Reports, Security, and Safety Trends: Your 5-Minute Friday Briefing

Hello Everyone! Welcome back to your weekly 5-minute Friday digest of technology updates, designed to keep you up to speed on the latest innovations in the world of education and tech.

We’ve gathered the latest news from around the web – covering everything from excellent classroom curriculum utilities to critical online safeguarding clinics and student events.

Grab a hot coffee, take five minutes, and catch up on the week ahead!

It is June, which means the dreaded school report window is officially open.

Most major primary EdTech platforms have quietly evolved away from messy CSV spreadsheet downloads into insight-driven teacher dashboards.

If your school uses Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) or other prominent UK math schemes for example, you have a goldmine of pre-formatted, report-ready data waiting for you.

White Rose framework utilises digital practice tools and the dashboard organises data directly by national curriculum blocks (e.g., Place Value, Fractions, Statistics).

Instead of cross-referencing your mark book, you can filter by a pupil’s name to see their average accuracy percentage per block across the whole year.

💡 Weekly Spotlight: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026

The Department for Education (DfE) recently published the updated Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 statutory framework. While the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) team will handle the policy overhauls, there are key shifts that every classroom teacher needs to know:

This links to a great document from NSPCC to understand the key changes.

🔒Quick Online Safety Tip for the Classroom: “Safe Screen Swaps”

The current DfE guidance highlights the importance of “Safe Screen Swaps.”

Share this 30-second tip with parents this week:

• Co-viewing over Solo-scrolling: Encourage parents to watch or play with their children on devices. Turning screen time into a conversation (asking questions about a game or video) completely changes how a child’s brain processes the digital content and keeps them safer than solo, unmonitored use.
• Instead of letting children solo-scroll through videos or games on their own, try swapping just 15 minutes of that independent time for co-viewing or co-playing. Sitting together to play their favourite game, watching a YouTube video as a family, or asking questions about what they are seeing completely changes how their brains process the digital world. It sparks great conversations, lets you spot any inappropriate content early, and turns screen time into quality family time.

📅 Upcoming CPD & Training Courses

Please note CPD courses are FREE to all schools within our service agreement. Other schools are most welcome to join our CPD courses for £40 + VAT.

Duo Courses

Our Duo courses are a great way to upskill your staff and maximise your curriculum points with us. First, complete the training course. Then, book a half-day visit to The Word for your class to practice what you learned.

Each class teacher who attends the course is eligible for the half day visit at 30 points, instead of 60 points.

Please Note

• The attending teacher must be present at the half day session as this is part of their professional development.
• Staff can only attend the same Duo Course once to benefit from the reduced points charge.

• Duo Course: Y2/3 Stikbot Animation – 9th June 4pm
• Summer Termly Website Clinic – 10th June 13:30 (Virtual)
• Termly E-safety Briefing: Smoothwall Monitor17th June 4pm (Virtual)

Book with Julia

☀️ Live Summer Quiz: Now Including Key Stage 1!

We are hosting a live summer quiz via Google Meet! This time we have decided to include Key stage 1 for the first time! There will be 3 time slots to choose from:

• The first session is exclusively for Key stage 1.
• There are 2 time slots for Key stage 2 – am and pm.

Tuesday 16th June 2026

Please complete this form to register your class. A form must be completed for each class participating.

Sign up here.

ClickView Celebration

We’re excited to invite your school to take part in our upcoming FREE Online Safety Super Hero Challenge on Tuesday 23rd June 12noon – 2pm at The Word.

You can have more than one team, just let us know on the booking form.

This is a fantastic opportunity to combine digital creativity, collaboration, and essential safeguarding education in a fun, memorable way.

Sign up here.

📌 Looking Ahead: Curriculum Bookings 2026/2027

How do you want to use your points for the 2026 – 2027 year?

Please get in touch NOW so you can guarantee getting the dates you want – 180 points.

Thank you for reading this week’s edition! Stay tuned for more ed tech news, practical classroom ideas, and leadership tips in next week’s update.

Have a topic you’d like covered? Feel free to reach out with suggestions or feedback.

Have a great weekend,

Phillippa Chippendale

ICT in Schools Team