If you are a school business manager, headteacher or Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), filtering and monitoring has probably moved up your to-do list. It is no longer just a technical setting the IT person looks after. Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) makes clear that it is a safeguarding responsibility, and inspectors and governors increasingly expect you to show how it works, not just say that it does.
This guide explains what is expected, in plain English, and how to put arrangements in place that you can evidence with confidence.
What KCSIE and the DfE standards actually ask for
KCSIE is the statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges in England. It expects governing bodies and proprietors to make sure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place, and that their effectiveness is regularly reviewed. It points schools to the Department for Education's filtering and monitoring standards, introduced in 2023.
In summary, the DfE standards say schools should:
- Identify and assign roles and responsibilities for managing filtering and monitoring systems
- Review filtering and monitoring provision at least once every academic year
- Block harmful and inappropriate content without unreasonably affecting teaching and learning
- Have effective monitoring strategies that meet the school's safeguarding needs
The DfE has also published cyber security standards for schools and colleges. They sit alongside the filtering and monitoring standards, and the two are worth tackling together.
Who is responsible?
This is where many schools trip up. The standards expect a named member of the senior leadership team and a named governor to take responsibility for making sure the standards are met. The DSL takes lead responsibility for safeguarding and online safety, which includes understanding the filtering and monitoring in place and acting on what it reveals.
Your IT provider plays an important part. They set up and maintain the systems, run checks, and give you reports. But they cannot own the safeguarding decisions. The best arrangements are a partnership: the school decides what is appropriate for its pupils, and the IT team makes it happen and shows you the evidence.
Filtering and monitoring are not the same thing
It helps to be clear on the difference.
Filtering
Filtering stops users reaching harmful or inappropriate content in the first place. A good filtering system should, as a minimum, be provided by a member of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), block access to illegal child sexual abuse material, and block content on the police-assessed list of unlawful terrorist content. The UK Safer Internet Centre publishes guidance on what 'appropriate filtering' looks like, and reputable providers will tell you how their product measures up.
Filtering should also be sensible. Over-blocking frustrates staff and can stop pupils learning about important topics such as health, relationships or online safety itself. Being able to apply different rules to different groups, for example staff, older pupils and younger pupils, makes a big difference.
Monitoring
Monitoring is about spotting concerns, not just blocking pages. It might involve alerts when someone searches for terms linked to self-harm, extremism or abuse, reports of attempts to reach blocked sites, or physical supervision in classrooms. The right mix depends on your school's size, age range and risk profile. What matters is that alerts reach the right person, usually the DSL, quickly, and that there is a clear process for responding.
Questions worth asking about your current setup
- Does filtering apply to every device, including school laptops and tablets taken home?
- Does it cover guest Wi-Fi and any devices staff or pupils bring in?
- Can it handle encrypted (HTTPS) traffic properly, rather than just blocking whole domains?
- Who receives monitoring alerts, how quickly, and what happens out of hours?
- When was the system last tested, and is there a record of it?
- Do staff know how to report a site that should be blocked, or one that is blocked when it should not be?
If you are unsure about several of these, you are not alone. Many schools inherited systems that were set up years ago and never reviewed.
How to evidence compliance
Governors and inspectors will want to see that you know what is in place and that you check it. Useful evidence includes:
- A written record of who holds each responsibility
- Your annual review, with notes on what was checked and any changes made
- Results of regular filtering tests, for example using free tools such as the SWGfL test filtering checker
- Sample monitoring reports and a record of how alerts were handled
- Staff training records showing people understand their role
Keeping these in one place makes governor meetings, audits and inspections far less stressful. A good IT provider should be able to produce much of this for you, such as reports and test results, so the DSL can focus on the safeguarding judgements.
Making it part of normal routine
The annual review is the minimum. In practice, it is worth a brief check each term and whenever something changes, such as new devices, a new curriculum topic, a safeguarding incident or a change of IT provider. Keep a short log of what you checked and what you found.
How Cloud 4 Sure can help
We support schools across Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent with filtering, monitoring and wider IT. We can review what you have now, explain it in plain terms, help you close any gaps, and set up the reporting and testing you need to show the standards are being met. We work alongside your DSL and senior leaders rather than taking decisions away from them.
If you would like a second opinion on your filtering and monitoring, or a wider look at your school's IT, get in touch to book a free IT health check. We are happy to talk it through with no obligation.