GovWire

Why this standard is important

Providing devices that meet educational needs and support the digital technology strategy will help:

• curriculum planning and delivery
• administration, including data and financial management
• flexible and cross-site working

Devices that are not suitable may:

• lead to lost learning or disrupt day to day operations
• not be safe and secure
• need to be repaired and replaced more often
• cost more in the long run

Who needs to be involved

The senior leadership team (SLT) digital lead should work with:

• other SLT members to make sure any decisions on devices fits with the school or colleges digital technology strategy
• IT support to assess if devices meet the needs of students and staff, and identify any additional technical requirements

How to meet this standard

To meet this standard, the SLT should follow this 3-step process to understand which devices are needed.

1. Create a digital technology strategy

For more details, see our standards on digital leadership and governance.

2. Identify the device needs of students and staff

The SLT digital lead should assess how devices will support the needs of students and staff, based on the school or colleges digital technology strategy.

They should look at how devices are being used, including who uses them, where they are being kept and what they are being used for. This will help them identify:

• the number and type of devices needed
• any specific physical requirements for devices
• the level of technical support needed
• training requirements for students and staff

3. Assess the security and technical requirements of the devices

The SLT digital lead should work with IT support to assess the security and technical requirements of devices. This will help determine whether they need to buy new devices or if they can repurpose existing ones.

When to meet this standard

This standard should be met when the SLT review the use of laptops, desktops and tablets, or buy new devices.

Related standards

The following standards should also be considered when reviewing your use of laptops, desktops and tablets:

• cyber security
• filtering and monitoring
• cloud solutions
• wireless network
• broadband internet

Why this standard is important

Keeping devices safe and secure will protect those who use them, the network and the data on them. This will:

• make it easier to apply security and safeguarding policies to each device
• minimise the risk of cyber security incidents and data breaches

The risks of not doing this include:

• students accessing harmful or inappropriate material
• lost learning due to cyber incidents or data breaches
• difficulty managing safeguarding
• loss of public confidence and reputational damage

Who needs to be involved

To meet this standard, the SLT digital lead should make sure all devices are centrally managed and meet the needs of those using them.

IT support should check all devices are configured securely. They should also work with the designated safeguarding lead to review the filtering and monitoring requirements of the devices.

The data protection officer should also be involved, when reviewing data security.

How to meet this standard

To meet this standard, the SLT digital lead should protect all devices against the risk of data breaches, and cyber security and safeguarding incidents.

To do this, IT support should work with the designated safeguarding lead to check and confirm all devices meet the Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) requirements for:

• information security and access management
• filtering and monitoring

All new dev

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