Online safety.
It is the 21st century, a strong digital economy exists.
If we are to harness the amazing opportunities and benefits of the online world,
we need to foster and embrace digital citizenship within our schools.
We need to continue to nurture, encourage,
and enable our children to understand and manage risk that the
online world may present to them.
Leading our children into this digtal world is about motivating
others to believe in our children;
to have unwavering confidence and optimism in the face of every challenge.
Leading our children into digital citizenship, we have to overcome personal
fear and prejudice to secure a future for others and ultimately for ourselves.
In the words of Ernest Hemingway, “courage is grace under pressure."
So why teach " online safety?"
Just as we teach children to swim, so they don't drown; and as we teach them to cross roads, so they don't get injured; we should, as educators, work together in partnership to teach children about staying safe in the digital world, so they dont get hurt.
At school, we work with the children, across all curriculum areas, to raise their awareness of 'e-safety' Our Year 6 pupils have had specialist training from an external professional and are now our 'Cyber crew'. These pupils help younger pupils to understand online safety issues. They visit classes and present their own powerpoint presentations, on these topics. Over the past year they have drawn up their own age appropriate (KS1, KS2) 'acceptable use policies'.
Mrs Thorpe (our headteacher) is our Safeguarding Leader and will ensure that all children learn how to stay safe in the online world.
At school, we use a variety of websites to help get the message across:
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CEOP - Think you know WORRIED?? REPORT |
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Family online safety institute |
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| Parent info | |
| swiggle | |
| INSAFE - guide for parents | |
What else can you do at home?
Perhaps you could consider implementing some house rules - have a look at the ones we have put together.
We have put together a F.A.Q. information leaflet, which has a range of further information and also an extract of the presentation we show at parents evenings. Look out for the next information session.. or ask in the office.
Finallly, here are a couple of videos which are an excellent resource for parents : Jigsaw and 'Can I be your friend?' These both give a different view of social networking! We would recommend that you view them first and then decide if your child would benefit from watching it too (as the content is more suitable for some ages than others).
Instagram is the latest phenomenon, and this leaflet is worth reading, as it can be a tricky site, if not used appropriately by children.
Phones in school.
We are aware that many children at school have i-phones etc, and appreciate that, like the i-pad, they have the potential to be a valuable learning tool. It is also useful for older pupils who walk home alone to have a phone on their person. However, at this stage in their education, it is unreasonable to expect all pupils in a class to have access to such equipment at all times. It is for this reason, that we respectfully request that you read our mobile phone policy and ask your child to leave their phone in the school office.
Search Engines.
Please note that no search engine is ever 100% safe but below provides some links to some “safer” search engines:
Research searching.
Google offers a safer search option for children searching on the Internet. Click here to read more.
Image searching.
Gaming.
When children are accessing games via Xbox LIVE, privacy settings can be set up. To read more, click here.