The Student Voice, a safeguarding tool for schools, has been given a Highly Commended Award for Wellbeing, Digital Wellness and Safeguarding Resources at the BETT Awards in association with BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association) – seeing off competition from major names including the likes of the British Heart Foundation.
The national awards are held to celebrate the inspiring creativity and innovation in technology in education. They are part of BETT, a global series of education shows. The UK event took place this week at The Brewery, Barbican, London.
The Student Voice is a student reporting tool that removes barriers for young people to confidently report their own issues and identify harmful hotspots within school and within local towns and cities. The child-friendly tech is designed to remove the fear and stigma associated with reporting issues, whilst giving schools insightful data on the safety of their school and local community. It offers visual maps of all the contexts young people spend time in, including school, home and the local parks and public transport bus and train routes, enabling students to rank how safe they feel and report any issues in these contexts. The school or college can then offer the most appropriate and effective response, be the issue mental health, sexual harassment, bullying, home life or online safety, and intercept safeguarding issues before they escalate, helping to prevent future harm occurring in these spaces.
The app was created by Jason Tait, an active Designated Safeguarding Lead, and Stephen Willoughby. Having suffered severe bullying at school himself, Stephen left formal education early and completed his studies through home-schooling, pursuing a career in computers from a young age.
Jason says: “Thank you to BETT Global for placing a spotlight on the need for and importance of seeking to understand the lives of our young people through empowering their voices.”
Adds Stephen: “This is fantastic recognition for us. We were in incredibly esteemed company in this category. Such brilliant competition shows that there is a real need to use tech for wellbeing and health in education and we are delighted to be driving that message, working with young people all over the UK to help them anonymously and safely communicate with their schools and colleges to provide contextual safeguarding throughout their communities.”
Louisa Hunter, Bett Director, says: “It is inspiring to see these trailblazers pave the way with EdTech solutions that are making a difference in schools and universities. The Bett Awards recognises the way that these innovative solutions and platforms are opening up a world of opportunity for the next generation – for them to become problem solvers, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners.”
The Student Voice is used in schools, colleges and multi-academy trusts all over the UK and based on its success at secondary schools and up, has recently launched in primary schools. “What has been really successful is students being able to engage, make suggestions and feel included as part of our school. It allows us to react faster and more effectively to our responsibilities around addressing peer-on-peer issues,” says Michael Few, Assistant Head and DSL at Kineton High School.
“Safeguarding students, and capturing their voice is something we are passionate about. The Student Voice is a genuine effort to place the student at the centre of the Bilton school community, to provide them with opportunities for true advocacy through authentic voice and to challenge them to play their part in the development of their school life,” concludes Louis Donald, Director of Safeguarding, Stowe Valley Multi Academy Trust.
