Working together to keep our children safe online

Online Safety is a key part of children’s education in today’s digital world and this is something that is embedded in their learning at school. Children have more access to technology than ever before and with that comes fantastic opportunities for fun, education and socialisation. These opportunities are not without risk however and as a school it is our aim to educate children on how to stay safe in the online world, how to assess risks and how to report inappropriate content on the internet.

Online Safety Policy

At School

As part of your child’s Computing curriculum they cover a wide range of coding and processing skills as well as online safety. The curriculum is structured so that although there is discreet teaching of online safety principals, they are also embedded in the day to day lessons we teach. At the start of the school year each cohort is taught online safety through guided lessons and website such as ThinkUKnow. In school children are also asked to sign our Acceptable Use Agreement to ensure that they know what they are and are not allowed to do whilst using technology in school. You can read about this in our  (hyperlink to document) online safety policy.

At Home

As parents and carers you’ll know how much children want to use modern technology for both learning and play. The internet is full of fantastic opportunities. But understanding the risks that children are taking can be difficult to identify and sometimes challenging to understand. Risks include online bullying, contact from strangers and the chance of seeing inappropriate or illegal content. The resources below are great places to go to support the work we do in school on Online Safety. If you require any specific support with Online Safety issues then you can contact Mr Collins (Computing Co-ordinator) via email. Here are some questions about Online Safety which Childnet recommend as conversation starters.

  • Ask your children to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online.
  • Ask them about how they stay safe online. What tips do they have for you, and where did they learn them? What is OK and not OK to share?
  • Ask them if they know where to go for help, where to find the safety advice, privacy settings and how to report or block on the services they use.
  • Ask them to show you the sites they use, show you what they are sharing, and show you their privacy settings. If they are not keen, you know you need to take action!

Links for Parents

We hope you will find these quick links helpful.

Persuasive Designs
Smartphone Safety Tips
Supporting Children to Deal with Upsetting Content
Tik Tok Parent Guide
Social Media and Mental Health
Harmful Content describes harmful and abusive behaviours online.
CEOP is a website run by the police and offers a reporting function as well as more information about Online Safety.
ThinkUKnow to play interactive games with your children and learn more about being safe online.
ParentInfo has a range of information on how to support children in staying safe whilst using technology.
Brook shares support on a range of online safety issues.
Vodaphone digital parenting offers guides for parents & carers to help keep young people safe online.
ReviewLab has a good online safety guide for parents and explains some of the more technical terminology.
Childnet have some fantastic resources to aid you when talking to young people about their use of the internet from questions to ask to examples of family online safety agreements.
TigerMobiles has really handy help sheets for parents and carers with a focus on smartphones and commonly used apps.