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In just under two weeks, UK organisations including schools are set to experience the biggest shake-up in the history of data protection. General Data Protection Regulation, more commonly referred to as GDPR is set to become legislation on May 25th.

As data handlers of personal and sensitive data, schools along with other organisations are marked under GDPR for essential changes. Failure to comply with these changes could lead to fines and reputational damage.

Schools will no doubt be at different stages in preparation for legislative change on data protection.

Recently, the DfE in its Data Protection for Schools Toolkit, highlighted guidance in the form of nine steps schools could take to efficiently develop the culture, processes and documentation required to be compliant with the strengthened legislation to effectively manage the risks associated with data management.

And it commences with raising awareness across all staff within the school who come into contact with personal data (noting that personal data can relate to pupils, staff, parents and potentially others). An interesting point to note is that the DfE recommends that making a link between data protection and child protection can be an effective way to make understanding GDPR real for staff.

Within education, some sensitive information about children is processed that is not set out in the legislation as a ‘special category personal data’. Notably information about children’s services interactions, free school meal status, pupil premium eligibility, elements of special educational need information, safeguarding information and some behaviour data. The DfE considers it best practice that when considering security and business processes about such data, that they are also treated with the same ‘high status’ as the special categories set out in law.

In relation to Safeguarding, GDPR does not prevent, or limit, the sharing of information for the purposes of keeping children safe. Legal and secure information sharing between schools, children’s social care and other local agencies is essential for keeping children safe and ensuring they get the support they need. Information can be shared without consent if to gain consent would place a child at risk.

TrainingToolz a sister company of Safeguarding Essentials is helping guide schools through this GDPR maze with limited free online GDPR training via its online content distribution platform. Schools can register to take the GDPR training and invite up to 10 of their peers to take the course for free. Learn more at Trainingtoolz.com/GDPR or call 0113 868 0244 for further information.

Is there a line between banter and bullying?

We all talk about bullying, we know it’s a serious issue which can have devastating consequences and we know that thanks to social media, bullying doesn’t stop when the school gates close. But what exactly is bullying?

As pointed out in the latest Ditch the Label Annual Bullying Survey "the very nature of bullying is subjective, meaning everybody has a different idea of the behaviours that are considered to be bullying". The report identified that 12% of young people had bullied somebody based on their own definition of bullying, while 54% of respondents said that they had been bullied at some point.

In research released by TES in the latter part of 2017, figures revealed that from over 1000 secondary school teachers interviewed, over half thought that bullying was a problem in their school, with more than a fifth saying that bullying in their school was on the increase. Rather more shockingly, 40 per cent declared they knew of pupils too scared to attend school because of it.

To help identify bullying, the Department of Education define it as “behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally”, while the dictionary definition adds that a bully will often force the victim to do something they do not want to do.

Types of bullying
Bullying and cyber bullying can take on many forms including (but not limited to) physical assault, emotional taunting, verbal abuse, social exclusion, hostile actions based on sexuality – the list goes on. And (as stated in the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance) all staff should be aware of the specific safeguarding issue that bullying presents. Ofsted will also hold schools to account for how well they deal with bullying behaviour. This can include behaviour which takes place outside the school premises.

What can schools do?
In order to raise awareness of bullying issues and help prevent it taking place, schools can develop a number of strategies. In the first instance, anti-bullying and cyber bullying should be included in the curriculum. It is also key to ensure that parents are clear on their responsibilities and know where to go to for support. To enable this, the school should have clear guidelines and policies in place and should work with external agencies who can provide support and advice.

Empowering pupils to take the lead on tackling bullying can help encourage speaking out if situations arise and taking part in awareness days such as anti-bullying week or stop cyber bullying day can help enforce the message.

In short, it is important that schools deal with bullying as they have a duty of care to help pupils learn in a safe environment.

If you would like to share your thoughts on bullying issues or have ideas you would like to share with fellow teacher, please use the comments section below.

Members of the Safeguarding Essentials service have access to specific teacher training on this topic, along with additional teaching and school management resources. Login to access now.

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place between 14th and 20th May 2018

There is no doubt that social media, in its many forms, is a powerful community. From both a personal and professional perspective, social media can provide a vast array of information and connections that may not otherwise be possible in the offline world. But with this extraordinary ability to reach out to the wider world, comes the potential for risk.

In the latest Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report from Ofcom, findings suggest that almost a quarter of 8-11s and three-quarters of 12-15s have a social media profile. Their findings also concluded that one in eight 12-15s with a social media profile say there is pressure to look popular all of the time.

Researchers from the University of Melbourne’s National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health recently warned that studies have found an association between social media use and depression, anxiety, sleep problems, eating issues and suicide risk.

In addition, a recent University of Pittsburgh study of young adults suggested that heavy social media users were three times more likely to be depressed than occasional users.

The popularity of social media combined with these risks and added to all the other stresses of growing up, it's easy to understand how almost 1 in 4 children and young people show some evidence of mental ill health (including anxiety and depression), as reported by Young Minds.

Mental Health Awareness Week

With Mental Health Awareness Week just around the corner, now is an ideal time to discuss mental health issues with pupils.

This year, the campaign focus is on stress. Organisers, the Mental Health Foundation, add that "by tackling stress, we can go a long way to tackle mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and, in some instances, self-harm and suicide. We will look at how we can tackle stress and help improve our mental health."

For more information about Mental Health Awareness Week including ideas on how you can get involved, visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk

For a range of mental well-being resources including teaching materials, parents guides and staff training, join our Safeguarding Essentials service.