On the 23rd March, 2020, schools were asked to close their doors to all learners, except for those most vulnerable, or whose parents are key workers. This changed learning as we know it, and since then, schools have worked tirelessly to continue to provide education, resources and communication with their learners.
To find out how your school can benefit from our free donation of Whisper, click the following link.
What did we do?
At the beginning of April, SWGfL donated Whisper for free to all schools to provide a safe, secure anonymous reporting tool. A simple button on the schools site, allowing students, staff and parents the opportunity to get in touch and report any issues, concerns or worries they may be facing.
Currently over 190 schools have signed up, meaning over 35,000 pupils have access to a safe, secure, anonymous reporting tool. But how are schools using it? And what has the response been? We contacted just one of these schools to find out how it’s been working for them.
Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School, took advantage of the offer and signed up to Whisper, free of charge. Whisper is designed as a safeguarding tool, to provide a safe, secure and anonymous space for those in the school community. As with many others, the school was already shut when they signed up to Whisper. This opened up the question:
‘How do you communicate to students who aren’t in school?’ They have shared below their experience.
The school was shut when we decided to put Whisper out, so we started by informing the parents about it. I found the poster tool really useful. Once parents received an email explaining what it was, the teachers included an explanation and the poster in their lessons for the day. The poster and the report button are on each of the class web pages (from Year 1 up).
The school have seen a positive response to the button with active alerts coming in. These have not been safeguarding concerns, but the students have used it to highlight issues such as work going missing, or work they are having problems with.
Children are using it as a way to communicate, its great they feel confident that can make contact in some form. It is an amazing resource at this time.
Michelle Woods
SENDCo
When students do return to school, it may not be the familiar ground they are accustomed to. This in itself can raise concerns over their mental well-being. Having an additional line of communication in the school’s toolkit, it provides students, parents and staff alike with a quick and easy way to report any concerns.
To find out how your school can benefit from our free donation of Whisper, click the following link.
