TNR Media Training
TNR is a dedicated communications consultancy within the Press Association, providing expert media training to clients across the UK. Organisational representatives who require press, radio or TV interview training are offered guidance from experienced, knowledgable trainers with an extensive media background.
One of the core bases of TNR’s bespoke media training services is practical interview practice. Business, charity or public sector spokespeople train in a realistic environment, giving them the skills and confidence they need when working with the media in a professional setting.
The delivery of key messages is honed for each type of media, whether it is press, television, radio or online.
Address:
TNR Communications
Press Association
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7963 7163
Dyslexia and Pupil Failure
Many school pupils could be failing reading and writing tests because they do not know that they are dyslexic, suggested a report on the BBC in 2008.
Case study:
3 years prior to the report, Lenny was halfway through primary school and could barely read and write. It was only then that someone noticed that he was dyslexic.
“It was really frustrating because the other children could read and write perfectly and I was just left behind in the class…. I was too embarrassed to put my hand up and ask questions.”
When researchers screened pupils who had failed SATS tests, most – 55% had learning difficulties – mainly dyslexia. They concluded that the condition is a major cause of failure that could be remedied, yet is largely ignored.
Specialist dyslexia teaching can make a huge difference. After just 10 hours of specialist tuition, two boys on the report had improved their reading ages by 10 months and 14 months. A dyslexia specialist stated that “by not being given this opportunity, quite often these children with specific learning diffilculties are faced with failure in the classroom and they continue to fail…. if they dont experience success, they start to opt out later in life.
Since this research, campaigners have called for dedicated support for identifying and dealing with dyslexia at a young age to be rolled out across schools nationwide.
E-Safety and Ofsted Inspections
When preparing for an Ofsted inspection schools need to evaluate their e-safety policies as part of wider safeguarding strategies.
An Ofsted briefing paper on safeguarding, which is aimed at inspectors and covers safeguarding broadly, is a useful way for schools to see what is expected of them in this area.
The paper stresses that e-safety should be constant and consistent from an early age.
The safeguarding outcomes identified are that children and young people are safe and that they feel safe. Schools need to demonstrate that reasonable steps have been taken to ensure this.
The guidance also states that learners should be equipped with the skills and knowledge to manage their own safety online.
Ofsted inspectors will ask schools:
- To what extent pupils feel safe
- How safe pupils feel at school and their understanding of safety issues such as bullying
- What kind of school support children have access to if they feel unsafe
- For pupils’ views on safety and harassment issues
FE
In FE settings, safeguarding can extend beyond the school/college, as young people learn in other settings or workplaces. FE organisations will need to demonstrate safeguarding measures that are in place to protect young people up to age 18 even when their learning is taking place elsewhere.
Resources
- Ofsted: Safeguarding FAQs
- Ofsted: Self-Evaluation and the SEF
- Ofsted: School self-evaluation: A response to the Byron review
- Ofsted: The safe use of technologies report
Case study
Rob Price, Deputy Head, Pastoral Care, The Minster School
In terms of self-evaluation what’s been really important to us is that we can demonstrate to Ofsted that we’re taking safeguarding seriously and e-safety is an important aspect of that.
The student voice is a very important aspect of self-evaluation. It’s really important to be able to demonstrate that students themselves are safe and feel safe, and that they feel well-supported and well-educated by the procedures and policies that we have in place. We do a lot of work in terms of asking students what their experiences are of e-safety issues such as cyber-bullying. We also ask whether they feel that they’re well-equipped to be able to deal with those issues.
Logging and Monitoring E-Safety Incidents
It’s essential that all e-safety incidents in schools are monitored and logged, including recording the outcome and any follow-up action taken. Logging and monitoring also has a part to play in the process of e-safety provision review.
Network activity, security and data management should be logged on an ongoing basis.
Responding to incidents
Technical staff in schools must understand what they are expected to do in these situations and exactly how far their responsibilities extend. There need to be procedures in place for action to be taken if they witness or suspect e-safety incidents. The e-safety co-ordinator should be informed straight away of any incidents.
Network monitoring
Network users should be told that their activity will be monitored and this should be covered in a school’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Being transparent about monitoring will head off a number of potential problems that can arise when e-safety incidents happen.
Users must be made clearly aware of what activity will be monitored. They should also be made aware that stronger monitoring may take place if misuse is suspected.
Following up incidents
By logging and monitoring e-safety incidents, the e-safety co-ordinator can spot patterns in behaviour and act on emerging issues. For example, awareness-raising campaigns or training may be required.
E-safety policies and practices should be reviewed in the light of incident logging and monitoring.
Resources
Case study
John Skillington, Systems Manager, The Minster School
E-safety incidents are logged with myself. A member of staff will fill in a form which details the date when the incident occurred, the name of the student and if necessary the website which was involved in the incident. When this is logged, action will be taken and the relevant form will be put into a folder and stored.
We only get maybe one or two cases a month and they’re normally incidents like flash games. They’re not mega incidents. We write to parents and tell them when a child has been banned from the internet. This has helped as a deterrent to students because they’ll see that their parents will be informed. Logging and monitoring helps us to judge how effective e-safety is within our school. The fewer incidents we have, the better our e-safety is.
Services: Acceptable Use Policy > AUP > Data Security > E-Safety > E-Safety Co-ordinator
Raising Awareness of E-Safety Issues
It’s important to raise awareness widely of the opportunities which technologies offer as well as the risks and e-safety issues which are associated.
All stakeholders, including governors, pupils, staff, parents and senior staff should be aware of the issues. Good times to discuss e-safety issues and raise awareness are assemblies, workshops and training sessions.
Awareness-raising needs to be a continual process not a one-off exercise.
Children and young people
These are examples of the ways awareness can be raised amongst young people:
- Posters placed around the school
- Reminders of e-safety issues and acceptable use wherever computers are used
- Discussion of e-safety issues at relevant points in the curriculum
- E-safety assemblies and theme days
- School involvement with events such as Safe Internet Day and Anti-Bullying Week
Staff
Awareness can be raised amongst staff through:
- The induction programme
- Regular training sessions on e-safety issues
- Updates at staff meetings
- Reminders on the acceptable use policy for staff
- Agenda items at governing body meetings
Parents and the community
Awareness can be raised with parents and the wider community through:
- Sharing your AUP for others to use or adapt
- Holding e-safety sessions and ‘how to…’ workshops
- Presentations at parents’ evenings and during other visits
- Permanent information in the reception area
- Newsletter reminders
- An e-safety area on the school’s website or VLE
Case study
Paul Coulthard, Subject Leader for ICT, Gateacre Community Comprehensive School
We believe we have a responsibility to educate everybody about e-safety and we believe that families have to understand e-safety if they’re going to work with their children and support the children.
We started off with coffee mornings and evening workshops so that we can really get parents on-board, irrelevant of how digitally savvy they are. We talk to parents about asking their children to make them friends on Facebook so that parents can check who their children have as online friends.
These are simple things that us ICT practitioners know about but a lot of the parents aren’t aware of them. We try and bring them on-board. It’s a partnership between the parents, us and the students.
Services: Acceptable Use Policy > AUP > E-Safety > Parental Engagement > Pupil Engagement > Staff Engagement
Data Safety and Security
School staff often have access to a range of sensitive and personal data. They must understand how to use systems safely and securely.
Good network practice is essential for keeping data safe and secure. It minimises the risk of data security breaches and helps with legislation compliance.
Network use rules
There should be basic rules for all network users. These should include:
- Keep passwords secret and change them regularly
- Choose a strong password which would be hard for someone else to guess
- Unattended workstations should be locked or logged off
- Check all removable media for viruses before using on the network
- Check all email attachments for viruses before opening
- Use personal, not group, login IDs where possible
Security policies
To manage network use and data issues, a separate policy from the acceptable use policy may be helpful. It will clarify to staff what’s expected of them and what their responsibilities are.
If you choose to integrate these issues into the AUP, safety and security should be covered comprehensively.
Resources
Case Study
Elaine Gill, Headteacher, Shiphay School
The integrity of data is a challenge for all of us in schools. An example of that is where one of my SLT colleagues had a burglary at home and the school laptop was stolen. When we reflected on that we were confident that the data that was on that machine was encrypted and therefore it was safe.
It raises issues around what we carry around with us and the importance of not tinkering with settings which are already there. The key message for everybody is follow the processes and procedures to keep ourselves safe, to keep schools safe and also to keep our pupils safe.
E-safety Training for Staff and Helpers
E-safety training for all school staff should be ongoing. It should cover emerging technologies, as well as those already in use.
As a way into developing an e-safety education programme for staff, you can ask yourself these questions:
Information
- How regularly do staff receive e-safety training and education?
- How regularly do they learn about new and emerging technologies?
Processes
- Do we have a process in place for supporting the training and development of staff in the area of e-safety?
- How do we monitor the impact of the e-safety training that we provide?
Tailoring
- Is our training suitably tailored for people in particular roles? For example, the training required for an IT manager will be different to that needed for a class teacher.
Skills
- What digital literacy training do we provide?
- What do we do to encourage staff to behave safely online?
- Do staff demonstrate good e-safety practice in their own technology use?
- Are there opportunities for staff to share their e-safety experiences and knowledge with each other?
Teaching
- Are staff encouraged to incorporate e-safety issues into relevant curriculum areas?
- How is this monitored?
Resources
- Know IT All for Primary Schools
- Know IT All for Secondary Schools
- Welcome to Know IT All for Trainees
- Think U Know teachers and trainers area
- Think U Know training
Case Study
Elaine Gill, Headteacher, Shiphay School
We all understand in schools the importance of a well-trained workforce. Personalising training is a key strategy of the way we work here at the school anyway and so we tailor the training around e-safety, as we do with all the other training, around the needs of individuals and their role.
Obviously, introducing new technologies is a particular challenge for all colleagues. We’ve certainly found that the most potent strategy is the drip feed. Everybody wants to be well-informed and there’s a lot to take on board. We’ve taken a strategy that helps and supports staff with a drip-feed of information.
Feedback from any training session is so vital in judging whether or not you’ve really hit your target or you’ve pitched things at the right level. There are opportunities beyond that for colleagues to feed back and come back and ask questions. That’s part of a continuing process.
It’s just so positive to see colleagues taking on board all elements of training and when you walk into their classroom seeing it in action every day all the time.
E-safety Support for Children and Young People
All school staff need to have good knowledge and understanding of e-safety issues and how they can support young people in this area.
Teaching and care staff
Teaching and care staff often spend the most time with young people and will have the main responsibility for delivery of information and support on e-safety. They’ll be the first point of contact should an e-safety incident occur and they’ll be able to spot any e-safety issues which may be arising.
The learning and care community
E-safety incidents can be reported at any time, whether it’s at lunchtime or after school. It may be reported to teaching staff or non-teaching staff, therefore everyone needs to understand how to respond to an incident.
All staff and helpers
Everyone who works with young people in a school must be clear about how e-safety incidents and issues are to be dealt with. All staff should demonstrate good practice when it comes to using technology themselves and should abide by and enforce the AUP at all times.
Case study
Rob Price, Deputy Head, Pastoral Care, The Minster School
Keeping up with technology is difficult because things change all the time. That means keeping up with social networking sites but it also means being ready for the next bits of technology such as most students walking round with some form of computer and access to the internet in their pockets.
To do that, we have to keep up with new technologies ourselves but also be talking to students about how they’re using and possibly abusing new technologies.
The most important thing about it is that the kids are really controlling the technology now. They come into contact with more technology than their parents so it’s very important for them to remember how to be safe and what things they can do to try and make themselves safe in the online environment.
How E-safe are Your Staff and Helpers?
E-safety is mainly a safeguarding matter and therefore it’s the responsibility of anyone that looks after young people. All members of staff at your school need to understand e-safety and how to handle any issues that arise.
How to raise awareness
Awareness-raising methods need to be ongoing all the time, not just one-offs. E-safety should be embedded into everyday practice at the school.
Awareness can be raised through:
- The induction
- Workshops, INSET days and post-school sessions
- Staff meetings
- Memos
- Team meetings
- Regular policy refreshers on the AUP
When raising awareness of e-safety issues amongst staff you should focus on:
- The opportunities offered by new technologies, as well as the associated risks
- Policies and procedures
- Identifying possible e-safety issues
- How children might hide inappropriate e-safety behaviour
- How e–safety incidents should be responded to
- How e-safety incidents should be monitored, logged and reported
Case study
Christine deGraft-Hanson, E-safety Co-ordinator/Deputy Headteacher, Parkwood Hall School
It’s been very interesting to watch the transformation from staff on the residential site refusing to let students access the internet at all when they themselves weren’t confident that they could support the students. We’re now seeing requests for laptops and greater use of the internet, all across the school. One example was one of the PAs said her daughter was being bullied online and before she could step in saying: “That is cyberbullying and if you don’t stop sending these messages we will report you to the police”, another daughter stepped in and suggested blocking the messages. I said you’re both correct; you can report this if you choose and it would be advisable to report it, but it’s also advisable to block it.
That’s the kind of conversation we’re having across the school. There is increased vigilance across the place. The more they have learned, the more happy and confident they are that they can support the students and they’re happy to let the students go online.
Reporting and Managing E-safety Issues and Concerns
Even with good policies in place, it’s likely that e-safety incidents will still happen from time to time.
A detailed AUP should outline unacceptable behaviours online and the sanctions in place should the AUP be breached.
A detailed e-safety policy document will also outline the procedure for reporting an e-safety incident. All school staff must understand this procedure.
Reporting
The first port of call for reporting an e-safety incident should be the e-safety co-ordinator. They will log what has taken place and may suggest action. Other parties may need to become involved such as senior school staff or the police.
Response management
All e-safety incidents are different are there are a number of different factors at play each time. Therefore, each incident requires an individual response. You’ll need to consider these scenarios:
- Inappropriate material: Was it deliberate or accidental?
- Illegal material: How was access to illegal material made possible? Senior staff and external agencies will usually need to be involved when illegal material is accessed.
- Network misuse: This could include hacking, virus issues or tampering with safety settings
- Bullying/harassment: Responses to cyberbullying should be in line with the overall anti-bullying policy.
- Sexual exploitation: Senior leaders and external agencies will need to be involved in the case of a serious offence such as this.
Preparing for incidents
Preparation for e-safety incidents should be in line with general safeguarding procedures in the school. The response model must be capable of handling a wide range of issues and take into account the various people who may be involved.
It is recommended that you contact your local safeguarding children board to make sure your policies reflect the ones at local level.
Resources
The following resources, created by councils, may be useful:
- East Sussex County Council: E-safety
- Hertfordshire Grid for Learning: Responding to an e-safety incident
- Kent County Council: Children’s Safeguards Unit – Policy and guidance
- Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Board: Responding to an incident of concern
Case study
Elaine Gill, Headteacher, Shiphay School
When it comes to monitoring issues around e-safety and reporting those we’ve identified a clear procedure as to what colleagues need to do if they’re in the least bit concerned. We’re utilising the skills of our network manager to be that first gatekeeper of information.
He keeps a written record and that gets reviewed by our e-safety co-ordinator and then issues are raised through that monitoring through SLT and through me. If there are any concerns about child protection then those are picked up by a designated officer and taken on.
Services: Acceptable Use Policy > AUP > E-Safety > E-Safety Co-ordinator > E-Safety Policy
