The short answer: not everything, and that is deliberate. A children’s home should be able to stop harmful content, know when a young person is searching for something that suggests they are at risk, and look into a concern when one is raised. It should not be reading a young person’s private messages. Good filtering and monitoring gives staff the first three without the last.
What a home can know
- What is blocked. Filtering stops adult content, gambling and other harmful categories, set for each young person. When a concern is raised, we can check what was blocked on that young person’s network and when.
- Concerning searches. On the home’s computers, searches about self-harm or suicide raise an alert in real time, and we tell the relevant managers straight away, so the senior on shift can speak to the young person and record what happened.
- When devices are online. Internet times are set for each young person, so staff know when the Wi-Fi is on and off for them.
- Where a missing young person’s phone is. If a young person goes missing with a phone we manage, the home can ask us to locate it. Every request is logged.
What a home does not see
- Private messages. Conversations inside a messaging app that the placement plan allows are not read.
- A running list of everything a young person looks at. The point is to act on risk, not to watch every page.
Why it is set up this way
Young people in care are entitled to privacy, the same as any other young person, and a sense that everything is watched can damage the trust staff work hard to build. At the same time, homes have a duty to keep young people safe, and inspectors will ask how the home would know if a young person was at risk online.
Filtering and monitoring settle that balance in a way that can be explained: harmful content is blocked, real warning signs reach a person quickly, and anything more intrusive is a decision for the placement plan, the social worker and the registered manager, not a default setting.
What inspectors look for
Inspectors want to see that the home knows who is responsible for online safety, that filtering and monitoring are set for each young person, and that there is a clear path from an alert to action. Our article on the six questions Ofsted asks about filtering and monitoring sets out model answers.
Questions we are asked
Can staff see a young person’s browsing history?
Not as a full history. Filtering records what was blocked, and alerts flag concerning searches on the home’s computers. That is usually what a home needs to act on a concern.
Do alerts work on phones?
Alerts for concerning searches are in place on the home’s computers. On young people’s phones, harmful content is blocked and the phone is locked down, but search alerts are not yet part of the phone service.
Should the young person be told?
Yes. Young people should know, in words that suit their age, that the home’s internet is filtered and why. It is part of helping them understand how to stay safe online.
Find out more
Read about our web filtering and monitoring for children’s homes, download our brochure, or talk to us.
