Case Study:
High Legh Primary School
With more time spent on digital devices throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, online risks and issues associated with increased screen time gradually immediately became heightened.
High Legh Primary School in Knutsford wanted to tackle these issues head on and therefore became members with National Online Safety in order to achieve this.
In January this year, their commitment was truly shown, after they were awarded with a certified school accreditation. Deputy Headteacher and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead, Jo Price, spoke to us and revealed the pride felt by everyone in the school community who has helped with the accomplishment.
Adapting to remote safeguarding
Speaking specifically about the benefits of National Online Safety, Mrs Price stated that having everyone enrolled onto the training has meant a removal of those earlier online problems.
Mrs Price revealed: “During the last lockdown, we had a bit of an issue with some of our Year 6 boys being unkind to each other online.
“I needed both staff and parents to be able to manage that. We did already do a lot of online safety, but we wanted to help them become more aware, and everything obviously became a bit more prevalent during lockdown last time.
“We had all of the TA’s at home around August time, which was brilliant, because that meant that there was a wealth of training and advice for them.
“Since becoming members of National Online Safety, we’ve not had one online safeguarding incident – which is brilliant.”
Responding to current online trends
New apps, games and devices are constantly in development and, for a staff member or parent trying to inform a child about each risk can be a challenge, but fortunately enough, our weekly #WakeUpWednesday guides have continued to offer the school a constant source of reliable information.
“What really got me was your #WakeUpWednesday guides – I just think they’re brilliant,” she declared.
“They’re something I can share every week and they’re there for parents to see. It also gives them an insight into what their children are seeing and, following on from this, a lot of parents have said that they never knew their child could view x, y and z.
“They always seem to be really in-line with whatever the latest trend is, age-appropriate and easy for parents to understand – which is the most important.”
A validation for all
Safeguarding is always at the forefront of every school’s mind, especially given the current circumstances.
However, achieving an award for their collective efforts is something which Mrs Price says the school will treasure.
She stated: “It’s fantastic!
“I’m not too sure all of my staff know yet – I’ve retweeted the news, but not all of them are on Twitter, however it is something I want to shout about for sure!
“It’s a really easy platform to use and there’s always somebody there for help if we need it.”