Welcome Back to Your March Newsletter!
Educate – Empower – Protect
2026 is moving fast, and we’re here to help you stay ahead. This month, we dive into the “Growing up in the online world” consultation and provide critical alerts on “Com Networks”. Read on to hear what other resources have been released and the latest news to make sure you and the children in your care are empowered in this digital age.
News and Alerts ℹ️
Key updates and alerts as seen on your app’s news feed.
🛡️Growing Up Online: A Guide to the UK Government Consultation
The 2026 “Growing up in the online world” consultation was a landmark UK initiative that gathered evidence to improve digital protections for children. It addressed critical issues like social media age limits, AI dependency, and addictive algorithms. Now concluded, its findings are being used to implement “safety by design” legislation and nationwide digital literacy programs.
⚠️Understanding Com Networks: A Safeguarding Update for Families and Professionals
Read our safeguarding update on “Com Networks”, sadistic online groups where members gain status through self-harm and abuse. Following a surge in UK cases, authorities advise monitoring for extreme digital secrecy and using “supported exits” to protect vulnerable youth, prioritizing evidence preservation and professional help over simple device confiscation.
✨Read more within your Online Safety Guidance section of the App.✨
Technical Support 👩🏼💻
Updates and tips from our Support Centre.
Ensure You’re Connected to Your School
To access role-specific guidance and school-wide information, please verify that you are logged into your school’s official account.
The Logo Test: The home screen of your app should display your school’s logo. If you see the Safer Schools default badge instead (like the one in the app icon), follow these steps to fix it:
To access your 4-digit code, please reach out to your young person’s school.
Community News and Updates 📢
The latest in the locality
It was a fantastic to join our friends in Perth and Kinross for their event “Safe and Empowered: Supporting Our Children Online and Beyond”.
It was truly inspiring to meet so many parents eager to navigate the digital world alongside their children, and professionals dedicated to their mission to Educate, Empower, and Protect young people every day.
We are thrilled to continue our valued partnership with Perth and Kinross Council!
Resource Highlight ✨
The ready-to-use, relevant resource you need
Teacher Targeted Bullying
The digital landscape is shifting, with AI tools now being misused to target staff members online. Although this behaviour mirrors traditional bullying, AI allows these acts to be carried out with greater speed and intensity.
We are committed to supporting our educators. Our latest in-app content offers dedicated resources for staff, parents, and carers to help manage and mitigate the risks of Teacher-Targeted Bullying.
Media News 🗞️
Safeguarding and Online Safety News
🏫 Teachers warn of extreme online content influencing pupils in British schools – A major survey of over 10,000 UK teachers has highlighted the negative influence of harmful online content on pupils, as the government weighs various protective measures including a potential social media ban for those under 16.
🛡️Help your child stay safe online: UK Government Campaign – The UK government’s “Kids Online Safety” website offers parents and carers practical guidance on starting open conversations with their children about online risks, from setting up parental controls to identifying “toxic” content like misinformation and misogyny.
👻 Snapchat Safety Courses – Developed by safety experts, this interactive course uses realistic scenarios to help teens navigate online risks and master Snapchat’s safety tools. It empowers young people to handle challenges like harassment and exploitation while providing essential guidance for parents.
🛣️ Treat Online Privacy Like Road Safety – The Information Commissioner’s Office is urging parents of children aged 4 to 11 to treat online privacy as an essential life skill, comparable to teaching a child how to cross the road or understanding “stranger danger.” The regulator warns that a single click can create a permanent digital footprint that reveals a child’s location, friendships, and daily habits.
🛑 Charity urges for ‘zero tolerance’ of ‘dangerous’ AI child sexual abuse – The Internet Watch Foundation is calling for an immediate EU-wide ban on AI-generated child sexual abuse material and the tools used to create it, following a record-breaking surge in increasingly realistic and extreme criminal content.
License, Links and Logins 🔑
All the relevant information you need to access the world of Safer Schools at your fingertips!
Did you know…
“Seven in ten (70%) children aged 11-17 had seen or heard some form of content harmful to children”
Source: Ofcom 2025
Make sure to follow us on social media for the latest updates and developments!
