Building a proactive and inclusive online safety culture

At Queenswood, online safety is everywhere. It's in every part of school life and reflects our strong culture of care and shared responsibility. We take a proactive, whole-school approach that goes far beyond statutory compliance, ensuring that safeguarding in the digital world is understood, owned and championed by the entire community. Our work in this area is aligned with the school’s values and our commitment to the girls' wellbeing, innovation and continuous improvement. I believe this positions our school as a leader in inclusive, forward-thinking online safety practice.

Online safety as a shared culture
 
Our approach to online safety is genuinely exceptional and uniquely collaborative. All key stakeholders share clear responsibilities and are actively involved in decision-making through our Online Safety Group, which includes parent representatives, governors, pupils, support staff, boarding staff, the bursar and the senior leadership team. There is no other group in the school with such breadth of representation, and this is precisely why the model is so effective. The group meets termly to undertake an in-depth review of four strategic priorities. Recent areas of focus have included supporting overseas parents in understanding our Acceptable Use Policy, targeted training for support staff, enhanced online safety provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and a comprehensive review of our emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy.



We recognise that engaging busy parents can be challenging. Despite this, we maintain strong parental engagement through a termly online safety newsletter, sharing practical guidance and top tips. Parents are also invited to attend expert-led talks, including sessions delivered by nationally recognised organisations such as the Breck Foundation, ensuring our parent community has access to authoritative and up-to-date advice.

Digital Warriors

Our Digital Warriors programme is a particular strength. These students are outstanding ambassadors for online safety; they lead assemblies and presentations, actively gather pupil feedback and play a crucial role in translating complex legal and safeguarding requirements into language that is meaningful and accessible for their peers. Pupil voice is embedded across the school in multiple ways. For example, when the issue of the over-blocking of websites was raised (an issue also addressed within the Boarding Minimum Standards), a clear and transparent review process was introduced, allowing pupils to request site reviews via an online form. In the last year, 155 requests to unblock a website were made and 44 of these were approved. Becoming a Digital Warrior is a highly sought-after role; students apply annually and take the responsibility extremely seriously.

We have made a clear and ambitious commitment to continuous improvement through the 360 Degree Safe review tool. This is an online safety review tool offered by South West Grid for Learning which allows schools to review their online safety policy and practice. A range of strands relating to online safety are rated with a level from 1-5 (with 1 being the highest achievement). Queenswood was given the target of achieving a level 2 average, and we are delighted to announce that we have now achieved this. We will continue working to further improve this and to meet the benchmark to apply for the Online Safety Mark so we can become an accredited school.

A recent visit from online safety expert Alan Mackenzie provided valuable external validation. His feedback offered constructive next steps, but it was particularly encouraging to hear how impressed he was with the significant progress we have made in such a short period of time.

Continuous improvement, systems and safeguarding innovation

Our safeguarding culture at Queenswood extends well beyond the immediate school community. All external lettings and external organisations using our facilities receive formal safeguarding guidance, including clear expectations around online safety – an essential measure given their access to our Wi-Fi network. Any organisation hiring Queenswood facilities is required to complete a robust induction process, ensuring safeguarding expectations are fully understood and upheld.

Technically, our systems are underpinned by Lightspeed monitoring and filtering, with regular audits and checks to ensure the system functions effectively across all devices and user groups. Staff are trained in how to use the system and spot the obvious “explainable” alerts, such as a girl looking up an alternative ending to Romeo and Juliet or an EAL student searching for the translation of a word she has seen in a PSHE lesson. 



Queenswood also demonstrates a strong commitment to understanding and evolving with the ever-changing world of AI, ensuring it is used safely and responsibly by both pupils and staff. While recognising that practice is never perfect, the school is not afraid to learn, review and improve. This was exemplified by a fantastic conference for local schools led by the assistant head of digital learning, sharing best practice and learning how other schools are responding to the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

We are proud that our Online Safety Policy is so comprehensive and far-reaching, interlinking with numerous other areas of school practice. It is not merely a compliance document; it is one of the school’s most influential and impactful policies. It shapes staff code of conduct, GDPR and data protection, digital security, education, training and support for all stakeholders. 

Our Online Safety Group is one of our greatest strengths when it comes to our whole-school vision for technological literacy, innovation and responsibility. All we need now is a link to a community group that interacts with the school and our pupils, for example a university, a primary school or the police. Could that be you? If so, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].