Online Safety

How to keep safe online

At school we teach an Internet Safety programme, developed by Google, called ‘Be Internet Legends’. This programme covers five main areas to help keep children safe online:

  • Think before you share
  • Check it is for real
  • Protect your stuff
  • Respect each other
  • When in doubt, discuss.

To help support you and your family with online safety when not in school, each issue of the school newsletter contains some ideas, advice or activities to do in the home.

School Newsletter Term 3 2021-2022 Issue 1:  The animated series called ‘The Legends Family Adventure’ has several short videos to watch together.  They include ideas for conversations with your child afterwards regarding issues to consider whilst using the internet. Please find the link below. 

https://beinternetlegends.withgoogle.com/en_uk/parents/adventure

School Newsletter Term 3 2021-2022 Issue 2: Real or Not Real?

Session One of our Internet Legends Family Adventure encourages a discussion with your child about how to know if something posted online is real or a scam.  It also raises the issue of online bullying.  Please follow the link below to watch the episode together and discuss the important issues that are raised in order to help your child stay safe online. 

https://beinternetlegends.withgoogle.com/en_uk/parents/adventure

School Newsletter Term 3 2021-2022 Issue 3:  Let’s get talking! Internet Safety is everyone’s responsibility and talking about it makes it a more comfortable subject and children more equipped to be able to deal with the online world.  Having open discussions about how each member of the family uses the internet and devices connected to the internet, helps set ground rules that everyone feels are fair. Be open to discussing how these will change as children grow older and why. Being open about why children are not allowed to do certain things online can help them to feel much safer. Below are some helpful reminders:

  • Encourage children to ask questions
  • Show an interest in apps and sites that your child uses the most and ask for a tour.  Find out how they use them and what they are about.
  • Set clear family rules and expectations around technology and let children know that these may change as they get older.

 

Parental Guides

As social networking sites and online gaming sites are becoming more and more popular, please take the time to look through these useful parental posters regarding internet safety.

Pokemon Go

Here is some useful information from NSPCC and UK safer Internet Centre regarding Pokemon Go and some advice for parents.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/pokemon-go-parents-guide/

http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/news/pokemon-go-gaming-gone-mobile

e-Safety Information and Links

In school, we have regular e-safety activities and lessons to remind children of the importance of keeping themselves and others safe online.

At home, sometimes children can be given unsupervised access to the Internet. This, potentially, allows them to access all kinds of society (both good and bad) and bring them virtually into their homes.

Here are some tips and useful links to help you to keep your children safe online:

  • Explore e-safety sites– There are lots of links to useful e-safety sites for children at the bottom of this page. Why not browse through them with your children?
  • Facebook / Instagram / etc– Many of these sites have a minimum age limit of 13, so pupils should not be using them.
  • Keep your computer in a shared area– Talk to your child about what they are doing online and, if possible, set up your computer in a shared area at home so that you can all share in the wonderful sites that are available online.
  • Regularly checking their phone/tablet – Regularly checking your child’s phone or tablet helps monitor their activities on devices that are often kept private.

Download: Supporting young people online

Supporting Young People Online
KS1 e-Safety Tips
KS2 eSafety Tips

Some links to more information:

For young people:

  • Think U Know (www.thinkuknow.co.uk ) – This site contains 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).
  • Brook – ( www.brook.org.uk )For their booklet on relationships, safety and risk online and offline
  • Kidsmart (www.kidsmart.org.uk) – An award-winning internet safety programme for children.
  • Know IT All (www.childnet.com/resources/kia) – lots of useful advice for keeping yourselves and your children safe on the Internet.
  • Bullying UK (www.bullying.co.uk) – Information and advice about bullying for children, parents and schools.
  • ChildLine (www.childline.org.uk) –  0800 1111 for immediate support – Information on relationships, rights and other issues faced by young people .
  • CEOP (formerly the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) – ( www.ceop.police.uk )
  • www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/stay-safe

For parents:

Vodaphone Digital Parenting Checklists

Vodaphone produce some useful checklists for parents of different aged children to support them with addressing online safety issues.

Under 5 checklist

  • START setting some boundaries now – it’s never too early to do things like set limits for the amount of time they can spend on the computer
  • KEEP devices like your mobile out of reach and make sure you have passwords/PINs set up on them for the times you might lend them to your child… or for when they simply get hold of them themselves!
  • CHECK the age ratings and descriptions on apps, games, online TV and films before downloading them and allowing your child to play with or watch them
  • EXPLAIN your technology rules to grandparents, babysitters and parents of your child’s friends so that they stick to them when they’re looking after your child
  • REMEMBER that public Wi-Fi (e.g. in cafés) might not have Parental Controls on it – so, if you hand over your iPad to your child while you’re having a coffee, they might be able to access more than you bargained for
  • SET the homepage on your family computer or tablet to an appropriate website like Cbeebies

Age 6-9 Checklist

  • CREATE a user account for your child on the family computer with appropriate settings and make the most of Parental Controls and tools like Google SafeSearch
  • AGREE a list of websites they’re allowed to visit and the kind of personal information they shouldn’t reveal about themselves online (like the name of their school or their home address)
  • DECIDE time limits for things like using the internet and playing on games consoles
  • BEAR in mind what older siblings might be showing them on the internet, mobiles, games consoles and other devices and agree some rules as a whole family
  • TALK to other parents about their views on things like what age to buy kids a mobile and don’t be pressured by your child into letting them use certain technologies if you don’t think they’re old enough or mature enough… no matter how much they pester you
  • FAMILIARISE yourself with age ratings and descriptions on games, and apps etc, so that you can be sure your child is only accessing age-appropriate content

Age 9 – 12 checklist

  • MAKE sure you’ve set some tech boundaries before they get their first mobile or games console – once they have it in their hands, it can be more difficult to change the way they use it
  • REMIND your child to keep phones and other devices well hidden when they’re out and about to minimise the risk of theft
  • TALK to them about what they post and share online – written comments, photos and videos all form part of their ‘digital footprint’ and could be seen by anyone and available on the Web forever
  • DISCUSS the kind of things they see online – this is the age when they might be looking for information about their changing bodies and exploring relationships, for example
  • HOLD the line on letting your son or daughter sign up for services like Facebook and YouTube that have a minimum age limit of 13 – talk to other
  • parents and their school to make sure everyone is on the same page
  • REMIND them that they shouldn’t do anything online that they wouldn’t do face-to-face

Further tips and information can be found on the Vodafone website https://www.vodafone.com/content/parents/get-started.html