Smoothwall - What's Changing?
As part of the rollout of the new safeguarding system for SAND Academies Trust, we need to make a small but necessary change to the login options available on iPads.
What’s Changing?
As part of implementing Smoothwall, which provides web filtering and active monitoring, we are required to remove the option to sign in as an anonymous Guest. This is essential for ensuring that all activity on a device—whether an iPad or a laptop—can be linked to an identifiable individual.
How Will Users Sign In?
Moving forward, all users, including pupils, will need to sign in with their SAND email address and password when using an iPad. After the first sign-in, they will be able to set a numeric PIN, which they can then use along with their email address on any other iPad.
Additionally, iPads will cache recent users on the lock screen, meaning that if someone has used a device recently, they will be able to simply tap their name and enter their PIN to log back in quickly.
Why Is This Change Necessary?
We recognise that this will be a culture change in how people are used to using iPads, but this requirement is not unique to Smoothwall—it is part of a wider effort to fully meet KCSIE and associated safeguarding guidance.
A key requirement is that we must be able to identify the individual using a device when a safeguarding alert is triggered.
In many of our schools, iPads have traditionally been accessed from a shared charging caddy, where users either enter a simple PIN used by the whole class or, in some cases, simply press the home button, with no PIN on the device at all, to start using the device.
This way of using iPads creates significant safeguarding risks:
- If a pupil were to use concerning language indicating self-harm, the monitoring system would generate an alert—but with no identifiable login, staff would have no way to determine who needs urgent support and make a timely intervention.
- If an alert is triggered due to an attempt to access inappropriate or illegal content, there would be no audit trail linking the activity to a named individual. (This is also why users should never share their login credentials.)
For these reasons, we must enforce individual sign-ins on iPads and remove the Guest mode, ensuring that all users log in with their SAND email address
Please note: if you are a staff member and have an iPad ‘assigned’ to you, that other people cannot sign into, this will remain the same – you will not need to sign into the iPad in this manner, but you will still be able to use Smoothwall.