Schools & MATs

Redaction guide for PEX panels, illustrating how schools manage sensitive information for permanent exclusion

Navigating the Redaction Divide: SAR or PEX?

Schools are increasingly required to manage sensitive information in ways that balance transparency, fairness, and data protection. One area that frequently creates confusion is the difference between redaction undertaken for a Subject Access Request (SAR) and redaction applied when preparing documentation for a Permanent Exclusion (PEX) Review Panel. The Redaction Guide for PEX Panels has been introduced to address this issue and provide clear, practical guidance for staff.

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Leavers' memorabilia display with custom hoodies, yearbooks, and other personalized keepsake items

Leavers' Memorabilia

We're already seeing the leavers' hoodies when we're visiting schools and our help desk has received tickets asking about year book administration, so here's some best practice about 'Leaver's Memorabilia'.

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Students and teachers sharing World Book Day photos, reminding schools about data protection best practices.

Sharing photos on World Book Day: Privacy considerations

📸✅ It's World Book Day on the 5th March when most schools will be celebrating reading and capturing photos of staff and students in their costumes.   Given this is one of many significant photographic events in the calendar, we thought it was a good opportunity to remind everyone of photo and video best practice so there are no data protection slip ups.

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Visual representation of digital filtering and monitoring systems crucial for online safety in schools, adhering to KC

The DSL’s Guide to Filtering and Monitoring

The Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025 document obliges schools and colleges in England to “ensure appropriate filters and appropriate monitoring systems are in place and regularly review their effectiveness”. This responsibility is now a standard, no just a technical tick box, but a core leadership and safeguarding function.

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  1. New DfE AI Standards
  2. Is your IT Support Provider Compliant?
  3. The Government Cyber Action Plan
  4. School Cyber Attack: Higham Lane School Hit by Major Cyber Attack: Campus Remains Closed
  5. What does the technology in schools survey tell us?
  6. IT Support Standards for Schools and Colleges Guidance (DfE Digital Standards)
  7. Sharing information to safeguard children and young people in the education sector in the UK
  8. October 31. On the road to improving cyber resilience
  9. October 30. Cyber Support
  10. October 29. Admin Controls & Accounts
  11. October 28. Phishing: Don't Take the Bait!
  12. October 27. Passwords
  13. October 26. Physical Security of Digital Assets
  14. October 25. Server Security: Protecting Your Digital Core
  15. October 24. Backups: Your Recovery Safety Net
  16. October 23. Filtering and Monitoring
  17. October 22. Hardware: Printers
  18. October 21. Hardware: Asset Management
  19. October 20. Hardware: Safe disposal
  20. October 19. Anti-virus/anti-malware
  21. October 18. Regular Updates: Patching Against Threats
  22. October 17. Access Control: Managing User Privileges
  23. October 16. Access Control: Securing Your Digital Gateways (Wi-Fi & Networks)
  24. October 15. Access Control: Securing Your Home Office (Working From Home)
  25. October 14. Access Control : (Multi-factor authentication)
  26. We've teamed up on a podcast with the Small Business Cyber Security Guy
  27. October 13. Cyber Security Awareness
  28. October 12. Training: Empowering your human firewall
  29. October 11. Policies and Procedures: Cyber Blueprint
  30. October 10. Understanding Your Cyber Posture
  31. Time's Ticking: Windows 10 support ends in October 2025!
  32. October 9. A Guide for Education Providers
  33. October 8. How Can Your Organisation Prevent Ransomware Attacks?
  34. October 7: Under Attack: The Reality of Ransomware
  35. October 6: Cyber Action Plan and A Roadmap to Resilience
  36. October 5: Cyber Responsibilities - We're All in This Together
  37. October 4: When a Cyber Attack Hits
  38. October 3: Data Security, the Core of Protection
  39. October 2: Privacy Protection & Safeguarding Personal Data
  40. October 1: Welcome to Cyber Security Awareness Month!
  41. Nursery Cyber attack
  42. Fraud awareness from the DfE
  43. The Classroom's Dark Side: Cyber crime from the Classroom
  44. Data Breach: School sends out names and contact details in a spreadsheet.
  45. KCSIE 2025: Data Protection, AI, and Cyber Security
  46. The Online SCR Data Breach: What You Need to Know
  47. Back to School Basics for Data Protection and Cyber Security Compliance
  48. The Latest Cyber Threat: The "Murky Panda"
  49. Building a Secure School: Using the ICO Accountability Framework to Meet DfE Digital Standards
  50. Why Physical and Data Security Must Go Hand-In-Hand
  51. Digital Safeguarding: DfE announces statutory DfE Digital Standards
  52. The Data Protection Lead/Champion Role
  53. Changes to the Academy Trust Handbook 2025
  54. School closes for two days after cyber incident
  55. Social Media Day 2025
  56. How Ofsted looks at AI during inspection and regulation
  57. Data Breaches 2025 Report Highlights
  58. Not everyone needs access: The Key to Protecting Sensitive Data
  59. School cyber attack: Outwood Academy, Middlesbrough
  60. Alert: Schools receiving Microsoft File Sharing Phishing Emails
  61. School cyber attack: Framlingham College, Suffolk
  62. West Lothian Schools in Cyber Attack
  63. A Wake-Up Call for Cyber Vigilance - Danger in the Threat Landscape for Everyone
  64. New Governor Resources
  65. Are teachers using AI? 83% say its a time-saver
  66. DfE Digital Standards - narrowing the digital divide
  67. Arbor AI - On By Default
  68. DfE Guidance: Choosing a new MIS
  69. Short Guide to AI Video
  70. Safer Internet Day, Cyber Security & Data Protection
  71. The Cyber Resilience Championship
  72. The Multiple Dimensions of Supplier Due Diligence
  73. School shares sensitive pupil information as part of an FOI response
  74. Blacon High School Cyber Attack
  75. WhatsApp and FOI's: ICO Warnings
  76. New AI Guidance from the DfE
  77. What the proposed Government legislative proposal around cyber crime means
  78. DfE update to record keeping and management
  79. Update to data sharing for school immunisation programmes
  80. SLT Digital Lead Profile
  81. The role of governors in cyber security and data protection
  82. Navigating Privacy at the End of Term , Special Occasions and End of Year
  83. South East Technological University has experienced a cyber incident
  84. Safeguarding Identity in Microsoft 365: Protecting the UK Education Sector Against Cyber Threats
  85. Cyber Attack on a Special School
  86. Stealing children's data
  87. Ofqual highlights the value of cyber security training in schools
  88. Fylde Coast Academy Trust Cyber Attack This Week
  89. Calling all IT leads in schools and mult academy trusts!
  90. Ransomware cyber attack on a school in Bromley
  91. School hit by Cyber Attack
  92. DfE Digital Standards for Schools and Colleges Tracker
  93. Schools and Trusts Best Practice Area
  94. ESFA Cyber Essentials Requirement for Colleges from 2024/2025
  95. ICO Reprimands a School
  96. Out of date technology
  97. Data Retention and the Pupil File
  98. Have you assigned your SLT Digital Lead yet?
  99. What's a Cyber Incident and what should we do?
  100. Getting Started with AI (Artificial Intelligence)
  101. Cyber attack on a school during half term
  102. The rise of cyber attacks in schools are causing pupils to miss classes
  103. Cyber attack on a Trust; the aftermath
  104. School Focus: The Vale Federation | Aylesbury
  105. DfE Dealing with Subject Access Requests (SARs) Guidance
  106. Update to the Guidance on Information Sharing from the DfE
  107. Product Focus on Checklists : Initial Trust Plan
  108. Product Focus on Checklists : End of Term Checklist
  109. Product Focus on Checklists : Social Media
  110. Product Focus on Checklists : Lettings
  111. Milk Island: The secret location that allows children to view restricted content on Google Maps
  112. Free Cyber help, advice and training with the Cyber Resilience Centres
  113. The Perils of Paper: The Printing Vulnerability
  114. Product Focus on Checklists : Governors and Data
  115. Product Focus on Checklists : Site Moves
  116. Cyber attack on a University
  117. Product Focus on Checklists : Bring your own device
  118. Product Focus on Checklists : Working out of school/offsite
  119. Cyber Attack on a School
  120. Major cyber-criminal gang Lockbit brought down by UK Law Enforcement
  121. Product Focus on Checklists : Photos and video
  122. Safer Internet Day 2024
  123. Kent Councils Data Breach
  124. Free cyber training for staff
  125. DfE Digital Standards Update
  126. ClassCharts Possible Data Breach
  127. School Focus: St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School | Brighton
  128. Guardians of Privacy: 16. Social Media Checklist
  129. Guardians of Privacy: 15. Navigating Social Media in Educational Settings Summary
  130. Guardians of Privacy: 14. Social Media and Cyber Bullying
  131. Guardians of Privacy: 13. Social Media, Copyright and Intellectual Property
  132. Guardians of Privacy: 12. Social Media and Going Viral
  133. Guardians of Privacy: 11. Staff Social Media Accounts
  134. Guardians of Privacy: 10. Social Media and Cookies
  135. Guardians of Privacy: 9. Social Media and Morality
  136. New Resources for Schools from the ICO
  137. Guardians of Privacy: 8. Social Media Policies
  138. Guardians of Privacy: 7. Social Media Data Retention
  139. Guardians of Privacy: 6. Posting Safely
  140. Guardians of Privacy: 5. Social Media and Consent
  141. Guardians of Privacy: 4. Social Media Access Control
  142. Guardians of Privacy: 3. Social Media Channels
  143. Guardians of Privacy: 2. Law and Regulations
  144. Phishing attacks targeting schools - alert from City of London Police
  145. The ICO reprimands a Multi Academy Trust
  146. Guidance for the use of school email and applying email retention in schools
  147. Data Protection Tips for Early Years Settings
  148. Trust Initial Plan Checklist Update
  149. Update on Advisory for Rhysida Ransomware
  150. Trust Initial Plan for Data Protection Compliance (for Multi Academy Trusts)
  151. Google for Education Resources: Helping IT Admins meet DfE digital and technology standards
  152. Lettings Best Practice and Guidance
  153. The UK Online Safety Bill becomes an Act (Law)
  154. Considerations when migrating to a new MIS
  155. The importance of software updates (PaperCut vulnerability and Rhysida ransomware)
  156. Public bodies and sensitive data
  157. ICO: 10 Step guide to sharing information to safeguard children
  158. Email and Security: ICO recent guidance
  159. Social Media Policy
  160. Data Protection and Cyber Security (Inset Day) Training Ideas
  161. Changes to Microsoft Free Licensing for Schools
  162. What to do in the event of a Cyber Attack
  163. How KCSIE is linked to Cyber Strategy
  164. VICE SOCIETY - Ransomware attacks on schools
  165. Using Tags if you are a group of organisations in the DPE Knowledge Bank
  166. Cyber Insurance in the Public Sector
  167. Cyber Attack: Leytonstone School
  168. The ICO Reprimands a school
  169. Cyber Attack: Dorchester School
  170. Knowledge Bank Role Types: Admin, Staff and Trustee
  171. Cyber Attack: Wiltshire School
  172. Types of Cyber Attacks: The Insider Threat
  173. Why your data is profitable to cyber criminals
  174. Striking Data Breach
  175. January Cyber update - How Can Schools Help Prevent Cyber Attacks?
  176. FOI: Vaccination Justifications
  177. The Education sector now at highest risk of cyber attacks
  178. Schools Blocked from Using Facial Recognition Systems
  179. The Children's Code
  180. Cyber Attacks
  181. Protocol for Setting Up and Delivery of Online Teaching and Learning
  182. Class Dojo International Data Sharing
  183. Secure file transfer of files using Royal Mail
  184. Emergency contacts and consent
  185. Best Practice for Managing Photos and Video
  186. Headteacher fined for breach of data protection legislation

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