Frequently asked questions

Why Securus?

Schools and educational establishments can integrate Securus software with complementary safeguarding recording solutions such as CPOMS and MyConcern plus teamSOS incident management system.

As members of IWF and UKCCIS, in addition to our Cyber Essentials accreditation, schools can also be assured that we adhere to the highest standards at all times.

Do schools have to monitor?

Yes they do in order to meet their safeguarding obligations as laid down by the DfE and contained in their Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education. This also extends to the school duties contained in the Prevent Duty and also the safeguarding elements contained in the Ofsted and the ISI Inspection Frameworks.

Securus has been specifically developed to monitor devices and let you know exactly what is being viewed and how pupils and staff are communicating. Our solutions monitor both online and offline activity ensuring that potential incidents of risk do not go undetected.

How does Securus work?

In brief, the Securus software solutions monitors devices attached to your network against both our proprietary library of words and phrases and, if required, your own school customised library.

Should any online/offline activity in applications and browsers identify any violation against these libraries, a screenshot is created along with all identifying information, called a ‘capture’. This capture is sent to the Securus Cloud Console for review by your safeguarding team.

Who should monitor Securus?

We would always suggest a whole school approach with clear lines of escalation for any matters of concern up to the senior leadership team and ultimately the head teacher or CEO in the case of a MAT.

However, as this is related to safeguarding we believe that the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) should be the first person to review the capture data and decide if there is any need to take further action.

There may well be more than one member of staff who reviews captures and, along with the DSL, make up the child protection and safeguarding team for the school.

What happens if our staff haven’t got the time or resources to monitor?

OK, we understand that some schools might not have the staff to review captures, do not feel totally confident about reviewing captures or do not feel they have the time to properly manage the captures for themselves.

In these cases, Securus can offer you our Full Monitoring Service, Securus FMS, a fully managed option where the captures are monitored and the system administered by our team on behalf of your school.

Our team actively monitor, analyse and categorise all online activity the school generates and provides immediate alerts to the nominated contacts at the school (e.g. the DSL or Headteacher or both) should any capture meet the agreed criteria of potential risk or inappropriate online behaviour.

This approach to online safeguarding ensures that your school’s users are constantly monitored to ensure that the school is compliant with their statutory obligations and potential safeguarding risks are dealt with in an efficient and timely manner.

Competitively priced, please contact us for further details and to discuss the level of service required.

Does Securus monitor iPad / MacBook / iMac / Android / BYOD devices?

Yes it does. Non-Windows and non-Chromebook devices are monitored using our network level solution providing screenshot captures for anything that is identified against our library of keywords and phrases.

For schools who have a BYOD policy in place we can also monitor a range of devices including Smartphones.

What monitoring solutions do Securus provide?

Securus offers schools two monitoring options to safeguard pupils, based on your preference. DSLs and school leadership teams have the choice to review and manage capture data themselves or they can opt for a fully managed service where the Securus team monitor activity for you – reviewing, analysing and alerting you to incidents of concern.

Whether you self-manage the capture data or choose our fully managed service, both options utilise our Securus 360 software which includes our device-level agents for Windows & Chromebook devices with advanced monitoring functionality, capturing online, offline, typed and untyped activity.

Securus also monitors activity across many other devices including iPads, Mac, Android & mobile Devices using our network-level solution, delivering enhanced safety – and providing support for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies.

Is Securus in the cloud?

Yes, by default the Securus console is cloud based, located in a UK cloud datacentre which is ISO27001 certified, the internationally recognised standard for Information Security Management.

We set each school up within the cloud environment and provide them with their login credentials to access their own specific console. The Securus console is where any captures are sent to for review and actioning by the school’s safeguarding team.

We have filtering, so we are covered right?

No. In line with statutory government guidance, schools are required to have ‘appropriate filtering AND monitoring’, not one or the other. Monitoring and filtering are complementary solutions and work extremely well side by side.

Monitoring is very much a proactive solution which covers internet website activity AND applications in use across your network whereas filtering is focused on blocking unwanted internet website activity and is therefore often referred to as a reactive solution.

Monitoring provides you with specific screen-based evidence showing you what is happening online across internet and application activity on your network. This intelligence can then be viewed alongside the information from your filtering solution to ensure you can see an overall view of the activity on your network.

Without monitoring in place, you may not be fully aware of what is happening on your network using applications such as Word, Teams, Outlook, Google and various chatrooms and therefore what new threats you might be facing.

Our filtering solution has a keyword capture feature, so we are covered?

Not entirely. Filtering is targeted at internet and website activity and does not cover network application activity. It will almost certainly be in place already and will be very helpful but it is only one component in the overall set of tools used to provide suitable safeguarding for your pupils.

Filtering solutions often do provide URLs and keyword capture data but often without the associated evidential screenshots. Securus provides highlighted screenshots, together with all the who, what, where and when information.

This allows safeguarding staff who review the data to quickly contextualise all captures and take any action that might be necessary.

Will Securus conflict with our filtering solution?

No, Securus will happily work alongside your existing filtering solution.

Can Securus accommodate multi-academy trusts (MATs) or international school groups?

Absolutely. In hierarchy terms we can set up the Securus console so the trust or the group will sit at the top of the hierarchy, with all its schools sitting beneath them individually or in whatever sub-grouping desired, e.g. North Group and South Group.

The trust/group will usually have a top-down view of all the schools in the group with each school or sub-group having their own individual rights to allocate reviewers, access rights, add custom libraries, etc.

Specific groups can be set up to reflect cross trust/group focus areas such as ‘High Risk Users’ with access rights assigned to specific members of staff.

Can Securus create reports?

Yes, Securus can create reports across a range of different criteria and our support team will assist and train schools how to utilise the reporting functionality.

Does Securus generate alerts?

Yes, you can configure alerts which meet a range of different criteria such as specific words or phrases or specific pupils or any combination of parameters.

As soon as the alert is triggered, email notifications are sent to a nominated recipient or any number of recipients when a capture has been generated against the specific criteria set up for the alert.

How easy is Securus to install?

A simple 3 step process:

We set up a Securus cloud console instance for your school in our cloud environment and provide login credentials to you.
Subject to the products ordered you will be then sent the appropriate software to deploy onto the devices and your network.
Once the software is deployed, the whole system is tested to ensure captures are being generated and received by the Securus console and the system is ready for live monitoring.

Do Securus provide any training?

Absolutely. The Securus Annual Licence includes a range of training options and resources which are included and can be called upon at any time during the licence period.

Training of key users, those that review and manage captures and administer the system provided online in easy to follow, short sessions.
Support via the Securus Help Desk.
Access to various training resources and videos on the Customer Support Portal.

Onsite training is available upon request at an additional cost.

Testimonials

“ At Northleigh House School we provide a safe learning environment for vulnerable secondary aged children suffering from anxiety. We are dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of all our students and Securus is in place to monitor our Windows laptop devices, highlighting any incidents of concern taking place on the school network and providing staff with hard evidence and key protection to safeguard our children ”

“ We have used Securus for many years and over this time we have watched it grow from strength to strength. It has transformed the behaviour of our students. Securus has helped to detect student safeguarding issues and the evidence is used by our student support department to help provide a safe, caring environment for all students as well as helping us to enforce our acceptable use policy ”

“ Securus has been instrumental in safeguarding our students over the past years and alerts us to any misuse on the computer systems. Securus is flexible enough to keep up with the constantly changing world and trends. The widespread monitoring on our school system has even surprised our own students ”

“ We allow our students to take laptops home. To ensure the continued appropriate use of technology, Securus will monitor off site activity and store it until back on the school network, where any captures can be viewed. Our students are from 13 to 18 years old and they know when they log in to use the ICT suite, that any inappropriate behaviour will be flagged and dealt with, which teaches them to use school technology safely ”

“ I have been using Securus now for over five years and I would recommend it to anybody who has network responsibility. Securus is an integral part of our school network infrastructure and can be configured to provide other non-technical support professionals with access to support their other activities, this is very important to get the best out of the system ”

“ We have found Securus to be an invaluable tool to help ensure that our pupils’ use of the school’s IT facilities is adequately monitored and it gives us the ability to act quickly to resolve them with clear and accurate evidence. Blocking and filtering of websites is not enough and Securus provides us with an extra layer of protection which is vital to ensuring that we safeguard our pupils in their use of school IT equipment ”

“ We were prompted by our investigation into the recent government requirement to investigate the steps that we take to keep children safe from harm online from cyberbullying, pornography and the risk of radicalisation. We felt that Securus offered us the best possible solution in addressing the requirements of ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and the needs of our school ”

“ I was sat in a School Governor meeting and hearing great feedback on the Securus Software that is installed at our school! Thanks for providing a fantastically secure and intelligent software to keep our children safe ”

“ We are one of the largest primary schools in Leicester with children from 3 to 11 years of age. Safeguarding our pupils is paramount and therefore having Securus in place gives us a better insight into what is happening on the network. We encourage our pupils to develop moral and social behaviours, so by monitoring their activity we can detect any instances that occur on the school devices and take appropriate action ”

“ Securus has taken safeguarding to the next level here at The Gilberd School. We can quickly identify any threats to our students and deal with these in a timely manner. Support has been exceptional, especially helping us migrate our on-premise solution to their recently released cloud solution. The ability to share this “capture” information in an easy to navigate portal for other staff such as DLS and Senior Team has also made our monitoring very efficient ”

“ It's easy to manage Securus, as the server has been set up on the cloud and this means all updates are taken care of, leaving us to monitor. We check Securus daily as the quantity of captures is between 30-50 per day and therefore easy to manage. If a serious incident is captured it will be reported to the head of year, who will then take action ”

“ As a Head, Secures gave me confidence that access to unsuitable material on the internet was not being locked (as kids know how to get round blocking systems ) but monitored and detected swiftly. The result was that the 450 boarders who had internet access from 7.00 am to 10.00 pm knew that they could access such material, but did not do so as they knew there would be consequences.... A genuine example of software which educates children ”

“ Securus dovetails seamlessly with modern technology like Google Chromebooks and iPADs providing cutting edge monitoring of pupils activity, whilst on the network, searching the web. The product simply sells itself, it is literally a no brainer. What I can add is this, Securus also delivers, supports and continues to evolve its incredible innovation. I genuinely cannot ever see us not using this invaluable resource ”

“ My feedback is simple – the service saves me potentially hours of additional work & is very cost effective. I am very happy with the service and do not have anything that I think should be changed or improved!In a nutshell – perfect ”

“ The Securus Full Monitoring service has without doubt made our job far easier than it was previously and more importantly has enabled us to identify more concerns than we ever had before. Gone are the days where our IT technicians had to identify risky behaviour by our students online. Having Securus gives peace of mind to the designated safeguarding team, which is particularly important at a time when we have loaned out over 300 laptops to students during remote learning. I would recommend this service to any school without hesitation ”

“ The Full Monitoring Service definately saves you time. It Is very cost effective, allowing senior leaders to focus on other matters but also to deal with screen captures quickly and objectively as they come about. We are really happy with the service; it has really helped with our safeguarding of pupils ”

“ FMS saves a huge amount of time. To do this job effectively in-house, we would need a percentage of a Technician time set a-side. We don’t have enough as it is, so you are well worth the money! Very happy with the service. I like the fact that lines of communication are always open, and always honest. I cannot think of anything that could improve the service at the moment ”