Filtering and Monitoring: A Checklist for Schools

The Department for Education's filtering and monitoring standards set out what schools and colleges are expected to have in place. This checklist turns them into questions you can ask in a leadership meeting. The DfE guidance is the authority, so check it for the current wording: filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges.

Responsibility

• Does the governing body understand that it holds overall strategic responsibility, and does it receive assurance that the standards are met?
• Have you named a member of the senior leadership team and a governor to be responsible?
• Is it clear who is responsible for buying the systems, who for reports and checks, and who for maintaining them (usually IT support)?
• Does the DSL take lead responsibility for understanding how filtering and monitoring work in your school?

Review

• Is your filtering and monitoring provision reviewed at least annually?
• Does the review involve the senior leadership team, the DSL and IT support, with the responsible governor?
• Is the date of the last review recorded, and the date of the next one set?
• Did the review identify extra checks that are needed, and are they happening?

Systems

• Can you say which filtering and monitoring systems you use, and who provides them?
• Do they cover all school devices that need to be covered?
• Can you get reports from them, and does someone read them?

Checks and concerns

• Are checks on filtering carried out and recorded as part of the review process?
• Is there a clear route for a safeguarding concern identified by filtering or monitoring to reach the DSL?
• What happens when someone reports that something harmful gets through, or that something suitable is blocked?

Privacy and training

• If you use technical monitoring, have you completed a data protection impact assessment and reviewed the provider's privacy notice?
• Do staff and governors understand what the systems do and do not do?

Questions to ask your IT provider

• What exactly do our filtering and monitoring systems cover, and what do they not?
• Can you show me the latest report and the latest check?
• Who is responsible for fixing a problem, and how quickly?
• What would you change if you were reviewing this yourself?

The DfE's wider digital and technology standards also cover cyber security. If you are reviewing one, it is worth reviewing the other.