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Welcome to this week’s Five Minutes on Friday digest! As the new academic year gets underway, staying ahead of statutory safeguarding expectations, updated recruitment guidelines, and parental digital safety tools is essential.Grab a quick coffee and take five minutes to get fully up to speed with what you need to know for Friday, 4th September 2026.

📑 1. Statutory Guidance: KCSIE 2026 Now In Effect

As of 1st September 2026, the Department for Education’s updated statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026, has officially come into force across all schools and colleges in England.

Leadership teams and Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) must ensure their school policies, staff briefing materials, and induction workflows reflect the new requirements:

• Removal of Annex A: Schools can no longer rely on shortened safeguarding summaries for non-teaching or support staff. All members of staff, regardless of their role, are now required to read Part One: Safeguarding Information for All Staff in full.
• Generative AI & Deepfakes: The guidance explicitly expands online safety definitions to address emerging generative AI risks, including deepfakes, AI-generated nude or semi-nude imagery, and interactive AI chatbots.
• Annual Filtering & Monitoring Review: Schools must conduct and formally record an annual review of their digital filtering and monitoring effectiveness, led by the SLT and supported by IT leads.

🏛️ 2. Martyn’s Law: What Schools Need to Know

Under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (widely known as Martyn’s Law), all UK schools and colleges fall into the Standard Tier. This requires education settings to have clear, practical, and documented public protection procedures in place:

• Core Response Plans: Schools must maintain documented procedures for Lockdown, Evacuation, Invacuation, and Communication during critical incidents.
• No Costly Infrastructure Required: Standard Tier obligations focus strictly on staff preparedness and response workflows—not expensive hardware or physical alterations.

How ICT in Schools Can Help

Navigating digital emergency procedures, mass alert systems, and communication channels shouldn’t be overwhelming.

The ICT in Schools Team can support your school in auditing current communication channels, configuring rapid-response alert systems on staff devices, and ensuring your technical infrastructure supports fast, reliable lockdown and invacuation procedures.

📞 Get in Touch: If you would like guidance or a review of your tech solutions for Martyn’s Law compliance, please contact the ICT in Schools helpdesk or speak directly to your designated technician!

📱 3. Online Safety Hub Weekly Highlight: Creating a Family Tech Agreement

In this week’s feature from the South Tyneside Online Safety Hub, we are highlighting the benefits of creating a family tech agreement.

A family tech agreement is a set of rules and expectations regarding online behavior and device use for all family members.

• Digital Wellness: Digital wellness experts recommend tech agreements as a way to plan and outline expectations, fostering communication between parents and children about the risks and responsibilities of online activities.
• Positive Boundaries: When rules are broken, the family tech agreement serves as a clear reference for consequences, fostering learning opportunities for children and encouraging positive online behaviors.

👉 Access the Resource: Creating a family tech agreement on South Tyneside Online Safety Hub

🍂 Save the Date: AppleRTC Autumn Conference 2026

We are thrilled to announce that the AppleRTC Autumn Conference will be hosted live at The Word, South Shields on Wednesday, 22nd October 2026!

This whole-day event will focus on two of the most critical topics in EdTech today: AI & Accessibility.

Event Schedule:

• Morning Session (9:30 – 12:30): Designed specifically for the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
• Lunch (12:30 – 13:00): Lunch is included for all attendees!
• Afternoon Session (13:00 – 15:30): Open to Teaching Staff and SLT.

Location: The Word, Market Place, South Shields

Date & Time: Wednesday, 22nd October 2026 | 9:30 – 15:30

Keep an eye on your inbox—booking details and full workshop agendas will be released soon!

Thank you for reading this week’s edition of Five Minutes on Friday! Stay tuned for more EdTech news, practical classroom tools, and leadership advice in next week’s issue.

Have a great start to the term and a restful weekend!

Phillippa Chippendale

ICT in Schools Team