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How to review your online safety policy

Find out what questions you can ask to review your school's online safety policy with confidence. Use our model policy to see what good looks like, and see examples from other schools.

Last reviewed on 3 July 2023See updates
School types: All•School phases: All•Ref: 38461
Contents
  1. Key facts
  2. What this policy needs to do
  3. 3 key questions to challenge the policy
  4. Model policy
  5. School examples

Key facts

  • This policy is non-statutory
  • You can delegate the approval of this policy to an individual or committee
  • The board determines the review cycle
  • The headteacher and senior leadership team will write and be responsible for the implementation of this policy
  • Governors are responsible for monitoring this policy and holding the headteacher to account for its implementation

What this policy needs to do

When you're reading your school's online safety policy, make sure it:

  • Has been updated in line with the latest version of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)
  • Covers the 4 categories of risk (content, contact, conduct and commerce)

As it's not statutory, policies can vary, but you might expect to see information on:

  • How online safety forms part of your school's curriculum
  • How teaching about safeguarding, including online safety, is adapted for vulnerable children, victims of abuse and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), where necessary
  • How your school approaches filtering and monitoring on school devices and school networks, emphasising the role and responsibilities of the governing board and the designated safeguarding lead (DSL)
  • How your school will educate parents about online safety
  • Cyber-bullying, including your school's approach to prevent and address it, and when staff can examine and confiscate pupils' electronic devices
  • Acceptable use of the internet in your school
  • Pupils' use of mobile devices in school
  • Staff use of work devices outside of school
  • How your school will respond to issues of misuse
  • The training staff will receive (this should include understanding the expectations, applicable roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring)
  • How your board will monitor the policy (for example, you may have a dedicated link governor)

3 key questions to challenge the policy

You need to ask challenging questions when approving the policy so you can satisfy yourself that the policy-reviewing process was robust.

1. What's changed in this most recent update, and why? 

Your policy should be based on statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). It should also be in line with these other key bits of guidance:

If there have been updates to any of these documents (as there was with KCSIE on setting expectations for filtering and monitoring for September 2023), you’ll need to check that your school leaders have made sure the policy reflects the latest version.

Your school might also have updated the policy in response to any incidents you've had in the school, or new best practice guidance school leaders have learned through their professional development activities.

2. How do you know the way you teach online safety is accessible to all pupils?

Ask how various categories of pupils access online safety in your school, including pupils who are vulnerable, and those with SEN and/or English as an additional language (EAL).

School leaders should recognise that a 'one size fits all' approach might not work for everyone. They should be able to explain how they know these pupils understand online safety – for example, they might talk about interventions and lesson differentiation.

3. How will we know this policy is working and that it's being properly implemented?

School leaders should be able to explain:

  • Key objectives of the policy and how they'll measure success
  • How implementation will be monitored and reported

Model policy

This model document (provided by our sister service, The Key Leaders) is not meant as a guide for writing or updating your school's policy, since that's your school leaders' job. Instead, use it to give you a sense of what a good policy looks like. 

Model policy: online safety

Our model is:

  • Designed for your school leaders to adapt to suit your school's context
  • In line with relevant requirements and good practice
  • Approved by Forbes Solicitors

It also contains:

  • Separate acceptable use agreements for your school leaders to use with: 
    • Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage (KS) 1 pupils and parents/carers
    • KS2, KS3 and KS4 pupils and parents/carers
    • Staff, governors, volunteers and visitors 
  • A self-audit for staff on their online safety training needs 
  • An online safety incident report log for your school's DSL to use 

School examples

Primary

Secondary

Special