Online Safety
Our Online Safety policy can be found on our policies page. Please follow the link here.
The use of technology is becoming a transformational tool for learning. Whilst the use of a wide range of different technologies can undoubtedly enhance pupils' learning experiences, there is a considerable need to ensure that all pupils are protected when embracing technologies such as accessing information on the internet.
In order to keep pupils safe in their use of online resources, we use the SMART acronym as seen below. These posters are displayed in all classes in the school to remind pupils of their responsibilities.
Download our Online Safety Poster for KS1 Download our Online Safety Poster for KS2
At Home
We appreciate parents can have a difficult job keeping up with their children on the fast changing technology available to them, let alone knowing the dangers they face. The issues of safety, privacy, online predators or grooming and cyberbullying are sometimes complex, both technically and psychologically and parents can struggle to keep up. As a parent you'll know how important the internet is to children - they use it to learn, play, socialise and express themselves. It's a highly creative place of amazing opportunities. But the technology children use every day can seem a bit daunting and you might worry about the risks your child can face online - such as bullying, contact from strangers or the possibility of them seeing illegal or inappropriate content.
You can download a simple checklist here that may help you start to protect your children online and decrease the risks they face. Or you can engage with your children regarding their use of the internet while at home. Here are some conversation starter ideas from Childnet International
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ask your children to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online.
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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?
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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.
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encourage them to help. Perhaps they can show you how to do something better online or they might have a friend who would benefit from their help and support.
Think about how you use the internet as a family and what you could do to get more out of the internet together and further enjoy your lives online.
You can download the DofE advice for parents on cyberbullying here.
You can access the DofE online parents support website called Parent Info here.
Parental Control Guide
This guide will help you set up parental controls to provide your child with a safer online environment. Parental controls can help to protect your child from seeing something that they shouldn’t - although it is important to emphasise that no system is effective all of the time so it is important to engage with your child and talk to them about their online life regularly. Download the guide here.
Internet Safety Guides
These summary guides provide up to date information on reasons for concern and tips for staying safe. They cover what have become the four most important social media platforms for children – WhatsApp, Instagram Snapchat and TikTok. Please click on any image for a full-size copy of all four guides, which may be downloaded.
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At School
As part of your child’s curriculum and the development of computer skills, we provide access to the internet only in teacher supervised lessons. We strongly believe that the use of the web and email is hugely worthwhile and an essential tool for children as they grow up in the modern world. However, because there are always concerns about children having access to undesirable materials, we have taken positive steps to deal with this risk in school. Our school internet access provider operates a filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate materials.
At the start of the school year, each class discusses how we can all stay safe online and the dangers we may face on the internet. We then ask every child in KS2 to sign an Acceptable Use Agreement so that we know they have read and understood our school's rules on staying safe. We also have an Acceptable Use Agreement for our younger children and you can download a copy here.
For more information you can download our online safety policy from our policies page by clicking the link here.
To help parents we have put together a selection of links to websites that will help them to ensure that their children can reap the benefits of the Internet while staying safe. We have also included links to our monthly newsletter.
ThinkUKnow
Childnet
UK Safer Internet Centre
Parent Port
Safer Internet - Parental Controls
Digital Parenting Magazine - click the link here.
Early Years
Links to many parent and child-friendly resources on all aspects of Online Safety:
Early Years Toolkit
Internet Matters