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Safeguarding: Online Safety

Safeguarding: Online Safety

What is Online Safety?

It is essential that children are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material and behaviours. An effective approach to online safety enables educational settings to empower, protect and educate learners and staff in their use of technology and establishes mechanisms to identify, intervene in, and escalate any concerns where appropriate.
The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable, but can be categorised into four areas of risk:

  • content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content For example, pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation and extremism
  • contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users. For example, peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes
  • conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm. For example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (for example, consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude and semi-nude images or videos) and/or pornography or other explicit images and online/cyber bullying
  • commerce - financial risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams.

What we do

LESAS have specific Online Safety officers who are responsible for supporting the delivery and oversight of online safeguarding arrangements in the Kent Children’s Workforce, including schools, education settings and early years childcare settings.

LESAS provide specific advice and guidance, acting as an initial point of contact and developing links with relevant local and national agencies. LESAS also provide online safety training in line with local and national guidance.

LESAS have specific Online Safety officers who are responsible for supporting the delivery and oversight of online safeguarding arrangements in the Kent Children’s Workforce, including schools, education settings and early years childcare settings. LESAS provide specific strategic online safety advice and guidance and develop links with relevant local and national agencies. LESAS also provide online safety training in line with local and national guidance.

If your concern relates to the safety/welfare of a child(ren): Please contact the Front Door Service via the Kent Integrated Children's Services Portal. Please view the LESAS Access to Support Flowchart (PDF, 122.9 KB)

If you have a strategic online safety enquiry (not related to an individual child) or would like to enquiry about online safety training or our other online safety products, please use the LESAS enquiry form.

Useful Resources

Use the toolbar on the left to access specific online safety guidance and resources that are suitable for all education settings. These links are regularly updated so bookmark this page to help you access materials easily.

The resources listed support a wide range of issues, such as cyberbullying, gaming and nude and semi-nude image sharing, as well as signposting to materials which can support education settings in raising awareness and enhancing their own practice.

These wide-ranging resources can support or be used to support:

  • Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs)
  • education staff, leaders/managers and governors
  • children and young people
  • parents and carers.