The App

In an ever-evolving online world, keeping up to date with the latest developments, news and risks can be difficult. Finding reliable, expertly written updates can be even harder. And something that combines this with everyday school communications near impossible! This doesn’t need to be the case! With the Safer Schools Isle of Man App, you can be assured that your school community will be kept well informed of the fast-paced changes of the digital sphere, as well as have the ability to access popular school platforms and innovative communications tools.

We believe that safeguarding works best when it’s an entire school community approach – and that doesn’t just apply to knowing the latest news. We know that relaying pertinent information to parents, carers and pupils can be trying and time consuming. Our App includes features to help you navigate these difficulties, as well as develop easier channels of communication for things like absence reporting and safeguarding concerns. Our newest developments also include location sharing for parent’s peace of mind, as well as Digital Noticeboards and a News Builder which allow you to quickly share custom content to your school community, including newsletters, posters or your own articles.

Key features of your customised version of the Safer Schools App will include:

  • Your schools’ brand colours, logo, and up to 5 customisable carousel images.
  • Integration of your school news, calendar, policies, and social media channels.
  • Popular educational platforms such as BBC Bitesize, Classroom Secrets and Sumdog, all of which can be turned on or off as required.
  • Push Notification capabilities to designated roles.
  • Digital Noticeboards and custom article creation tools.
  • Simple Survey sharing.
  • Anonymous reporting of safeguarding concerns.
  • Age-appropriate signposting for safeguarding and wellbeing support.
  • Safeguarding Updates, Warnings and Alerts.
  • Certified Professional Development courses for school staff.

Our user-friendly portal provides access for schools to send push notifications to specific user groups in their school community. They are a great way to communicate school news and announcements, and engage your users with online safety messages, training, surveys, and much more. Whether you want to update staff, parents, carers, or pupils – the choice is yours!

The introduction of Digital Noticeboard capabilities have been developed and designed with a ‘Safeguarding First’ philosophy. They facilitate safe one-way messaging from school staff to specific user groups, allowing the sharing of documents, images or text in a secure and private environment.

Capture the thoughts and opinions of your school community by uploading and sharing a survey through your web management portal. This can be achieved with a third-party survey created on a platform such as Microsoft Forms, Survey Monkey or Google Forms.

Digitise your absence management procedures with absence reporting. When activated by a school, parents & carers can inform you about their child’s absence, and it is sent straight to your designated school email inbox.

For users who may be seeking help or advice, get instant access to charities and other organisations that provide extra assistance where needed. Not only will we provide relevant links amidst the content, but the Safer Schools Isle of Man App is intelligent by design thanks to ‘Arti’, our in-app intelligence. He will intuitively react if a user repeatedly visits content that indicates they may be worried or scared. ‘Arti’ will prompt them with safety messages and guidance on where to seek support.
The intelligence feature complies with data minimisation requirements and does not collect personal data. ‘Arti’ only needs to differentiate whether the user is a child or adult. This ensures prompts and signposting are age specific and appropriate.

Our research and safeguarding teams monitor and respond in real time to current online trends and emerging risks to young users. We use our Prompts, Alerts, and Warnings (PAW) process to respond to concerns, threats, and dangers (e.g., the latest online challenges) by notifying users directly. We ensure your school community has access to reliable information related to online risks, alongside practical advice on how to respond effectively. There are three forms of message:

    • Regular notifications relating to events, articles or awareness of a current issue.

 

    • Update: This will be an update to an article, that we will send a Push Notification to concerning developments or resurgences in existing topics.
    • Alert: This will be a brand new article written within 24 hours of being aware of the alert.

 

This daily roundup of safeguarding headlines curated by our dedicated online safety experts ensures that staff are always up to date. Delivered in a bite size format directly to your App, your DSN is available in print format. For anyone preferring an audio format, our weekly podcast ‘Safeguarding Soundbites’ is also available in your notifications.

Online Safety content

Your Safer Schools Isle of Man App provides age-appropriate safeguarding information and advice, when you need it, where you need it; it’s in your pocket!
This includes access to our:

Need to Know

The Basics of Digital Safety Advice and Information: Passwords, Home Safe and Device Safe, Age Restrictions, In-App Purchases, Safe Search Filters, Translating Teens and more.

The Online World

Understanding their World, Social Media and the Law, Influencers, Fake News, Online Reporting, Events in the News, Persuasive Design and Viral Challenges.

Younger Children

Passwords, Trusted Adults, Games, TV / Video, and Safe Messaging Apps

Social Media

Understanding Social Media and Appropriate Use, Addiction and Social Media, Anonymous Messaging, Chat Apps, Decoy Apps, Disappearing Messaging, Buzzwords, and specific apps (e.g., TikTok, Instagram…)

Gaming

Risks, Privacy while gaming, Age ratings, Buzzwords, and specific games (e.g., Roblox, Fortnite and many others.)

Cyber Resilience

Malware, Cyber Security Updates and How to Report Scams.

Personal Information

Information Responsibility, Consent, Sharing, Screenshots, and Sharenting.

Health and Wellbeing

Looking after your Mental Health, Body image, Online Friendships, Healthy relationships, Information Sharing, Consent, Exam Pressure, Getting Support and more.

Image Sharing

The Law, The Facts, What You Can Do, Coercion and Extortion, and more.

Harmful Content

Understanding harmful content, deepfakes, Self-harm content, Violent, Sexualised and Extremist content and the dark web.

Bullying

Signs of bullying in and out of the classroom, reporting bullying and advice.

Immersive Experiences

Virtual Reality, The Metaverse, Replika, Deepfakes and more.

Interactive Quick Quizzes

Quick Quizzes are a fun and interactive way to test your knowledge on topics such as social media, gaming, scams and harmful content.

Quizzes can be taken individually, in pairs or as a group classroom activity. Families can also join in the fun, taking quizzes together at home as part of a safeguarding educational approach that extends beyond the classroom door.

Our quick quizzes are a great way for users to measure their current progress and knowledge of a topic before taking one of our digital tests

Digital Tests

Our longform tests provide users with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and receive certificates of successful completion.

Those who score 75% or more receive a certificate of completion. Your Safer Schools Isle of Man App will keep a record of your results for each test and your mark, letting you know if you’re re-taking a test and the score to beat!

Schools can prompt users to complete learning by requesting them to take Digital Tests when needed. Test results are stored in your dedicated school Management Portal, providing an audit trail of the learning achieved for internal or external inspection.

Management Portal

Your school account administrators will have licensed access to a customised management portal to administer your App and safeguarding services. This will include the following functions: 

  • Create, send, and queue push notifications.
  • Upload and share surveys.
  • Review and export digital test results certificates.
  • Generating group communication codes.
  • Manage App entry codes.
  • Add additional administrators.
  • Update in-App customisations.
  • Signpost and link to additional Ecosystem services.

App Benefits

For Schools

Communicate announcements and news directly with your school community using our push notification technology.

Gain CPD Certifications with in-App training on courses such as Safeguarding level 1 and 3, Mental Health Awareness, and Teacher Targeted Bullying.

Customise your App for your school, with your school’s branding, logos and photographs, plus integrated calendars, social media channels and more.

Know that your staff teams are participating in regular safeguarding training and kept up to date with current online safety risks, trends and threats.

For Parents

Find advice on real issues facing families today, such as bullying, image sharing, mental health, consent and healthy relationships.

Receive updates straight to your phone that will keep you informed on the latest online safeguarding news, threats, and advice.

Get to grips with social media and all the various gaming platforms and find out about fake news, influencers, harmful content and more.

Gain practical, useable advice that you can implement easily into your family life, including how to talk about the digital world and its risks, bringing your child’s online life off the devices and into the dinner table conversation.

For Pupils

Find practical advice on the topics and experiences that you have both online and offline, including the latest trends, apps, games and social media platforms that you and your friends are using.

Find out what to do when you see something online that upsets or worries you, or when you’re struggling with an issue, including knowing who to talk to and how you can seek further support.

Feel empowered that your safety is in your hands, and you’re part of your school’s efforts to keep you and your friends safe on and offline.

Learn about the importance of keeping yourself and your information private online, including personal details, protecting your passwords and what to do if you lose control of an image online.