School and university leaders are facing unprecedented and profound challenges. Guiding an organisation through a global pandemic whilst also attending to personal suffering requires extraordinary effort. Key amongst these are the efforts that leaders are making to protect the mental health and well-being of their communities. 

Recent polls, emerging studies and research from previous outbreaks all suggest that the mental health impact of the pandemic could be profound and long-lasting. People everywhere are experiencing fear, uncertainty, and so much grief and loss. 

Against this background, schools and universities are becoming powerful protective factors and vital sources of support during this time, offering opportunities for virtual connection, joyful events, academic engagement, social emotional learning and therapeutic intervention.

Drawing on our collective expertise and that of the contributing experts, and on our members’ experiences, we have prepared this article for you to download to help you to support your communities during this time and have outlined a summary below.

"The mental health effects of COVID-19 are as important to address as are the physical health effects." – Gionfriddo, P. President and CEO of Mental Health America, 3 March 2020.

Here is a summary of our key considerations:

1. Keep it simple and apply the essentials of good leadership

In the first section of the article, Rob Evans, Ed.D and Michael Thompson, PhD. explain that leading in a crisis requires you to draw on the essentials of good leadership, which are courage, connection, candour, clarity and empathy.

Douglas Walker, PhD. demonstrates how these essentials of good leadership are underpinned by evidence into organisational responses to large-scale crises, which highlights the importance of five key elements: providing opportunities for connection, enabling communities to be hopeful, providing a sense of safety, encouraging self and community efficacy, and modelling good practice through calm and thoughtful leadership and communication. 

3. Adapt your policies and communications and engage your board

In this section of the article, we encourage you to take stock of the ways in which you already support the well-being of your community and consider how you can address new needs and make this support work in remote learning environments. This might include introducing a mental health or well-being policy if you do not already have one, which can provide you with a framework for your organisation-wide approach. It might also be necessary to update reporting protocols so that they work in your new virtual environment, or appointing mental health leads or champion(s). Streamlining communications so that they do not become overwhelming is also discussed.

4. Identify and support at-risk individuals and prepare to support some individuals through traumatic grief

Consider who in your community is facing additional challenges and offer them targeted or specialist support if you can. Your teachers and faculty are in a very good position to help you to identify at-risk students. Individuals who might struggle include those with underlying mental health conditions, those who are exposed to harm in the home, separated from families or in different time zones from their school or university, those who struggle with technology and those who are caring for someone who has contracted the virus. These emerging resources will also help your faculty to identify students who are struggling and recognise signs that someone might be experiencing traumatic grief.

"It has made my OCD so much worse. I am now washing my hands every five minutes or using hand sanitiser." – Young Minds, Coronavirus: Impact on young people with mental health needs, March 2020.

Photo by🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash

5. Learn about the challenges and the impact of your institution’s support over time, and take action in response

The unprecedented nature of the Coronavirus makes it difficult to know how best to support people. Consulting with your community about the challenges they face and seeking feedback from them on your institution’s responses will help to ensure that the support you are providing meets the needs that are arising in practice. Using well-being instruments such as community surveys or engagement sessions can help, as can one-to-one contact and small group discussions around social emotional themes.

One of the key takeaways from our members who have been teaching remotely since January has been the importance of protecting staff well-being and preventing educator burn-out. In this section of the article, Ellen Mahoney reflects on the key elements of compassionate leadership and the importance of recognising that emotional fatigue may come in waves. The benefits of effective line management and the role of supervision in preventing compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are also discussed.

7. Create on-going opportunities for virtual connection and prioritise well-being

Connection is one of the most important protective factors for individual and community well-being. In this section of the article, we explain how our members have created on-going opportunities for virtual connection by bringing their communities together around fun and creative topics, and by holding resilience-based workshops.

Although many leaders are asked to resolve a ‘conflict’ between well-being on the one hand and learning on the other, in this section we argue that this is a false dichotomy and that focusing on well-being is necessary to enable teaching and learning to continue. This might mean taking longer breaks, interspersing mental health days or suspending formal learning and focusing exclusively on well-being for certain periods.

"If you have friends to speak to then speak to them and let them know you are thinking of them. Even just a couple of update texts from my friend made me feel so much better." – Young Minds, Coronavirus: Impact on young people with mental health needs, March 2020.

"Should we continue student learning during covid-19? A question of Maslow before Bloom." – Doucet A., 26 March 2020.

8. Provide your community with the tools they need to protect their own well-being, support others and be hopeful about the future

Quarantines and physical isolation from others can increase our stress levels and disrupt our usual coping mechanisms. Providing your community with the knowledge and tools they need to protect their own well-being during this time is important. Key to this is recognising that the way that we feel depends in large part on our physiology and that this can be protected by maintaining healthy habits in a number of key areas such as sleep, exercise and alcohol consumption.

Finding meaning and appreciating positive changes that result from crises can help with the grieving process. As leaders, you are ideally placed to help your community to do this.

"So much suffering and anxiety everywhere… But it also occurs to me that this is when the world needs our eyes and ears and minds. We are (and especially you are) the generation that is going to have to help us make sense of this and recover afterward." – Saunders, G. A Letter to My Students as We Face the Pandemic, 3 April 2020

Katie Rigg is the Head of Safeguarding and Student Well-Being at The Council of International Schools (CIS). Katie’s primary responsibility is to help CIS and school and university members to keep children and young people safe and to support and strengthen their mental health and well-being. In this capacity Katie carries out and supports research into new areas, develops resources, provides guidance and oversees professional development.

This article on safeguarding implications for online learning by Katie Rigg of the Council of International Schools

This discussion on how to keep students safe when online usage increases, with expert advice from The Safeguarding Association and more

This Safeguarding and Well-being guidance from Farrer & Co. for an overview of key considerations and this guidance on risk assessments

This guidance on Safeguarding in Schools during COVID-19 from the UK government sets out key principles for schools, including information about their child protection policies

This SWGfL Safe Remote Learning for information about safeguards to put in place when organising classes online

This NSPCC Lone Working Guidance for information about how to protect staff, faculty and young people involved in one to one sessions

Do you have questions or comments about this article? Please contact us – we look forward to hearing from you!

Katie Rigg of Council of International Schools shares advice on how to guide an organisation through a global pandemic, with an in-depth download on protecting mental health of school and university communities.

Advice for school and university leaders: How to support your community's mental health and well-being during Coronavirus

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged young people across the country will receive free laptops as part of a major new package of support from the Department for Education. 

This announcement comes as schools are navigating the highs and lows of turning to remote learning, where difficulties have been emerging for students from a disadvantaged backgrounds. Today we have heard that disadvantaged children are set to receive laptops and tablets as part of the Department for Education's push towards higher accessibility levels across the education sector. 

"Devices will be ordered for children in the most vital stages of their education, those who receive support from a social worker and care leavers. The government will also provide 4G routers to make sure disadvantaged secondary school pupils and care leavers can access the internet – where those families do not already have mobile or broadband internet in the household. 

In addition, to support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, the Oak National Academy is due to launch on Monday 20 April. This brand-new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from some of the leading schools across England, backed by government grant funding. It will provide 180 video lessons each week, across a broad range of subjects from maths to art to languages, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10."

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

"I want to thank all the teachers and staff who are working so hard to ensure vulnerable children and those of critical workers are supported at this time. Schools will remain closed until the scientific advice changes, which is why we need to support the incredible work teachers are already doing to ensure children continue to receive the education they deserve and need. By providing young people with these laptops and tablets and enabling schools to access high quality support, we will enable all children to continue learning now and in the years to come. We hope this support will take some of the pressure off both parents and schools by providing more materials for them to use."

Furthermore, it has been announced that schools and colleges will be able to retain these laptops and tablets once they have reopened. This way, they will continue to play a vital role in enabling children to learn even after schools have reopened.

Oak Academy joins a wide range of support and resources available for teachers and parents, many of which are providing their software and resources for free. On Monday the 20th of April, the BBC education package is set to launch across TV and online.

While families are now staying at home to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, some children and young people may face increasing risks of neglect or abuse at home – or from strangers online, as their online internet usage increases. For this reason, the Government has made £1.6 million worth of funding available immediately for the NSPCC to expand and promote its national helpline.

At SCR Tracker we urge you to retain safeguarding as one of your highest priorities when coordinating and delivering online learning. We've published handy resources to help you including a checklist, an update on DBS checks, and temporary changes to the ID checking procedure.

Our thanks go to the Department for Education for sharing this announcement, and the cover photo photographer Jordhan Madec.

If you have any safeguarding questions or comments about this article please contact us here. 

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announces that vulnerable and disadvantaged young people across the UK will receive free laptops in a major new support package.

New major package to support online learning

As schools close down amidst the covid-19 crisis and more learning moves online, we've compiled some brilliant resources to give you a rich tool-kit to ace your home-learning and virtual teaching needs. This article will be updated as new materials are added.

If you're a teacher looking for online resources to use, or a parent looking to supplement learning during the days where technical glitches stop a teacher from teaching a class – we've got you covered. This is a full list of resources compiled from different sources, and will hopefully act as a good reference point to dip in and out of as you please. 

We've called it home-learning rather than homeschooling, comprising of a mixture of online/virtual learning and offline learning. It shouldn't be left unsaid that we applaud each and every parent who is both working from home as well as enabling a home-learning environment. We've heard from many parents who are using this time to take a step back and avoid overloading children – this list is not meant to work as a to-do checklist!

Please keep these safeguarding practices at the highest priority when you decide to use any online materials such as the below. Happy home-learning – please do get in touch with us if you believe we have forgotten important resources!

Before we begin, we feel we must mention Robin Hood MAT's learning packs which have been highly praised. The link, which also contains resources for mental health and wellbeing for children, how to support your workforce, plans and risk assessments, and governance information can be accessed here: Robin Hood MAT Learning Projects

First, a list separated into subject areas:

Chatta: Teaching approach linking images with language for communication development. Early years to key stage 5: https://chattalearning.com/

Englicious: Free English language teaching resources, including exercises, projects and games. All ages: http://englicious.org/

Happy English: English, grammar and phonics. All ages: https://happyenglishuk.com

National Literacy Trust Family Zone: Advice and information for parents teaching from home during school closures. Ages 0 to 12: https://literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone/

Oaka Books: Resources for pupils who have dyslexia. Key stages 1 to 3: www.oakabooks.co.uk

Phonics Play: Phonics learning for early years and key stage 1. Free access for children during the coronavirus crisis: www.phonicsplay.co.uk

Pobble 365: Provides a photo stimulus for a writing task every day. All ages: www.pobble365.com

Zaprendo: Personalised learning tools and experiences for English and phonics learning. All ages: https://zaprendo.com/

Hopscotch Books: SecEd’s sister publishing house is offering free activities and resources for primary-age children (https://bit.ly/2WKNE3E) and a free download to help families plan home learning via books (https://bit.ly/2QCEylO). More resources will become available in due course: www.hopscotchbooks.com

Literacy shed: Animations on different topics to inspire children to write. Mainly key stages 1 and 2: www.literacyshed.com

Litfilmfest: Writing resources. To support schools and families, Litfilmfest is releasing videos every weekday at 10:30am. Key stages 1 to 3: https://litfilmfest.com/playlists/

Audible: Free audiobooks. All ages: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

Bedrock Learning: Resources designed to broaden children’s vocabulary including Tier 2 words, root words and academic verbs. Free access for all schools closed due to coronavirus. Key stages 1 to 4: www.bedrocklearning.org/coronavirus-support

The Kids Should See This https://thekidshouldseethis.com/ – wide range of cool educational videos

Crest Awards https://www.crestawards.org – Science awards you can complete from home

iDEA Awards https://idea.org.uk – Digital enterprise award scheme you can complete online

Nature Detectives https://naturedetectives.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetect…/ – A lot of these can be done in a garden, or if you can get to a remote forest location!

Siemens: Student zone includes DIY science experiments and interactive games: https://new.siemens.com/uk/en/company/education/students.html

STEM Learning: In light of the outbreak, STEM Learning is offering remote teaching support, CPD and online access to its STEM Ambassadors. Free access. All ages: www.stem.org.uk/home-learning

Kide Science: Scientific thinking through play-based learning. For parents or teachers. Ages 3 to 8: https://kidescience.com

Knowledgehook: US website offering maths resources to help teacher lesson delivery. During school closures, all teachers get premium access for free: www.knowledgehook.com

MangaHigh: Game-based learning in maths and coding. Free access for at least 60 days to schools affected by Covid-19. Ages 7 to 16: www.mangahigh.com

Mathigon: US website offering interactive maths resources designed to achieve mastery. Key stages 3, 4, 5: https://mathigon.org/

Mathspire: An app to support the teaching and learning of A level maths. It is offering schools free access to independent learning content: https://mathspire.com/

Maths-Whizz: Online maths tuition for five to 13-year olds: www.whizz.com

MEL Science: Free science experiments that can be carried out with kitchen ingredients. Key stages 1 to 4. Free home learning webinars for the next three months: https://melscience.com/GB-en/articles/ & https://melscience.com/GB-en/academy/

Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/ Especially good for maths and computing for all ages but other subjects at Secondary level. Note this uses the U.S. grade system but it’s a mostly common material.

Prodigy Maths https://www.prodigygame.com/ Is in U.S. grades, but good for UK Primary age.

Beast Academy (Math)  https://beastacademy.com/

MessingAroundWith: Educational apps that encourage children to learn through play and solve problems. Key stages 1 and 2: https://messingaroundwith.com/

NatureBytes: Kits to help anybody develop digital skills and reconnect with nature. All ages: http://naturebytes.org/about/

Numbermix: Maths activities and projects. Ages 3 to 14: www.numbermix.com

Prodigy: Engaging young people in maths through games. Ages 6 to 14: www.prodigygame.com

Mystery Science https://mysteryscience.com

Acorn Aspirations: Activities for bridging the digital skills gap. Ages 12 to 18: http://acornaspirations.com/

Blockly Games: Educational games for pupils who have not had prior experience with computer programming: https://blockly.games/

Blue Shift Coding: One-to-one tutoring in coding for 7 to 14-year olds: https://blueshiftcoding.com/

Kano: Coding and design. All ages: https://kano.me/uk/education

Scratch https://scratch.mit.edu/ – Creative computer programming

Snapplify: Resources to support digital education for students and schools: www.snapplify.com

Swop Bots: Stories and games for schools and families to encourage the next generation of coders. Age 8 and over: https://swopbots.com/

Twin Science: Teaches basic coding and programming. Ages 8 and over: www.twinscience.com

Tynker: Encouraging children to create, code, make websites and design games. Free access to its premium service during the school closures. Ages 5 and over: www.tynker.com

BT Skills for Tomorrow: Tech skills to prepare students for the workplace. Resources for teachers as well: www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow/

Hour of code https://hourofcode.com/uk – Learn the basics of coding

Lightbot https://lightbot.com/flash.html – Fun coding based game (flash Based)

Code Combat  https://codecombat.com/ – Learn Coding through gaming – for secondary school learners

Codecademy: Web development and data science skills activities. In light of coronavirus, it is offering 10,000 scholarships to Codecademy Pro for free to high school and college students for the rest of the school year: https://pro.codecademy.com/learn-from-home/

Musemio: Offers a cultural curriculum using virtual reality. Ages 8 and over: www.musemio.com

Musical Futures: Has published a blog listing 10 useful resources for music education: www.musicalfutures.org/musical-futures-blog/top-10-resources-music-teachers-planning-students-working-home

Musitude: Play a musical instrument using a qwerty keyboard: https://musitude.com/

The Artful Parent https://www.facebook.com/artfulparent/ -Good, free art activities

Red Ted Art https://www.redtedart.com – Easy arts and crafts for little ones

The Imagination Tree https://theimaginationtree.com – Creative art and craft activities for the very youngest

Charanga: A library of songs, topics, instrument courses and creative apps for music education. All ages: https://charanga.com

Chrome Music Lab: Builds on children’s creativity and musical ear: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/

Creative Bug: Offers craft lessons, such as knitting, jewellery-making, drawing and origami: www.creativebug.com

Culture Tree: Cultural and recreational resources to promote and preserve African arts, languages and culture. All ages: www.culturetree.co.uk

Mr Allsop History: GCSE and A level resources: www.mrallsophistory.com/revision/

World Geography Games: Learning about the world through games. All ages: https://world-geography-games.com/index.html

Memrise https://www.memrise.com/courses/english/ Courses for languages

National Geographic Kids https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/ – Activities and quizzes for younger kids

12 museum tours online https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours

Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ Collection of free books out of copyright

Big History Project: Explores the past, present and the future through a series of resources: https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive

Duolingo: A free language-learning website offering short daily lessons: www.duolingo.com

Preply: Online modern foreign languages tutoring: https://preply.com/

Adobe Education Exchange: Free resources, workshops and teaching materials. All ages. https://edex.adobe.com/

Highlights Kids: Read, play games and conduct science experiments. Primary age: www.highlightskids.com

Hungry Little Minds: Government supported. Activities for parents with children aged under five: https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/

Twinkl: Learning resources, planning and assessment materials. The company has created free home learning and school closure packs. All ages: www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/covid19-school-closures

Seneca Learning: A free online learning platform. Key stages 2, 3 and 4: www.senecalearning.com

Tassomai: Bite-sized learning, using quizzes and short videos. Key stages 3 and 4. Free access to schools affected by coronavirus closures: www.tassomai.com

BrainPOP: Cross-curricular resources using topics and themes. BrainPOP has offered “free, unlimited use of BrainPOP to any school, anywhere, that is closed due to the coronavirus during the period of their closure”. All ages: https://go.brainpop.com/accessrequest

Century Tech: English, maths and science resources for free to all schools and students affected by coronavirus school closures. All ages: www.century.tech/coronavirus-support/

Discovery Education: Videos, interactive activities, or complete, ready-to-use lesson plans in maths, science and social studies. All ages: www.discoveryeducation.com/virtual-learning

Earwig Academic: A package for teachers to support teaching evidence, making assessments, tracking progress and reporting. Parents and pupils can upload work and communicate safely with teachers. During the coronavirus crisis, Earwig Lite is free to “anyone who needs it”. All ages: https://earwigacademic.com/

Atom Learning: Personalised learning in English and maths, using teacher-led content. Key stage 2: https://atomlearning.co.uk/

BBC Bitesize and BBC Learning: Over the coming weeks, the BBC will be offering daily content to support families with home learning and issues of wellbeing: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize and http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/

imoves: Home learning resources to help young people stay focused, active and mentally healthy. Primary-age: https://imoves.com/the-imovement

Ketka: Audio experiences to promote good mental health and wellbeing, social and emotional growth: https://ketka.co.uk/

PE with Joe: Daily exercise classes live on YouTube with a qualified fitness instructor: www.thebodycoach.com/blog/pe-with-joe-1254.html

Young Minds UK: Offers advice, information and blogs on promoting good mental health during times of isolation and lockdown: https://youngminds.org.uk/

A full tool-kit for teachers and parents to ace home-learning needs

In line with our own humanity, we seek the perfect way to help during a global crisis. Traditionally we volunteer and also urge others to take up critical assistance roles. But how can you avoid accepting volunteers or workers with no proper vetting checks? 

It's vital to firstly mention that the advice from the Government continues to be to stay home to protect the NHS and save lives, and we are now limited to very few purposes to leave our houses.

Many individuals will want to volunteer to support their local communities, either individually or as part of organised groups. There are many ways to help, but it is important it is done safely for all involved. It it vital to note that while you can still provide care or help to a vulnerable person, you must avoid all non-essential contact.

But what if people can, and do, want to help out in a safe manner – by providing childcare facilities to their community, or volunteering at the local school who is struggling to even stay open for children of key workers due to staff absence – and you want to hire them? In any case, you must remember to ensure they have come through appropriate channels and levels of background check, in order to maintain a high level of safeguarding.

Ofsted on Twitter: "Please don't use unregistered, non-DBS checked childcare. Keeping children safe is the most important thing in this difficult situation."

Ofsted have already warned institutions not to use unregistered, unchecked childcare, because it violates safeguarding regulations and fails to keep children safe. 

The Chief Executive of the Disclosure and Barring Service, Eric Robinson, similarly issued the following statement on the 25th of March, recognising the huge increase in volunteer recruitment:

"Employers within the healthcare profession are starting to recruit huge numbers of staff and volunteers to help them deal with the significant demand. The role of DBS is to ensure we provide those employers and voluntary organisations with adequate information, to enable them to make safer recruitment decisions." 

"Measures have been taken and systems put in place that will ensure we prioritise applications for DBS checks for those who are assisting in responding to this national emergency, making sure where possible, checks are carried out within 24 hours and also checking the Barred lists to make sure applicants are not already barred from working in regulated activity." - Eric Robinson

It is for this reason that the DBS has offered a new fast-track service completely free of charge, as of today (Monday the 30th of March). This is temporary, and is relevant to certain roles only. When an application for an enhanced DBS check is received and identified as an application for particular roles for COVID-19, the DBS will now check both barred lists within 24 hours. See more on these specific roles here.

Furthermore, as The Department for Health and Social Care has advised, if there is no match against the barred lists, the applicant can be recruited in advance of receiving the full DBS certificate. 

If you are looking to recruit a new volunteer or paid worker, you must therefore first ensure that they are properly vetted according to the requirements of their role, which you can find a full guide for here.

Please see an extract of Frequently Asked Questions below, more can be accessed here.

"I’m organising a group of volunteers. I understand that there isn’t a legal requirement for me to have my volunteers DBS checked, but should I do so anyway?"

DBS: "Many of the roles that volunteers will carry out in their local communities do not raise safeguarding issues and do not need a DBS check. You can have a look at the DBS eligibility guidance to confirm whether the activities your group propose to do are captured.

If your group’s activities are captured, under normal circumstances we would advise that having volunteers DBS checked is a prudent safeguarding step. There is, however, no legal requirement for you to have a DBS check. Regardless of whether you choose to have volunteers DBS checked, you should ensure your group follow simple, practical precautions such as working safely in pairs, keeping records of money spent and providing shopping receipts to safeguard all involved.

If they are not from the same household, volunteers must stay two metres apart at all times. Please remember that gatherings of more than two people in public are currently banned, with these measures being enforced by the police."

DBS: "DBS checks do not have an expiry date. In the case of new voluntary or community groups, we suggest that if a check is older than three years a decision should be made based on the individual and the role they will be carrying out.

Please remember that gatherings of more than two people in public are currently banned, with these measures being enforced by the police."

"My DBS check has recently expired. Do I need to apply for a new one?"

DBS: "As DBS checks do not have an expiry date, you should speak with the organisation that you are going to be working or volunteering for. They may choose to accept the check that you already have."

Please stay up to date with the full guidance from Public Health England which is available here.

How to avoid hiring unchecked workers who are flooding the market amid covid-19 crisis

Kritika M Narula shares a comprehensive guide to effective online learning, using specific technology tools, robust planning and communication strategies, which ensures that you maintain safeguarding students your priority during difficult times.

The recent outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In an effort to contain this exponential outbreak, public health officials are imploring the people to practice good hygiene and social distancing. 

Events are being indefinitely postponed, family gatherings are being cancelled, public places like cinemas and theatres have been shut, organisations are making provisions for their employees to work from home and schools are being closed down - all in an attempt to minimise social contact to curb the spread of the coronavirus and flatten the curve.

According to UNESCO, over 156 countries have implemented nationwide school closures at the time of writing. The suspension of physical classes, however, does not mean that all learning has to stop too. This is where technology comes to the rescue of teachers, parents and students – as we see a shift to online learning. 

Virtual learning is not an alien concept – many classrooms already make use of ‘Blended Learning’, where online learning tools are used in conjunction with traditional classroom learning. But as schools adopt virtual learning as the sole medium of teaching, students will spend more time on their devices and on the internet than they currently do. This will also potentially expose them to greater risks as they browse online, connect virtually and adjust to a non-traditional set-up of learning.

Safeguarding students during this period of increased internet usage requires the proactive involvement of the school, educators and parents alike. Whilst school administrations must update policies and pre-empt any threat to their students’ well-being and safety, the parents should take the lead on ensuring that the students have constant access to a safe space at home.

Below you will find a rundown of all the actionable steps that can be taken to minimise threats, and eliminate hazards, in the wake of the outbreak. 

It is important that the school administration is thorough in setting up the digital infrastructure for online learning – and more importantly, in setting up timely and effective communication. Kate Young, CEO and Founder of the Safeguarding Association, agrees: "Schools should be providing parents/carers with clear information about what is happening." She shares with us the three action items she believes the school management needs to give priority to: 

Early information sharing with parents and carers, liaising with departments about what is available online and how that can be accessed, and finally, information about what can be provided to students without access to devices or internet or in practical-based programmes to ensure continuity of learning.

Anxiety levels are already soaring given the current environment, so clear and succinct communication is more important than ever: within preventive, protective, control or corrective guidelines. The more specific these guidelines, the better. Below you will find a template.

Preventive and protective guidelines including:

Charting a communication code and chain for the staff, faculty and students. Create a visual flowchart explaining who can get in touch with whom and which mode of communication is to be used.

Laying down specific instructions about how to join the virtual classes, the tools used during teaching and share them as a FAQ document with the parents, students and staff.

Before embarking on regular classes, conducting a pilot or a test run to work out the knots in the process.

Creating pre-joining training modules for everyone involved. These could be in the form of step-by-step guides on how to access and use online learning tools and curriculum, including the learnings from the pilot run.

Creating tutorials using screencasts or screen-sharing and share them as simple .pdf files. If video tutorials are created, making them readily accessible for all students and staff.

Providing a separate forum where students can chat with each other. At the end of the day, they are still attending classes. Talking with their peers and classmates remains a part of that experience.

Control measures would ideally include the following:

Ensuring that a robust complaint and redressal mechanism is in place and communicated to everyone.

Setting up a helpdesk or a helpline that students and parents can use to clarify their doubts related to the tools or logistics.

Designing the lesson plan for classes in such a way that students are able to register their attendance, feedback and any concerns at regular intervals. Give breaks in between.

Protocols for regular check-ins with parents.

Banning the sharing of inappropriate or illegal content during the virtual sessions.

Protocols for managing a dispute that arises during an online class.

Providing resources and guidelines for crisis situations. What happens if the students don’t have internet? How can we ensure students still learn without exposing themselves to risks? What happens if a student is unable to join a class - how can they catch up?

Addressing the impact of relative isolation on the kids’ mental health by providing one-to-one virtual counselling sessions. Creating informal peer support groups is also helpful.

You can also have a look at the guidelines shared by Katie Rigg, CIS Head of Safeguarding & Student Well-being on how schools can shield their students from potential online threats. 

Parents need to talk openly with their children too

Communication and open dialogue are equally important between parents and students. Parents are just as worried about the students’ safety and it might seem like a good idea to put hard limits on their usage, to monitor their online activity and to introduce punishments when the children surpass those limits.

But at a time when panic and anxiety levels are already so high, using fear and punishment as tools to regulate children’s screen time may not be the best approach. Your conversation about keeping your children safe should instead emanate from a place of empowerment. Give them information that makes them feel secure.

What are some things parents can tell the students to keep them safe? Start with the basics: explain to them what privacy settings are, why safe browsing is important, how a strong password can protect them. Make them feel that they are in charge of their own safety. Kate Young emphasises certain ground rules that should form a part of this conversation:

"Tell your children to not ‘meet’ anyone online if they do not know who they are; to not open any links they are unsure of, particularly if those links have not come directly from school or college and that they should not use unsecured networks to access personal information, such as cafes/public spaces to access their records or personal data. Tell them not to place themselves at risk for a wifi connection."

Empower them with relevant information rather than punishing them for getting into trouble. That way, if they do find themselves in hot water, they will feel more comfortable approaching you and reporting any problems.

Limiting the time spent online: school time vs. personal time

Another emerging concern from the parents’ perspective is that online learning is bound to increase the time students spend glued to screens. So how do we regulate the time students spend online?

An effective strategy here is to demarcate their school time and personal time - and not just the time spent with screens. Diana Graber, author of Raising Humans In a Digital World and Founder of CyberCivics agrees that balance is key in the action plan: 

"Parents already worry about how much time their children are spending online, and with the prospect of kids staying home, online times (and, therefore, parental concern) are sure to skyrocket. So, it is imperative that parents help kids balance their online and offline lives!"

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