TL;DR: Filtering and monitoring are two different safeguarding jobs. Filtering helps stop harmful or inappropriate content being accessed. Monitoring helps identify activity that may need a human response. Compliance is not just having the software: the school needs to know the arrangements still suit its pupils, devices and risks.
Filtering = what the system tries to stop. Monitoring = what the school looks for and responds to. The review checks whether both are still doing the job the school thinks they are doing.
A system can be installed and still leave a safeguarding gap. New apps, guest devices, changing pupil behaviour and generative AI can make an old configuration less suitable over time. The concern is not that technology has ‘failed’; it is that the school may believe somebody or something is watching when the right alert is not reaching the right person. A review turns that uncertainty into a clear process.
Most schools already have filtering and monitoring technology. The first question is not whether something has been bought. It is whether it is still right for the school.
Two jobs, not one
Filtering and monitoring do different jobs.
Filtering is preventative. It helps stop users reaching illegal, inappropriate or harmful online content.
Monitoring looks for activity that may need somebody’s attention. That could mean a safeguarding concern being brought to the right person so they can decide what happens next.
Both depend on people as well as technology.
Why the setup drifts out of date
A filtering system configured several years ago may not reflect the apps, devices and online behaviour in the school today. Generative AI is a good example of how quickly the landscape can change; the DfE updated its guidance in 2026 to reflect that developing risk.
Start with a review
So the practical starting point is a review.
Questions to ask about filtering
Does filtering work on the devices pupils actually use? What happens with guest or unmanaged devices? Can the school demonstrate what is blocked and why? Are the appropriate safeguards difficult to bypass?
Questions to ask about monitoring
Then look at monitoring. Who receives the information? Who is expected to read it? What happens when something serious appears? Is there a clear route for urgent concerns, and can the school show what action was taken?
Closing the gap
This is where a system can appear compliant on paper but drift in practice.
An independent review can help the designated safeguarding lead, senior leadership and IT support look at the same picture together. It is often less about replacing technology and more about closing the gap between what everyone assumes is happening and what is actually happening.
Ask your DSL and IT support: When did we last review filtering and monitoring together? What changed because of that review? Who sees monitoring information? What happens with a high-risk alert? Can we evidence the action taken?
