A Practical Response to Schools Week’s Article: “Do You Know What Your Pupils are Viewing on School Technology.”

By Schools Broadband

The recent Schools Week article on the DfE’s Technology in Schools Survey 2024–25 raises issues that school and trust leaders rightly take seriously. Though as education becomes increasingly digital, expectations around safeguarding, accountability and risk management are rising just as fast.

At Schools Broadband, we recognise both the huge benefits of educational technology and the very real concerns voiced by parents, regulators and the media. However, the question is no longer whether schools should use technology, but how they can do so safely, proportionately and in line with statutory guidance.

What the DfE expects and why it matters

The DfE is clear. Schools and trusts are expected to have effective filtering and monitoring in place, as set out across: Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), The Filtering and Monitoring Standards for Schools and Colleges and The DfE Broadband Standards.

Crucially, the DfE does not treat filtering and monitoring as interchangeable. They serve different purposes and both are required. The Broadband Standards reinforce that schools must ensure internet access is safe, reliable and resilient; that safeguarding controls apply across school networks and solutions are appropriate for education and centrally manageable.

The Schools Week article highlights a gap that we see frequently in practice: filtering without effective monitoring.

Filtering and monitoring: what’s the difference?

Filtering is preventative. It blocks access to harmful or inappropriate content that should never be accessible on a school device or network such as: Pornography and explicit material; Extremism and radicalisation content; Gambling, self-harm and violence; Malware and unsafe websites.

Monitoring, by contrast, is observational and responsive. It identifies what risks may be emerging that staff need to know about such as: What users are actually searching for or viewing; Concerning patterns of behaviour over time; Safeguarding indicators that filtering alone cannot predict; Attempts to bypass controls or use devices inappropriately.

The DfE’s concern, echoed in the survey, is well founded. Filtering alone cannot tell you whether it is effective, nor can it identify low-level or cumulative safeguarding risks before harm occurs.

How Schools Broadband supports schools and trusts

Schools Broadband provides both filtering and monitoring as integrated, education-specific services, designed to work together and aligned to DfE guidance.

Education-Specific Filtering. Our filtering solutions are designed specifically for schools and MATs, ensuring consistent protection, whether a trust has five schools or fifty. Filtering is 1) Policy-driven and age-appropriate, 2) Can be centrally managed across trusts 3) is regularly updated to reflect emerging risks.

Active, Intelligent Monitoring. Importantly, monitoring is not about surveillance for its own sake. It is about early intervention, context, and professional judgement, which is exactly what KCSIE expects. That’s why the Schools Broadband monitoring solutions go beyond simple keyword alerts. They are designed to: Highlight concerning trends and behaviours; Support DSLs and safeguarding teams with timely visibility; Reduce noise while prioritising genuine risk and provide audit trails to support inspections and accountability.

Safeguarding Beyond the School Gates

One of the most significant risks highlighted in the Schools Week article, and in real-world incidents, is what happens when school devices leave the school site. And DfE expectations are clear: safeguarding responsibilities do not end at the school gate.

Schools Broadband supports: Filtering and monitoring on school-owned devices, even when used at home; Consistent safeguarding policies regardless of location and protection against the assumption that home networks are “safe enough.”

This is particularly critical for 1:1 device schemes; vulnerable learners; remote learning and homework and Trusts seeking consistency across varied home environments.

Affordability, Consistency and Review

The survey rightly points to financial pressure as a factor in safeguarding gaps; however, Schools Broadband was founded on the principle that cost should not be a barrier to compliance or safety. By combining connectivity, filtering and monitoring into a single education-focused service, we help schools and trusts to:

• Simplify procurement
• Reduce supplier sprawl
• Achieve better value for money
• Maintain consistent standards across all schools

Equally important is review. The DfE does not expect schools to “set and forget” safeguarding technology. Our services are designed to support regular policy review; Trust-wide oversight and evidence for Ofsted and safeguarding audits.

A Realistic Future

Calls to remove technology from schools entirely are understandable, but unrealistic. Digital tools are now embedded in teaching, assessment, inclusion and operations. The answer is not less technology, but better governance, better systems and better visibility.

The Schools Week article is right to urge schools to reflect urgently. The following are useful checks for schools and MATs to carry out right now.

• Ensure both filtering and monitoring are in place
• Confirm they apply on-site and off-site
• Review effectiveness regularly, not just after incidents
• Align systems, policies and staff training
• Choose solutions designed specifically for education, not adapted from the consumer or enterprise world

At Schools Broadband, we believe safeguarding should be robust, proportionate and practical, supporting schools to protect pupils, reassure parents and meet statutory expectations with confidence.

Speak to us today for guidance on your school’s online safeguarding. info@schoolsbroadband.co.uk | 01133 222 333 or visit us on stand SH61 at Bett 21-23 Jan 2026