Assisted Safeguarding Monitoring with SWGfL
classroom.cloud’s optional Assisted Monitoring service, delivered in partnership with the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), gives UK schools access to trained safeguarding specialists who review alerts captured within classroom.cloud.
The SWGfL team helps identify false positives, prioritise concerns and escalate urgent safeguarding risks to your school, while your own safeguarding team remains responsible for deciding and taking the appropriate action.
Schools also receive regular reporting to help them understand the volume and nature of safeguarding concerns being identified.
How does Assisted Monitoring work?
All safeguarding alerts captured in classroom.cloud are reviewed by the SWGfL team and graded into three categories:
INVESTIGATING
An alert that contains safeguarding concerns but is not deemed urgent. The school should review.
FALSE POSITIVE
Not deemed as a concern and no action is required.
INVESTIGATING
An alert that contains safeguarding concerns but is not deemed urgent. The school should review it.
NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
An urgent safeguarding concern has been captured and needs immediate attention. SWGfL will notify the school in an email and phone call. The POSH helpline is also available for further support.
What are the key benefits?
1. Helps with safeguarding resource and capacity challenges.
2. Identifies potential concerns sooner and helps you provide timely student support.
3. Provides access to a free helpline for school staff.
4. Enhances your existing safeguarding processes.
Meet the team
Meet the team behind Assisted Monitoring – experienced online safety specialists working alongside your school to help review, prioritise and respond to
safeguarding concerns with confidence.
Claire Hayden
Experienced manager and Mental Health First Aider, working with educational professionals for the last 11 years, with 5 years of working in safeguarding focused role. Passionate about ensuring everyone can benefit from technology free from harm
Libbie Turner
Dedicated safeguarding professional focused on protecting vulnerable people, building strong partnerships, and delivering practical solutions that make a positive difference
Courtney Jones
Experience in customer service, safeguarding, and social care roles. Has been with SWGfL for almost two years within the Customer Service team. Passionate about improving online safety for children
Simone Linney
An experienced lecturer with extensive experience supporting diverse learners. She is passionate about children’s online safety and dedicated to helping young people stay safe, informed, and confident in the digital world
Ollie Tapp
Experience working in customer service and safeguarding related roles, with 5 years’ service at SWGfL across the customer service and helplines teams
Free helpline included
The Professionals Online Safety Helpline (POSH) is a free and confidential service for anyone working with children and young people. Operated by SWGfL as part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, it provides expert advice and support on a wide range of online safety and safeguarding issues, including cyberbullying, harmful online content, sexting incidents, impersonation accounts and online harassment. Available Monday to Friday, 10am–4pm (excluding bank holidays), it is an invaluable resource for strengthening digital safeguarding and protecting both staff and students.
Frequently asked questions
Does the service replace our safeguarding team?
No. The service is designed to support, not replace, your existing safeguarding processes. Decisions and actions always remain with your school. The service simply provides additional expertise and oversight to help identify concerns that may require further review.
Who reviews the alerts?
Alerts are reviewed by trained safeguarding professionals who understand the challenges schools face and are experienced in recognising online safety concerns and potential safeguarding risks.
Why would a school use an assisted monitoring service?
Many schools receive large numbers of alerts each day. Reviewing every alert can be time-consuming, particularly during busy periods or when staffing resources are stretched. Assisted monitoring helps schools manage alert volumes more effectively while providing additional reassurance that concerns are being reviewed.
What are the monitoring hours?
Whilst devices are monitored 24/7 through classroom.cloud, the Assisted Monitoring service is operational Mon – Thurs 8am – 5pm and Friday 8am – 4.30pm (excluding bank holidays). Any triggered events captured after 5pm will be reported the next working day morning.
How quickly are concerns escalated?
Where activity is identified that may require attention, the school is notified within 3 working hours. This helps ensure safeguarding teams can review concerns promptly and take any appropriate action.
What are the main benefits schools report?
Schools often tell us they value the additional reassurance, reduced pressure on safeguarding teams, improved visibility of potential concerns, and the confidence that alerts are being reviewed consistently and professionally.
Can the service help outside normal school hours?
Yes. One of the key benefits of assisted monitoring is the ability to provide additional oversight beyond the school day (after school and during school holidays: Mon – Thurs 8am – 5pm and Friday 8am – 4.30pm – excluding bank holidays), helping schools maintain visibility of potential concerns when staff may not be actively monitoring alerts.
Will they manage false positives?
How do we know if assisted monitoring is right for our school?
If your safeguarding team is managing high volumes of alerts, has limited resources/time pressures, no visibility outside school hours or would benefit from additional specialist support – assisted monitoring can provide valuable extra reassurance and capacity.
Will it work if students take their school devices off site?
Yes. classroom.cloud can continue to monitor school-managed devices when they are used off-site, provided the device has an internet connection and the school’s monitoring policies are configured to allow monitoring outside the school network.
Will staff still receive alerts directly?
Yes. Schools retain access to their classroom.cloud account and reports. SWGfL will also send a detailed weekly report which outlines the number and nature of safeguarding and behavioural concerns that week.
How easy is it to set up?
Super easy. Your classroom.cloud account manager will enable it on your account. Once enabled, you can then choose which sites to grant access to. A member from the SWGfL team will then contact you to verify the person who needs to be notified of any alerts and the day of the week you wish to receive their report.
What happens when the service picks up a student at risk?
When the triggered activity is captured in classroom.cloud, it is reviewed by the SWGfL team and graded into three categories:
INVESTIGATING
An alert that contains safeguarding concerns but is not deemed urgent. The school should review it.
FALSE POSITIVE
Not deemed as a concern and no action is required. The SWGfL team will mark this as a false positive for the school.
NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
An urgent safeguarding concern has been captured and needs immediate attention.
The SWGfL team will notify the school in an email and phone call. The POSH helpline is also available for further support.
Is student privacy protected?
Is there a free trial available?
Yes. We understand that schools want to see the benefits first-hand before investing in a new safeguarding service. That’s why a free trial is available, giving your team the opportunity to experience how assisted monitoring works, how alerts are reviewed, and how additional safeguarding support can help reduce pressure on staff. Just contact your classroom.cloud account manager today.
Is the service suitable for trusts and multi-school organisations?
Yes. The service can support individual schools, groups of schools and multi-academy trusts, helping to provide you with a consistent approach to monitoring and safeguarding across multiple sites.
Can the SWGfL team access your classroom.cloud account settings?
How do I get started?
Simply contact your classroom.cloud account manager today and they will do the rest!