This email was sent to headteachers from LGfL schools last week but because DSLs have lead responsibility for Filtering and Monitoring, we thought you’d like to know too! Please discuss with your Head to take advantage of this offer.
This email was sent to headteachers from LGfL schools last week but because DSLs have lead responsibility for Filtering and Monitoring, we thought you’d like to know too! Please discuss with your Head to take advantage of this offer.
Following discussions with Headteachers, MATs, Local Authorities and safeguarding specialists I am delighted to announce the following critical initiatives to ensure that children are safe and schools have access to the products, services and guidance they need to be KCSIE & DfE standards compliant. Significant changes are also being made to LGfL products and services to ensure schools have the support for an effective Cloud-First and Digital Strategy.
1. New Safeguarding and Monitoring Services. LGfL has entered into a long-term partnership with SENSO to deliver cloud-based pupil monitoring to safeguard thousands of schools and millions of children across the UK. The partnership combines SENSO’s technology and market experience with LGfL’s subject matter expertise in safeguarding policy and its application in schools.
LGfL will be including a pupil monitoring service FREE to the majority of LGfL connected schools, adding even more savings to your Let’s Get Digital Broadband subscription.
In parallel, an enhanced monitoring service, including expert Human Review is undergoing extensive field trials in October with a national launch to all schools in January 2025. This paid service gives schools the peace of mind that safeguarding experts are triaging online captures and even phoning schools for serious cases that require immediate attention. It will be supported by SENSO and LGfL jointly and is being launched for the first time by SENSO and LGfL to UK Schools.
If you are interested in either the free pupil monitoring service or the enhanced monitoring service with human review please click here :- Expression of Interest in Monitoring Services
2. Upgraded Web Filtering Services. Our web filtering platform SchoolProtect is now exclusively deployed in LGfL schools and replaces the Wavenet WebScreen 3 platform. Over the summer holidays, our filtering services and infrastructure were also migrated from Wavenet datacentres to world class infrastructure used by global tech giants such as Google and Microsoft. SchoolProtect filters approximately 13 billion web access requests per day in our private and secure SuperCloud which makes LGfL’s filtering platform one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
Our appropriate filtering platform SchoolProtect, which along with our training and guidance gives you all you need to ensure compliance with KCSIE and the DfE standards. Find out more at safefiltering.lgfl.net and filteringtoptips.lgfl.net.
3. New LGfL National Centre for Safeguarding Excellence. LGfL is investing millions of pounds to create an enhanced National Safeguarding Service for schools and academies underlining our long term commitment to keeping children safe and schools secure.
The creation of a National Centre for Safeguarding Excellence will enable LGfL to significantly extend the range of safeguarding services to schools including enhanced support for web filtering, monitoring, safeguarding policy development, training as well as support to governors. Recruitment to the Safeguarding Centre of Excellence will start in October and our target is that the service will be fully operational by April 2025.
4. New Web Filtering Reports. LGfL has developed a new platform for providing schools and MATs with real time dashboards and analytics to help schools pinpoint concerns, trends and potential misuse of the internet. This platform will sit alongside the existing spreadsheets that are produced but is designed to be intuitive and simple to use for teachers and support professionals. It is currently in field trials and will be launched to schools in October. A screenshot of how the new reporting system will look is at the end of this letter.
5. New Filtered SIM Cards. LGfL and VMO2 have partnered together and integrated our network to create a new safeguarding service which allows SIM cards to be filtered using the same platform used by schools (HomeProtect). Filtered SIM cards mean that all the benefits of a cloud-based filtering service are now going to be available on a mobile device.
6. Transforming LGfL for the future of Education. LGfL’s landmark investments in safeguarding are part of broader Digital Strategy and long-term transformation of LGfL. As such their introduction ushers in a new era for LGfL and its role in supporting schools and incorporates feedback from schools, MATs, Local Authorities and subject matter experts. The key differences being:
The new services will be LGfL Direct Services supported by LGfL Subject Matter Experts as our new safeguarding teams are up and running.
The new safeguarding services will predominantly be delivered on an LGfL owned dark fibre network with potentially infinite speeds following LGfL’s £35M purchase of VMo2 fibre complemented by new partnerships with Community Fibre & other telecommunication providers to deliver resilient connectivity nationally.
The safeguarding services are Cloud-First. LGfL’s safeguarding services are now natively built using cloud technologies so there is no need for expensive local appliances that cannot be easily upgraded to reflect the increasing use of online services by schools and MATs. LGfL’s focus on cloud technology means that we can uniquely scale safeguarding platforms to meet increasing need on demand. This enables us to deliver one of the biggest web filtering platforms of its kind in the world.
Cybersecurity remains central. The new safeguarding services, as with all LGfL services, are delivered within LGfL’s private SuperCloud which is protected by multiple layers of cyber defence such as DDoS protection, Managed Firewalls, Malware Protection and Ransomware countermeasures.
LGfL’s transformation of its historical technology, products and services reflects our commitment to not only delivering fast broadband but connectivity that is safe, secure and future proofed. Broadband that is engineered for Education rather than general use.
Yours sincerely,
John Jackson
CEO
PS Below I’ve listed important web sites that you may wish to bookmark for future reference along with a screen shot of the new reporting platform for web filtering.
KEY WEB / RESOURCE LINKS
TOPIC
RESOURCE LINK
Expression of Interest form for the New Monitoring Services
SCREENSHOT OF NEW REPORTING PLATFORM FOR WEB FILTERING
A new analytics and business intelligence platform will be included in your broadband subscription and will sit alongside the existing excel worksheets that are available to schools. The dashboard will provide user friendly charts and graphs on usage, concerns, word searches and general use. The platform will work best (showing users and search terms) when https decryption is turned on and further details will follow in October.
The new analytics platform will be amongst the biggest of its kind in the world today and represents a major technological breakthrough in safeguarding for schools and MATs.
Figure 1: New Web Filtering Analytics Dashboard for SchoolProtect
