What’s special about this course?
Through real-life examples and immersive scenarios, you’ll experience practical safeguarding in action in the context of generative AI. Sharpen your understanding of the risks, learn mitigations that work and leave with the skills to protect your pupils and staff without limiting the positive possibilities of AI for your school.
Course schedule
Class 1
Monday 23 June 2025
4pm to 5.30pm
Live, on Zoom
Keep your pupils and staff safe
Practise spotting the signs of deep fakes, ‘relationships’ with chatbots and fake news, and leave this class able to start building your own whole-school strategy to lead gen-AI safely.
Plus, stay ‘til 6pm if you can for an exclusive Q&A with Emma and James (optional)
Class 2
Monday 7 July 2025
4pm to 5.30pm
Live, on Zoom
Protect your school community’s data with confidence
You’ll take away a blueprint for identifying and mitigating data protection risks, including for your most sensitive data, and be ready to implement a robust data governance framework to protect your school’s data.
Plus, put your questions to your trainers and get personalised feedback to move you on, in a 30-minute Q&A at the end of class (optional)!
Your expert course trainers
Emma Darcy is director of technology for learning at Denbigh High School in Luton, recognised by UNESCO as a best-practice case study in digital strategy. She has 10 years’ experience of overseeing all aspects of digital strategy at Chiltern Learning Trust – the 2024 winner of the MAT Excellence Award for digital innovation. As a workstream lead for the A.I. in Education initiative, she is part of a panel looking at AI’s practical applications in education to maximise the benefits while minimising the risks.
Emma has won the Pearson National Teaching Award (gold) for digital innovator of the year and the Global EdTech Award for most impactful senior member of staff. You can find her on her website or connect with her on Bluesky or LinkedIn.
Emma also led our first, sell-out course on leading AI. Participants said “Emma delivered brilliantly”, and praised her as “warm and knowledgeable".
James Garnett is director of IT for Rise Multi Academy Trust. He has over 15 years’ experience of leading strategic change in the education sector, working across the UK’s largest multi-academy trust and one of the country’s largest charities.
A trustee for Apps for Good and a BETT UK advisory board member, James champions the transformative impact of technology on educational outcomes. He managed the £5 million Department for Education EdTech Demonstrator Programme, supporting over 2,000 schools and colleges, and oversaw the migration of 70,000 pupils and staff to remote learning via Office 365 during the pandemic.
James is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) and holds Chartered IT Professional status. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or via his website.
Who can attend
- Headteachers and SLT
- Designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), deputy DSLs, pastoral leads
- Data protection officers
- Anyone responsible for leading the use of gen-AI across a school
- Computing/technology leads with an interest in gen-AI safety
Relevant to all phases and settings.
This course is exclusively available to The Key's Whole School members.
If you're not yet a Whole School member, find out more here.
More reasons to love this course
Your live classes won't be lectures. Emma and James will engage the class, invite discussion, prompt peer discussion activities and leave plenty of room for Q&A. You'll learn by doing, with practical tasks and regular feedback from the trainers and your class colleagues.
Learning virtually doesn't mean learning solo. This course is designed to be rich in energising interaction between you and your colleagues – it's your safe space to ask questions, seek peer feedback and make connections for life.
Apply what you learn straight away, with practical strategies drawn from expert advice and excellent practice. Adopt the best of what works, for immediate change and lasting impact in your school.
Complete your class and get a certificate of achievement from The Key for your learning record.