E-Safety
The internet is essential in 21st century life for education, business and social interaction. As children move up through the school their access to various types of technology increases and it stands to reason that their exploration and curiosity increases too. The positives of the digital world overwhelmingly outweigh the negatives but children, schools and parents all need to be aware of various online risks.
We at Newlands follow the SMART Rules:
Your help is still needed to prevent children accessing inappropriate material at home by way of filters and parental controls. Look below at our extensive list of links and resources for Parents/Carers, Teachers and Young People to help you with your child’s online safety at home.
How to use the internet safely:
Overview of key parental controls
Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.
Following on from a report from the UK Council for Internet Safety which highlighted the challenges parents, schools and communities face in Online Safety matters, we have subscribed to a monthly online safety newsletter, which is attached to this email.
Online safety of the entire school community is paramount.
E-safety is integrated into the ICT curriculum at all levels so that awareness of online safety becomes second nature to our children, leaving them confident, competent, but most of all safe, internet users.
Children at Newlands use the internet on a regular basis as part of their learning. Outside school children have access to a wide range of technology, including computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones.
Staff have been trained and are alert to the dangers children face online and to the warning signs of cyber bullying or grooming.
Ofsted places great importance on how schools address e-safety and it has consequently become part of their inspection criteria. Ofsted define e-safety as the school’s ability:
- To protect and educate pupils and staff in their use of technology
- To have appropriate mechanisms to intervene and support any incident where appropriate
They categorise three areas of risk:
- Content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material
- Contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users
- Conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm.
Download e-Safety poster for KS1 (4-7 year olds)
Download eSafety poster for KS2 (7-11 year olds)
A family agreement is a great way to start a conversation as a whole family about how the internet should be used safely and responsibly when online at home, at school or at a friend’s house. To support parents in creating a family agreement Childnet International have put together some free advice and a helpful family agreement template for families to use as a starting point.
Please find below two documents to help you create your own family agreement
Family agreement template
Family agreement advice
How to help at home:
Be aware of your child’s internet use – Talk to your child about what they are doing online and, if possible, set up your computer in a shared area at home or encourage your child to use tablets and smart phones in shared areas, so that you can all share in the wonderful sites that are available online. Know your child’s passcodes and passwords, and set up parent controls of their internet access.
Social Media – Many app’s and games allow children to connect with each other, but allow children to connect with strangers too. All social media and messaging apps should be used cautiously and under your guidance. Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Tumblr and Snapchat have a minimum age limit , usually of 13, so our pupils should NOT be using them, as they do not offer the correct levels of protection.
Explore e-safety sites – There is a wealth of information about e-safety for parents and for children. These are some of the websites that we recommend you view and review regularly as e-safety information and resources are updated frequently.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/topics/stay-safe
Know IT All – lots of useful advice for keeping yourselves and your children safe on the Internet.
Think U Know – containing internet safety advice for those aged from 5 to 16, along with parents and teachers, this site is produced by CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre).
Internet Safety Zone – Look in the ‘Under 13s’ section for useful safety advice and information.
Kidsmart – An award-winning internet safety programme for children.
Bullying UK – Information and advice about bullying for children, parents and schools.
Kidscape – An organisation which helps to prevent bullying and child abuse.
Childline – ChildLine is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK.
http://home.disney.com.au/activities/surfswellisland/ – games children can play to make them more internet savvy.
A Parents’ Guide to being Share Aware
http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/help_and_advice/pages/safety_online.aspx
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/keeping-children-safe-online
Vodafone Parents – Vodafone have lots of fantastic practical advice for parents. You can also read their ‘Digital Parenting‘ magazine, which will be sent out to parents regularly.
Further information
http://www.freefoto.com/index.jsp Freefoto allows children to find photos that are not copyrighted to use in projects – safer than a google image search especially if you search using the category buttons, but supervision is still needed.
Childnet International
Keeping children happy and safe online during COVID-19
Here are lots of useful resources and tools that you as a parent or carer can use to help ensure your child is safe and happy online.
Online safety activities you can do from home
As your children spend more time at home and are going to be online more than ever, we’ve pulled together a list of easy-to-use resources. They are broken up into ages and include quick activities, films and plenty more fun ways to engage your children. From identifying fake news to online bullying – there is plenty for you to use and adapt for your family.