Brooke Weston Trust's new push on digital safety

As schools across Brooke Weston Trust mark ‘Safer Internet Day’ on Tuesday 10th February, a new Trust-wide initiative is helping to ensure that online safety remains front and centre throughout the year. 

During 2024–25, Brooke Weston Trust introduced a requirement for every school to develop an Online Safety Group in order to strengthen strategic oversight of digital safeguarding.   

In the Trust’s primary schools, these groups also lead on the wider safeguarding curriculum, creating a joined-up approach that ensures pupils learn how to stay safe both online and offline. Each group is made up of key school staff, which includes the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), PSHE Lead, Computing Lead, Technical Lead and in some cases, a governor with responsibility for safeguarding. Over time, the Trust hopes to include pupils in these groups too. 

This year, the Trust took the concept a step further by forming a Trust-wide Online Safety Group, which brings together Online Safety Leads (from across all Brooke Weston Trust schools) three times a year. 

The group’s purpose is to provide a platform for sharing good practice, stay up to date with national policy developments, and ensure that school priorities align with emerging online risks. At their first meeting, members discussed ways to engage parents more effectively, explored online safety-related incident data, reviewed Trust-wide policies, and reviewed the approach to filtering and monitoring within schools. 

James Down, Head of Safeguarding at Brooke Weston Trust, said: “Our Online Safety Group gives schools a space to collaborate, learn from one another, and respond to emerging trends quickly and effectively. It’s also vital that we keep parents engaged, as they play such a key role in helping children navigate the online world safely.” 

While the group continues to develop its shared resources, all BWT schools already benefit from access to a National Online Safety subscription, providing staff training, newsletters and support materials for parents. These are circulated throughout the year, helping families to understand current online issues such as social media use, gaming, and misinformation. 

Trust-wide safeguarding data also helps tailor priorities for each school, ensuring that interventions and communications focus on the challenges children are actually experiencing in their online lives. 

James added: “Whilst it is important to recognise Safer Internet Day, this is just one day in a calendar. What is more important is securing the engagement of parents and carers, throughout the year, to provide regular tips, strategies and advice for how parents can help to empower their children to stay safe online.” 

All BWT schools will mark ‘Safer Internet Day’ in their own way, through lessons, assemblies and activities that encourage students to think critically and act responsibly online. But for James, it’s about embedding these values every day of the year: “Regardless of what we think about the internet, the internet is, and will continue to be, a large part of our children’s lives. We need to embrace the benefits, speak positively about these with our children, and support our children to navigate the risks safely, without coming to harm.” 

He continued: “I would encourage all parents to reframe how they think about the internet, think of the internet not as a thing, but instead, as a place. When a child goes online, they are going somewhere, they are meeting new people, enjoying new experiences, and seeing new things. Just like we would put safeguards in place when our child leaves the house to play with friends, we should be doing the same whenever our children go online.” 

At a time when the digital world shapes so much of young people’s lives, Brooke Weston Trust’s Online Safety Group is taking a calm, considered approach. By working together across schools, and continuing to involve parents and pupils, it hopes to build not just safer online spaces, but a culture where children feel confident, informed and ready to make good choices wherever they are.