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.
