Online-safety whole-school engagement plan

School: [school name]

Plan owner: [online safety lead role]

Adoption date: [adoption date]

1. Purpose and approach

The school will use a whole-school approach to online safety and harms. This approach goes beyond lessons to include school culture, ethos, environment, and partnerships with families and the community.

Engagement will support the school’s agreed online-safety principles and inform the way online safety is reflected in school life, the curriculum, pupil support and safeguarding responses.

2. Agreed online-safety principles

The school will communicate its agreed online-safety principles in language that is suitable for staff, pupils, parents and carers. The principles will be considered in teaching, school activities, communications, support and responses to online harms.

The current agreed principles are: [agreed online safety principles]

3. Engagement with staff

Staff engagement will connect the agreed principles with the school’s culture, ethos, environment, curriculum, pupil support and safeguarding responses. Staff will be given opportunities to consider online issues affecting pupils and how the school’s approach can respond to them.

Staff engagement arrangements are: [staff engagement arrangements]

4. Engagement with pupils

Pupils will be engaged in activities that promote the school’s agreed online-safety principles. Activities will be appropriate to pupils’ age, developmental stage, circumstances and accessibility needs.

Pupil engagement arrangements are: [pupil engagement arrangements]

Co-designed activities

Where the school chooses to use co-designed activities, staff and pupils, and where appropriate parents and carers, may help shape programmes to reflect emerging issues that they are hearing about or facing online.

Co-designed activity arrangements, where used, are: [co designed activity arrangements]

Peer-to-peer support

Where the school chooses to implement peer-to-peer support, the arrangement may support pupils to help their peers stay safe online. The school will define the purpose, boundaries and support available for any such arrangement.

Peer-to-peer support arrangements, where used, are: [peer support arrangements]

5. Engagement with parents and carers

Parents and carers will be engaged in activities that promote the school’s agreed online-safety principles. Engagement will provide opportunities to consider online issues affecting pupils and to strengthen partnerships between the school, families and the community.

Parent and carer engagement arrangements are: [parent carer engagement arrangements]

6. Family and community partnerships

The school will consider how partnerships with families and the community can support online-safety teaching and the wider whole-school approach.

Relevant family and community partnership arrangements are: [family community partnership arrangements]

7. Tailoring support and participation

Any pupil can be vulnerable online, and vulnerability can fluctuate with age, developmental stage and personal circumstance. The school will consider how its engagement, teaching and support should be adapted for pupils whose vulnerability or access to support may differ.

Particular consideration will be given to pupils who may be more susceptible to online harm or have less support from family or friends in staying safe online, including looked-after children and pupils with special educational needs.

Adaptations for pupil age, developmental stage, personal circumstance, accessibility needs and differing support needs are: [pupil support adaptations]

8. Using engagement to inform the whole-school approach

The school will consider information from staff, pupils, parents, carers and community partners when developing its culture, ethos, environment, curriculum, pupil support and safeguarding responses relating to online safety and harms.

The arrangements for considering engagement information are: [engagement information arrangements]

9. Local arrangements

The school’s local communication arrangements for this plan are: [online safety communication arrangements]