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Online Safety & Digital Awareness

Online Safety is integral to our responsibility to ensure that children are kept safe in school. Digital parenting is also a key aspect to maintaining children’s safety at home.The development of children’s digital awareness is woven throughout the computing curriculum and also forms a part of our PSHE (Relationships and Health Education) identified that the teaching of computing and use of technology is to be a priority as part of our curriculum. As we move technology forward as a School, our strategy is to achieve the following for all pupils:

Help children adapt to different learning styles
Provide a secure and safe environment for online use
Be prepared for the digital world

As the high-tech world advances in telecommunications, it is imperative that we all work together, both at school and home, to ensure that Online Safety is paramount and at the very core of all use of digital resources. As a school, we are very mindful of how important it is to ensure that our children are fully aware of how to use the internet safely. We do this by embedding online safety lessons throughout our curriculum and by talking about issues surrounding the internet through circle time sessions and assemblies. It is important that we teach our children to communicate with respect and kindness in real life and online, and also that we show them that we are working together on this.

Our school takes part in Safer Internet Day each year which includes tailored assemblies for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 and follow up activities that our pupils participate in.

We have also held workshops across KS1 and KS2, specifically with Year 6 children linked to the appropriate use of social networking. In KS1, children are drawn into discussions through the use of texts and narrative such as ‘Digi-Duck’s Dilemma’.

Children in Year 6 explore social media, social networking and Artificial intelligence through the discussion of privacy settings and appropriate online behaviours whilst interacting with social media platforms.

The Digital World for Parents:

The role that we as parents play in supporting our children to develop the life skills and knowledge they need to use the online world safely and confidently, is crucial. As our children grow and inhabit an online world that can sometimes be very different to the one we use, we may require support and advice in order to keep them safe.

Please find regular online safety updates at https://parentzone.org.uk/ to help support you in ensuring that your child/children stay safe online. Below, you will find some very useful resources to help you remain vigilant at home.Childnet have recently produced a leaflet designed to support parents to have those tricky conversations about life online.

"As a parent or carer, the best tool to support your child in leading a safe and positive life online is open conversation. This leaflet includes practical advice and conversation starters to help you discuss the online world with your child. Whether you are approaching these conversations for the first time, or you have already made a start, this advice can help you to support your child to use technology in a happy and healthy way."

Cyber security

Thinkuknow and the National Cyber Security Centre have worked together to give advice about how families can make small changes to the security of online accounts and devices to better protect them from online scams. ‘Cyber security is the way we reduce the risk of becoming a victim of cyber crime. Cyber crime is criminal activity that either targets or uses digital technology, like a computer, a computer network or a mobile device, in order to steal money or information to sell on.

For example:

Phishing, where bogus emails asking for security information and personal details
Malicious software, through which criminals hijack files and hold them to ransom
Hacking to get information, including social media and email password

Cyber security is about protecting the devices we use and the services we access online. It’s also about preventing unauthorised access to the personal information we store on these devices, and online.

Thinkuknow | Cyber Security: a guide for parents and carers

Here are some helpful links on Online Safety:

Online safety videos - https://www.knowsleyclcs.org.uk/online-safety-videos/

CEOP- https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

Childline Mobile Safety- https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/mobile-phone-safety/

www.internetmatters.org

www.parentzone.org.uk

www.thinkuknow.com

http://www.childnet-int.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/

http://www.iwf.org.uk/

http://www.getnetwise.org/