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<p>This government is committed to keeping children safe both online and offline.
All schools and colleges must have regard to the department's statutory guidance,
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), when carrying out their duties to safeguard
and promote the welfare of children.</p><p>This guidance provides schools and colleges
with information on what they should be doing to protect pupils and students online.</p><p>The
guidance is very clear on the actions a school or college should take if there are
any concerns about a child’s wellbeing and/or safety. KCSIE, amongst other things,
sets out that:</p><ul><li>Appropriate filters and monitoring systems should be in
place to protect children when they are online using school or college IT systems.
Schools and colleges should have a clear policy on the use of mobile technology which
reflects that many children have unrestricted access to the internet via smart devices.</li><li>KCSIE
also provides school and college staff with information about different types of abuse
and harm, including online abuse.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In addition, the department
has published guidance on teaching online safety in schools and, through relationships,
sex, and health education (RSHE), children will be taught about rules and principles
for keeping safe online.</p><p>The statutory RSHE curriculum was introduced in September
2020. In these subjects, pupils are taught about online relationships, implications
of sharing private or personal data online (including images), harmful content and
contact, cyberbullying, an over-reliance on social media, how to be a discerning consumer
of information and where to get help and support for issues that occur online.</p><p>Where
it is required, schools are also expected to offer remote education to pupils who test
positive for COVID-19 or present with COVID-19 symptoms where they are well enough
to learn from home. There is a wide range of resources available to support schools
and colleges to meet these expectations. The ‘Get Help with Remote Education’ page
on gov.uk provides a one-stop-shop for teachers and leaders, signposting to support
available. This includes a self-assessment framework to help schools and colleges
understand where they are with their remote education provision, help to access technology
that supports remote education, peer-to-peer training and guidance on how to use technology
effectively and resources, and school-led webinars to support effective delivery of
the curriculum.</p>
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