained: "Everyone completed the remote learning training last year; our KS2 and safeguarding staff are all working their way through the online safety courses this year, too."
"It's not just online safety – there's training available for safeguarding in general, as well." she added.
Parents and carers can play a vital role in preventing their child from being exposed to harmful online content and behaviours, and Westminster Primary Academy has focused on increasing that parental engagement.
"Aside from the staff training, my biggest positive has been being able to support parents and point them to where they can find relevant online safety tips and information," Lisa revealed.
She commented: "I share the weekly #WakeUpWednesday guides through our social media – lots of parents have benefitted from those. It's sometimes difficult for parents to access websites if they don't have a laptop, which is why National Online Safety’s mobile app has been invaluable."