Is Your Internet Connection Safe Enough?

Schools in England (and Wales) are required “to ensure children are safe from terrorist and extremist material when accessing the internet in school, including by establishing appropriate levels of filtering”. Furthermore, the Department for Education’s statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ obliges schools and colleges in England to “ensure appropriate filters and appropriate monitoring systems are in place and regularly review their effectiveness” and they “should be doing all that they reasonably can to limit children’s exposure to the above risks from the school’s or college’s IT system."

Schools will need to “be careful that “over blocking” does not lead to unreasonable restrictions as to what children can be taught with regards to online teaching and safeguarding.” Ofsted concluded as far back as 2010 that “Pupils in the schools that had ‘managed’ systems had better knowledge and understanding of how to stay safe than those in schools with ‘locked down’ systems. Pupils were more vulnerable overall when schools used locked down systems because they were not given enough opportunities to learn how to assess and manage risk for themselves.

One in Six Vapes Confiscated in English Schools Contaminated with 'Zombie Drug' Spice

A concerning new study reveals that one in six vapes seized in English schools are laced with the potent synthetic drug known as "zombie drug" spice.

Research from the University of Bath found the drug in 16.6% of 596 vapes tested from 38 schools across London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and South Yorkshire. Spice, a class B drug alongside substances like ketamine and GHB, poses severe health risks, including heart attacks, seizures, and psychotic episodes.

Professor Chris Pudney, who led the study, expressed shock at the high contamination rates, noting that vapes spiked with spice were often mislabelled as containing cannabis oil. The research also found traces of THC and even heroin in some devices. The study highlighted the dangers of unregulated vape products, particularly refillable ones, which were more likely to contain spice than disposable vapes.

If your school was constructed between 1950-1990, the chances are your site contains the now banned building material asbestos. In fact, over 70% of all UK schools are known to contain the material. While asbestos was popular because of its fire-retardent properties, when disturbed the tiny fibres it releases can cause significant internal injuries if inhaled, even leading to death.

Exposure to these asbestos fibres often leads to mesothelioma, a form of cancer which is latent for many years. According to the National Education Union, the presence of asbestos in schools has lead to the death of 200 teaching staff since 2001. While there are known to be on average over 2,500 deaths from mesothelioma each year in the UK according to HSE statistics.

Asbestos - Still a Danger in Schools

REMINDERS

In the hustle and bustle of other responsibilities, you may have overlooked some articles from Compliance Matters Issue 47. Below are some of the things making the news in the world of compliance in autumn 2024.