Ofsted require primary schools to have individual computer accounts and tracking?????

[edutech4schools]

I have just been told by our LA that Ofsted now require primary schools to use single user logins, and we will have to purchase something like Securus Education - Securus so we can show that the school is monitoring pupils online / offline behaviour.

 

is this true?

[foofighterjim]

I stand to be corrected but I thought specifying the logons is beyond the remit of Ofsted, the monitoring part may be valid though as it comes under safeguarding. Thinking about it the monitoring part is only valid if you know exactly who was using what logon so that would imply the logon part.

 

Thinking even further though how does this work for iPads and the like? Some monitoring systems do not work on iOS and unless you are going to play with profiles at the start of each lesson you would still have no idea on who is using what.

 

(I know this is a little scattered but it is a good reflection of my mind at the moment!)

[pete]

IIRC (IANAOI), you have to show what you're doing to and how you're safeguarding (including e-safety) pupils and Securus is one method you can use to do this.

 

They don't (tend) to get into specifics, it's more "you're supposed to be doing X, show me that you're doing it".

 

As a NM at a secondary school it would benefit me if pupils didn't get into the habit of sharing passwords at an early age and might decrease the frequency of unintended consequences, but I understand how that could impact teaching at primaries.

[abillybob]

All pupils from the age of 5 here are given their own Username, create their own Password and we use Smoothwall to extensively monitor the children use. We are as you've guessed it a Primary School and Ofsted have said to us we need to be able to watch what each pupil is going on and monitor them.

We have implemented this on the iPads also as this question was raised and we have to do it on them so I have created an SSL page for them to login with. You'll be surprised how quickly the kids are catching on took them around a month to remember their own usernames and password.

 

As @pete stated it also helps when they go into secondary school and given credentials to login as they will already be used to it. Only year 1's on a generic Year 1 account are the pupils that aren't monitored this is because some of them can't spell their name correctly yet, though this does mean the Year 1 account is constantly monitored and if anything really stands out we can link the specific device to the time and location and drill it down to find the pupil who was doing the wrong thing.

 

Hope this helps

[X-13]

I have just been told by our LA that Ofsted now require primary schools to use single user logins, and we will have to purchase something like Securus Education - Securus so we can show that the school is monitoring pupils online / offline behaviour.

 

is this true?

 

Would you be able to get any links/official documents from them about this?

 

 

This could be the thing that allows me to finally get rid of our whole-class accounts. [NOBODY SHOULD BE USING THEM! WHY ARE THEY STILL BEING LOGGED IN?!]

[GeekyPete]

It is always best practice to have individual log ons. The only place where it may not be appropriate is in special schools for children with profound learning difficulties where staff have to log on for them and supervise everything they do.

 

If you are with an ISP like Northern Grid for learning then it stipulates this their AUP that the schools and LA have to abide by Northern Grid Acceptable Use Policy 2011-2012 - Northern Grid for Learning.

[GeekyPete]

Would you be able to get any links/official documents from them about this?

 

This could be the thing that allows me to finally get rid of our whole-class accounts. [NOBODY SHOULD BE USING THEM! WHY ARE THEY STILL BEING LOGGED IN?!]

 

I sometimes get asked for generic accounts. In exceptional cases I do give them. The accounts are always formatted teachername01. I make it clear that the named teacher is wholley responsible for what happens on those accounts. I only ever give them for a limited period of time and deleted them afterwards.

[GeekyPete]

I have just been told by our LA that Ofsted now require primary schools to use single user logins, and we will have to purchase something like Securus Education - Securus so we can show that the school is monitoring pupils online / offline behaviour.

 

is this true?

 

Yes, it caches all suspect activity as screen grabs. Even on a laptop that has been taken home. It then uploads the images when it connects again.

 

It can't be disabled (very easily anyway). It also isn't internet only monitoring. Anything on screen at all is captured.

[elsiegee40]

Can I just confirm that the primary school requirement for individual logins is for Key Stage 1 and 2 which does not include Reception.

 

 

That said, our children get individual logins from Reception. The password requirements for this class are very simple, however... 3 letters, but shh! they are top secret and nobody else knows!

[Blue_Cookeh]

This is the first I've heard of this?! I can't imagine our Y1 - 4 classes having individual logons...

 

I suppose I can just bamboozle HMI with some Squid logs...

[witch]

Please can I have any official documentation that you have about this? We are awaiting Ofsted and need to know if there are things we need to change - we have whole class logons at present

[elsiegee40]

It was confirmed to me by @esafety_officer yesterday. Hopefully she can direct you to chapter and verse. This is the new Ofsted supplementary guidance for ICT

[matt40k]

I personally don't like Securus, I don't get it's purpose in a primary school. For me it rings alarm bells. Why would a primary school need to prove pupils are safe using the computers, surely in a primary school a member of staff would be supervising at all times? Don't we trust our primary schools? Am I missing something? It just feels like someone trying to answer a procedure\policy with technology and it in this case, it just doesn't work, it's reactive not proactive. Smoothwall is proactive and I agree with that. It stops the bad things happening, all Securus does is reports it. You still need to act on it and normally it's too late anyway. I wonder if someone is using the OfSted fear to sell a product.

[TechSupp]

Yes, can somone point me to documentation that specifically says they need individual logons. Just looked through the Ofsted supplementary guidance linked document and didnt see anything unless I missed it. Funny just looking at implementing a key word monitor and screen grab using AB Tutor. Looks like I may have to make that more priority on my jobs list as we too are awaiting the call and are well overdue for it.

[edutech4schools]

What about tablets. Nothing on Securus info about tablets, and most primary schools would share a tablet anyway.

[edutech4schools]

I have requested the relevant Ofsted info from our e safety team and will post it up if the send it.

[nathan]

When it says monitoring, does this mean having a policy in place to look at the internet traffic logs once a week like we do? or is this saying we should be using screen shot software?

[abillybob]

@Matt4k, actually I have found that Primary Schools don't supervise what the students go on as much as secondary schools do! I am always walking around lessons and seeing kids on paint messing about or searching 'funny' in Google Images and the teacher is at the front eating a cake. When I worked in the secondary school there was a lot more monitoring going on it all seems to relaxed here for my liking, you'd also be surprised what year 3+ kids search for and think they'll get away with it I had a 6 year old search the term "boobs" the other day. They don't understand consequences and can't be left to get away with it otherwise when they get to your secondary school they'd get in a lot of trouble as you guys monitor them more closely than I ever could with the stuff I have here.

Though this may all be due to where my school is located, not the nicest area and the things I hear parents say to their kids walking them in on a morning makes me cringe to say the least!...

[matt40k]

I'd hope this is isn't a common thing! Certainly if more and more schools are moving anyway from LA\RBC broadband with enforced filtering. Still not sure what a screenshot is going to do! I think my first reaction to the school telling me that my son has spent the day entering "boobs" into Google wouldn't be prove it, it would be why is my son going on the internet unsupervised which would be followed up (after much complaining) by why haven't they enforced the Google strict search so the images don't appear. Only after I calmed down would I be having the conversion with him about how it's wrong to do it - as funny as he finds it. This would probability be followed by me sifting through the school transfer guidance that the missus has sent me earlier in the day.

 

I trust my son's school that if something did happen, they would have the correct processes in place to deal with it, ie getting it promptly blocked and not waiting until the end of the week when it pops up in the logs\when they go through the screenshots, or even not finding it at all!! - I know when I worked in a school we had an issue where someone misspelt tennis (missed out a n) which returned some unwanted results. So I accept even with supervised, filtered access something could happen. So is buying software that takes screenshots to prove that it happens so parents believe them? I just can't see the benefit really. I mean I'd rather they hired a technician to physically monitor the computers then the logs\screenshots - least they could fix them when they break

[abillybob]

I'd hope this is isn't a common thing! Certainly if more and more schools are moving anyway from LA\RBC broadband with enforced filtering. Still not sure what a screenshot is going to do! I think my first reaction to the school telling me that my son has spent the day entering "boobs" into Google wouldn't be prove it, it would be why is my son going on the internet unsupervised which would be followed up (after much complaining) by why haven't they enforced the Google strict search so the images don't appear. Only after I calmed down would I be having the conversion with him about how it's wrong to do it - as funny as he finds it. This would probability be followed by me sifting through the school transfer guidance that the missus has sent me earlier in the day.

 

I trust my son's school that if something did happen, they would have the correct processes in place to deal with it, ie getting it promptly blocked and not waiting until the end of the week when it pops up in the logs\when they go through the screenshots, or even not finding it at all!! - I know when I worked in a school we had an issue where someone misspelt tennis (missed out a n) which returned some unwanted results. So I accept even with supervised, filtered access something could happen. So is buying software that takes screenshots to prove that it happens so parents believe them? I just can't see the benefit really. I mean I'd rather they hired a technician to physically monitor the computers then the logs\screenshots - least they could fix them when they break

 

We have around 3 children each week that try to access Adult Content normally years 6's, the number is now dropping since I have put in Smoothwall and some of them are aware they are being monitored. The children are more scared accessing things like that at home then they are at school and I'm sick and tired of the staff not supervising the children properly, I had one member of staff give me a laptop that was smashed into little pieces because the child got angry and through it on the floor... where's the common sense, the teacher should have took the laptop off him he was showing signs of anger! I don't know I do what I can but I do find it appropriate to monitor the children and what they go on, they're not thick and they know what they are doing, if they have no repercussions after their actions they will never learn.

 

Also from a safeguarding point of view it helps, we found a certain student looking at inappropriate things and then found it was to do with abuse from a step farther... there's a lot of benefits in monitoring young children especially on computers and I think every primary school should do it, we have Individual accounts and Smoothwall but that is it nothing like Impero etc... this is just because we can't afford it and deem it unnecessary.

 

It is true that students make spelling errors and more but that is why you talk to the child first to find out the full story and then make your decision on whether or not they deserve punishment or for example if they are repeatedly offending then you know they are lieing.

 

Just to add I have been to two primary schools recently none of which are using LEA broadband and also have no filtering or ways to monitor the children it's just an open home broadband equivalent internet connection :| Shocking I know.

[matt40k]

For me, your doing be the best you can as a technician. You've got a smoothwall box, your monitoring it. The schools got something in place to deal with it - as clearly something happened and they've reacted (important to note the technician job isn't to react to the information, just to help them identify it and to pass it on to the correct people). Has the rest of the school has done enough, well I don't know. I guess that's up to OfSted and co. Clearly you know some schools that we would both say are failing their duty of care, I can't see how unfiltered internet connections in schools is acceptable. I'd hope OfSted would pick up on this.

[skunk]

This is the current briefing paper that the Ofsted inspectors work from when judging e-safety:

 

Ofsted | Briefings and information for use during inspections of maintained schools and academies

 

I suspect these phrases are the ones currently inspiring fear and ill-judged investment.

 

Good and Outstanding practice:

 

Recognised Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Regional Broadband Consortium (RBC) together with age-related filtering that is actively monitored.

 

Indicator of inadequate practice:

 

Security of passwords is ineffective, for example passwords are shared or common with all but the youngest children.

There is no internet filtering or monitoring.

 

To be honest, the average inspector will not understand nor care about the exact technology or process being used. What they care about is that whatever the school is doing, it is doing consistently and that it can show this through evidence of policy review, policy consultation with stakeholders, effective and regular training of staff, students know how/where/who to report problems to and a good e-safety curriculum. If there has been a problem, was it dealt with effectively.

 

Companies will jump on phrases that could be construed to favour their product and then inspire fear in the hearts of LA's, Head's and schools with a big fake Ofsted stick.

 

By the way, the NSPCC online eSafety training, delivered in parnership with CEOP is an excellent place to start if few staff have been trained in your organisation....................and I don't even work for them ;-)

[elsiegee40]

By the way, the NSPCC online eSafety training, delivered in parnership with CEOP is an excellent place to start if few staff have been trained in your organisation....................and I don't even work for them ;-)

I couldn't agree more. Better still, it's cheap... only £20, so a school can afford to put lots of people on it!

 

Keeping children safe online | An online learning course for anyone working with children | NSPCC

[Trapper]

Be glad you don't work in special!

 

It's taken me years to train myself out of one user, one logon.

 

Even up to Yr 9 the kids cannot use individual logons, and we have far more TAs than teachers. I tried insisting on everyone use their own logon, and you ended up with multiple logon's/logoff's during a lesson. Had to stick to generic staff class logons.

 

It hurts, but it's the only way that works.

[edutech4schools]

My LA has got back to me with the following info.

 

Ofsted Section 5 guidance to inspectors says that individual logins should be provided for “all but the very youngest children.

 

Is this true?

 

As for the monitoring software they mention that it is also to monitor adults as a situation occurred where a member of staff was transferring indecent images using a schools network and the software in the original post would have flagged this.