Children are having increased access to the internet, smart phones and handheld computers as they live their lives seamlessly on and offline. While this presents many exciting opportunities, it is crucial that we all support children so that they can access the online world safely, respectfully and in a considered way. School and Governors work really hard to ensure that our children are trained on Online Safety in school, however these messages from school need to be supported and backed up by Parents & Carers at home.
This is what our Online Safety Committee have to say:
“We are the Online Safety Committee and we represent every class from Year 2 to Year 4. We have looked at many extra online safety activities and how issues can be reported. We are able to talk to the children in our classes about online safety and support them in asking for help if they are worried.”
This is the message we share:
· Zip it – Don’t share your personal information with strangers. Keep your profile settings private.
· Block it – Block friend requests from strangers on social networking sites.
· Flag it – Always tell a trusted adult if something online scares/upsets you. Report any meeting requests from strangers to a trusted adult. Remember to be as careful online as you are offline.
Online Safety is taught as a whole-school approach and filters into many areas of the curriculum across all year groups.
Explicit objectives are taught through our computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face. This includes how to use technology safely, responsibly, respectfully and securely, and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies. Each unit of work in the Computing Curriculum begins with an Online Safety lesson. These build on each other across the year and then across year groups. We use the iCompute Scheme of Work to make sure that our Online Safety teaching is progressive and comprehensive.
Our PSHE curriculum also addresses online safety and a range of related issues from safe online relationships, cyberbullying, and self-identity to mental health. These are discussed through our wellbeing sessions in a planned, holistic way.
Whilst there are huge benefits to being online in order to stay connected to family and friends, we recognise many parents may feel concerned about the activities and content their children are accessing.
There are many resources providing guidance for parents and carers to keep children safe online. They will, amongst other things, support parents with talking about a range of online safety issues, set up home filtering in a child-friendly way and set up age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices:
To access our range of Acceptable Use Policies, please use the link below to access our Policies and Documents library.