Our E-safety policy ensures the online safety of all pupils, staff, Trustees, Governors, and volunteers. We use Smoothwall to ensure our children and schools are kept safe. Smoothwall is the leading provider of online safeguarding infrastructure for the UK education sector. More than 10,000 schools, colleges, and multi-academy trusts depend on its filtering technologies to keep the internet safe for their students and staff – and many go through Coconnect.

We monitor our system on a daily basis. Heads of school, the CEO, Director of Education, Director of Inclusion, and our IT lead all follow up on concerns. Termly reports are provided for Trustees on statistics linked to incidents.

Key elements include:

• Regular training and updates for staff and pupils on online safety.
• Robust mechanisms to identify, intervene, and escalate any online safety incidents.
• Appropriate filtering and monitoring systems managed by our ICT Manager to keep pupils safe from harmful content online.

Parents can seek further guidance on keeping children safe online from the following organisations:

• UK Safer Internet Centre
• Childnet International

Cyber-bullying is addressed proactively within our Trust. We educate pupils on what it is, how to report it, and provide support for those affected. Incidents are handled according to our Behaviour policy and may involve liaison with external agencies or the police if necessary.