“We want to keep students on track but not let them have access to the things they shouldn’t see. Smoothwall helps us do that and more.”


Safeguarding students is important for every school. This extends to the time spent online in the classroom. The school’s commitment to helping students embrace new technologies means a practical application in the classroom – allowing students to experience these technologies for themselves.

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Handsworth Grammar is part of the King Edward VI Foundation and the King Edward VI Academy Trust, in Birmingham. The school provides a stimulating and educationally successful environment for their pupils – accepting boys from age 11 to 16 as well as boys and girls at sixth form level.

It is the oldest surviving selective school in Birmingham, but at the same time is forward looking. In fact, it could be said that the school reaches for the future from the basis of solid foundations. The foundations manifest themselves in the emphasis given to the importance of work, selfdiscipline, behaviour and achievement. From that foundation, they can help their students face and meet the needs of a rapidly changing world, by seeking to embrace new technologies and recognising the importance of links between education and the world of work.

The school understands that while academic qualifications are important,education must be broader than that alone. Through the ethos and activities of the school, they strive to have a positive impact upon the students’ spiritual, moral, social, cultural and academic development and values.

Safeguarding students is important for every school. This extends to the time spent online in the classroom. The school’s commitment to helping students embrace new technologies means a practical application in the classroom – allowing students to experience these technologies for themselves.

However, this is not without its risks, and the school was conscious of its responsibility for the students whilst in its care. Understanding this, they needed a viable solution to monitor students’ online activities in a way that did not impact teaching time yet kept their students safe. The school was aware that it needed to safeguard its students from more than the dangers that lurk online. It also needed to ensure their mental wellbeing. With suicide rates amongst the under 19s increasing by 67% in England and Wales between 2010 and 2017, it was vital that the school was always vigilant, especially when students spent time online. ICT technical manager, Adam Kilcullen, commented, “With 1050 students and about 120 staff, monitoring online activity without impacting teaching time was a challenge. We knew we had to find a solution that would keep our students safe, whilst allowing them access to technology.”

The Impact

The school has moved from monitoring searches themselves, a time-consuming task, to Smoothwall providing monitoring and moderating services. All searches are graded 1 to 5 by Smoothwall’s moderators, who will immediately telephone the school if any grade 4 or 5 searches are identified. These are the most serious searches and the immediacy of identifying them to the school means it can act appropriately and ensure the student in question receives the help he or she needs. All without impacting teaching time.

The impact on the IT team is apparent too. Adam said, “We have more freedom in managing our network. Our previous supplier had a 5-day service level agreement and that meant long waiting times to make changes. In fact, one change took 5 weeks to be completed. With Smoothwall, we can manage changes ourselves and they now take less than 5 minutes. This is crucial for a school.” The flexibility Smoothwall has given the school has also had a positive impact on lessons. Teachers can request access to otherwise restricted sites for specific lessons. The IT team can now implement these changes quickly, giving the teaching staff flexibility to plan their lessons.

“Our biggest concern was if something serious were to happen to a child and, in an investigation, it was found that our monitoring software had picked up his or her search, but the staff hadn’t identified it or acted upon it. Smoothwall ensures we will never have to deal with this situation by notifying our staff directly so that they can help the student in question,” Adam added.

Whilst Adam was already aware of Smoothwall, he appreciated the input from MPS. “I’ve worked with MPS for three years and trust their judgement. Their staff are friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. They are great at communicating with us and nothing is too much trouble. I would recommend them to any school thinking of working with them.”