Internet Filtering

Why we monitor and filter internet activity

As per the UK Governments Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance, we are required to filter all student and internet traffic on our network. For the sake of security, staff and guest internet activity is also filtered. We do this using a product called Securly, which can intelligently identify the types of websites being visited and block them appropriately. The level of filtering applied to you depends on your year group, or whether you are a student or member of staff.

Always remember that when connected to the school network or logged into a device with your school Google account, your web activity is monitored. If you attempt to view any content deemed inappropriate, your Year Leaders / the school's DSL may be alerted and follow this up with you. Logs are only accessed when a cause for concern has been raised. Nobody monitors individual students on a daily basis.

You can read more about how we keep you safe online by reading our Online Safety Policy and Safeguarding Policy on the school website.

YouTube

All students have strictly restricted access to YouTube. This applies a filter to screen out many videos based on an automated system, while leaving some videos still available for viewing. Staff can allow students to view a blocked video by opening up the video in youtube, and clicking the 'Approve' button underneath the video.

Chromebooks

While a student is signed into a Chromebook (either enrolled into our management or not) using their school account, the following things are recorded:

  • Browser & YouTube History (which websites have been visited)

  • YouTube History (which videos have been accessed (note - restricted mode is applied))

  • Google Search History (which search terms a student uses (note - safesearch is forced))

  • Access to any ‘flagged content’ (e.g. self harm, radicalisation and sites blocked by filtering)

Outside of school, the Securly Web Portal provides parents with an opportunity to manage the level of filtering their child experiences and receive weekly reports on their activity. This is an extremely significant part of this scheme, where parents may wish to ensure they are well informed as to what their child is doing. This system will be setup during the summer of 2022.