Hayesdown First School has been awarded the prestigious Online Safety Mark in recognition of its high standard of online safety education.
The school had been through a rigorous assessment process, including a comprehensive self-review and a full day onsite audit.
The assessor from South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) spoke to children, parents, governors and members of all staff teams to gain a clear picture of what the school does to keep children safe online.
Computing lead Nathan Hawkins said, “They were very impressed by the school’s ethos and commitment to this important part of safeguarding. The school’s pupil group of Digital Leaders were extremely confident and were able to explain how they take responsibility for their use of the internet and what to do if they have any concerns.”
The assessor recognised the high standard of online safety leadership, the way the school reports and responds to online incidents, its filtering and monitoring processes and their engagement with governors and parents.
Nathan said, “The final report suggested that the good practice should be spread to other schools, stating, ‘having demonstrated such good practice in developing a culture of online safety, I encourage the school to now consider how to share and develop this across the Academy Trust [The Partnership Trust].
“We work very hard to ensure that children can use the internet as a positive tool. However, we also need to teach them about the possible dangers and how they can keep themselves safe online. These are important life skills for our children, whether they are in school, at home, or out and about using mobile phones or other devices. We are delighted that the work that we do at Hayesdown First School has been recognised by this award.”
Lead assessor for the 360 degree safe Online Safety Mark, Ron Richards, congratulated the school on its success and commented that it was reassuring to know that the school had put a lot of thought and effort into improving the online safety of the staff and young people, by addressing these important safeguarding issues.
Frome Mayor, Cllr Andy Jones, visited the school to present the Online Safety Mark award and 360 degree safe badges for the Digital Leaders.
Further information from Julia Battersby, headteacher, Hayesdown First School. Email jbattersby@hayesdownschool.com.
Pictured: Frome Mayor, Cllr Andy Jones with children and Nathan Hawkins, computing lead
