Ofsted and e-Safety: updates for September 2014

Rebecca Avery is the e-Safety Officer for KCC.

In July 2014 Ofsted published the updated version of their School Inspection Framework ready for use in September 2014. Ofsted have significantly reduced the number of guidance documents which they publish for inspectors, schools and other stakeholders. This has resulted in there now being just three guidance documents: The framework for school inspection; School inspection handbook and Inspecting safeguarding in maintained schools and academies.

This means that although the section five briefing “Inspecting e-Safety” has now been removed from the Ofsted website, many elements of good e-Safety practice have now been included in the school inspection handbook and the separate safeguarding briefing. Ofsted have assured that all education, early years and social care inspectors will receive regular and up-to-date e-Safety training to enable them to identify good and inadequate e-Safety practice as part of inspections within schools, colleges and other settings.

e-Safety should be embedded throughout schools and settings safeguarding practice and is clearly identified as an issue for schools and settings leaders and mangers to consider and address. Online safety now is an essential element of all education settings safeguarding responsibilities and requires strategic oversight and ownership to be able to develop appropriate policies and procedures to protect and prepare all members of the community. The e-Safety agenda has shifted towards enabling children and young people to manage risk, rather than filtering/blocking and therefore requires a comprehensive and embedded curriculum which is adapted specifically to the needs and requirements of pupils and the technology with which they are exposed too.

The following blog posts will highlight practice where inspectors may continue to seek to identify and explore e-Safety within education settings in light of these changes. Please be aware that these posts should not be read in isolation and this content will highlight specific areas where schools can demonstrate good e-Safety practice.

Kent schools are welcome to contact the e-Safety officer for advice and guidance. Kent’s e-Safety guidance for education settings is available here.

Part One: e-Safety within the School Inspection Framework, September 2014

Part Two: e-Safety within the “inspecting Safeguarding” Section five briefing, September 2014

With thanks to David Brown, Her Majesty’s Inspector / Ofsted National Lead for Computing and e-safety

This post was first published by Rebecca Avery, e-Safety Officer, on Kent e-Safety - Safer Online Blog on 4th September 2014.