Template Online Risk Assessment
Understanding the risks and harms that your children, staff and community are exposed to online is the starting point for considering the safety measures your school should implement.
This risk assessment template prompts for example risks, allowing you to consider these (as well as including your own) and capturing mitigating measures and safeguards you have. This will also then help you in progressing through 360safe.
Keeping Children Safe in Education
The DfE KCSIE publication provides statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment. The updated guidance became statutory in England on September 1st 2021. The document covers Online Safety from pages 33 to 35.
Paragraph 132 states:
“Technology, and risks and harms related to it, evolve and change rapidly. Schools and colleges should consider carrying out an annual review of their approach to online safety, supported by an annual risk assessment that considers and reflects the risks their children face”
In response to this requirement, SWGfL have provided a template risk assessment spreadsheet for schools to download and complete. We recommend that schools should edit the contents to suit their particular circumstances.
The risk assessment will be more effective if completed collaboratively (by the Online Safety Group), rather than by one person. We would also recommend governor involvement in the process.
How to Use the Template Risk Assessment
- Download the risk assessment spreadsheet
- Consider the likelihood and level of impact of these risks and add values (1 is low, 5 is high) to columns E and F
- Consider the mitigating actions (adding others, as relevant) and add values in columns L an M
- Use the 360 safe tool to plan how you will develop your mitigating actions
Download Online Risk Assessment Template
Feedback
The 360 team would welcome your feedback on the template risk assessment to allow us to further improve its effectiveness for schools. Please contact us at 360safe@swgfl.org.uk.