Online Safety Advice
Online Safety is an integral part of children’s education in today’s digital world and is embedded in their learning at school. We also want to help our parents and children improve their own understanding of Online Safety issues so they can learn to use the internet and all digital media in a safe and secure way.
At Home
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 engage with your children regarding their use of the internet while at home. Here are some conversation starter ideas from www.childnet.com
- 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.
- 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. What could you do to get more out of the internet together and further enjoy your lives online
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.
Classes discusses how we can all stay safe online and the dangers we may face on the internet regularly through their school journey using our SMART reminders. We ask every child to sign a SMART Acceptable Use Agreement so we know they have read and understood our school's rules on staying safe.
Remote Learning
As every child starts at Creswick Primary & Nursery School, we provide them with a Tapestry or Google Classroom account depending on their year group. This means that they are able to access a range of resources from Microsoft including Word, Excel and PowerPoint to help with their learning throughout their time here. In addition, we use this platform for home (and remote if necessary) learning
The school has access to all students' accounts and can block students' access to Google and Teams if they do not act appropriately. It is vital that they do not share their username or password with others. This way we can ensure that we are doing our utmost to keep our children safe online. Please note, as a school we will not be able to tell if your child has used their log in details to access anything other than Google Classroom, so it will be parents' responsibility to ensure that this does not happen.
It's important to remember that the legal age to have an account on most social media - Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat - is 13 years old
Internet Safety Resources
There is a great new online safety tool designed for parents launched by the Department for Education called Parent Info. It's has advice on everything from keeping children safe from online trolls to WhatsApp - a guide for parents.
Think U Know has a great section for parents and covers topics such as gaming and talking to strangers. You can also search by topic or age range to find information that is relevant for your family. You can find the site here
Internet Matters is another great site to use - it has advice on cyberbullying, how to talk to your children about internet safety and quick guides to different types of social media such as Instagram and Snapchat. You can visit their pages here Internet Matters.
Here are quick links to a range of Internet safety sites that you may find useful too...
Jessie and Friends
To see the latest information for parents/carers on how to keep their 4-7 years olds safe on line, please click the picture below.
