Online safety is now a core part of every school’s safeguarding responsibility. Most concerns that reach a designated safeguarding lead have an online element, whether it starts on a phone at home or in a group chat between classmates. This page brings together our guidance for school leaders, safeguarding teams and teachers.
Building a safeguarding culture
Policies only work when staff understand them and act on them. In From Caring to Cognisant, co-founder Wendy Parry explains the difference between caring about children and safeguarding them professionally, and what it takes to build that culture across a school.
Topic guides for staff
- AI safety for children: generative AI, deepfakes and AI companions in the classroom and at home.
- Cyberbullying: recognition, response and building positive online communities.
- Digital citizenship: teaching responsible participation in online spaces.
- Social media impacts: the evidence on student wellbeing and what schools across Asia are seeing.
- Online grooming prevention: warning signs and how to respond to disclosures.
- Online gaming: chat, spending and gaming-related conflict in school.
A practical checklist for schools
- Your child protection policy covers online abuse explicitly, including peer-on-peer harm and image sharing.
- All staff receive online safety training at induction and refresh it at least annually.
- Staff know how to record and report an online concern, and that they must not view or copy indecent images.
- Your filtering and monitoring arrangements are reviewed regularly and someone is responsible for acting on alerts.
- Online safety is taught through the curriculum at every stage, not only in one-off assemblies.
- Parents receive regular, practical guidance they can use at home.
- Your acceptable use agreements for students and staff are current and cover AI tools.
Supporting parents
Much of what keeps children safe happens at home. Point parents to our resources for families, which cover the key risks in plain language and set out what to do if something goes wrong.
Training for your school
We deliver online safeguarding training for leadership teams, safeguarding leads, teaching staff and parent communities, drawing on experience across international schools in Asia. For further tools and organisations, see the resources directory, or get in touch to discuss training.