How Whittaker Moss turned safeguarding alerts into prompt action

The client

A Rochdale primary school with more than 400 pupils

Whittaker Moss Primary School is based in Rochdale and serves more than 400 pupils. When the case study was recorded, School Business Manager Dorita Stevenson said the school had worked with Remedian for 15 years.

Before that relationship, the school used local-authority IT support. The service no longer met its growing needs and lacked the strategic, proactive approach the school wanted. Moving to Remedian gave the school a named team, regular communication and a clearer plan for its technology.

Why the school stayed

Personal service, trust and support during scrutiny

The school highlighted personal service and trustworthiness as the main reasons for continuing the relationship. Issues were resolved quickly, communication worked both ways and support covered the areas where the school did not have in-house expertise.

That reassurance mattered while the school was awaiting an Ofsted visit. The Business Manager described having Remedian available to support the school's IT as a significant relief because the team already understood the systems and could respond if anything needed attention.

The implementation

Selecting and introducing Smoothwall monitoring

For online safety, Remedian recommended Smoothwall filtering and monitoring. The school reviewed demonstrations of several products before deciding that Smoothwall best matched its requirements for security, visibility and safeguarding.

Implementation was straightforward and included online training so staff understood how to use the system. Regular consultations and proactive monitoring then helped the school keep the setup aligned with changing technology, pupil use and safeguarding priorities.

A real example

An alert that gave staff the context to act

The school receives notifications for online activity above its level-three concern threshold. On one occasion, an alert relating to a pupil allowed staff to intervene and deal with the concern immediately.

Monitoring also helps staff interpret legitimate classroom activity. The client used the example of Year 6 pupils researching the Second World War. A useful system has to provide context and visibility, not simply block every search containing a sensitive term.

The wider plan

Security controls and a route towards easier remote working

Regular meetings are used to review whether the school has the right tools. Security options are tailored so the school does not pay for services it does not use, while measures such as two-factor authentication protect email accounts.

At the time of the interview, moving servers to a cloud-based system was the next planned improvement. The aim was to remove reliance on temperamental VPN connections and make it easier for staff to reach email and work securely away from school.

The combination of monitoring, training, account security and forward planning gave the school greater confidence in its IT infrastructure and online safeguarding.