Becta toolkit for local authorities

Becta, the Government’s education technology agency, has launched a free guidance toolkit to help Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) to ensure the online safety of all children and learners.

The toolkit was launched at Becta’s “Safeguarding Children in a Digital World” conference in Birmingham and is supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Home Office. The e-safety strategy toolkit is the result of collaboration work between Becta and 38 local authorities, five Regional Broadband Consortia and representatives from Scotland, Wales and European Union. It has been developed to allow local authorities to share best practice, and to offer support and guidance to all local authorities to ensure the online safety of children and learners.

The strategy toolkit includes advice in the following areas:

developing an e-safety subgroup of the LSCB
developing a safe and secure infrastructure
developing an e-safety training strategy
monitoring and reporting on e-safety incidents
monitoring the impact of the e-safety strategy.

The toolkit also includes case studies of exemplar practice from local authorities and a sample LSCB e-safety strategy and action plan.

Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive of Becta said: “For many young people the online world offers endless opportunities to communicate, create, discover and be entertained in a virtual environment. We have a responsibility to ensure that they receive protection wherever and whenever they go online, and Becta has developed this toolkit to support local authorities as they work to safeguard children and young people from harm.”

Each LSCB will be issued with ten free copies of the e-safety strategy toolkit. The toolkit is also available online at the Becta website: http://publications.becta.org.uk/

Becta toolkit for local authorities

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