Online Safety

Introduction

Safeguarding our pupils is a priority and we deliver clear e-Safety messages, as part of our Computing curriculum, as well as our day-to-day discussion with pupils. However, there are times when issues relating to pupils’ online presence could have been avoided if clear e-Safety guidelines are followed. Importantly, these include pupils understanding and taking responsibility for their online presence, pupils playing age appropriate games, families having clear structures and agreements in place for when pupils are online etc.
Whilst we cannot always protect pupils from what is posted online, we can keep them safe online by having very clear structures in place and an open dialogue with them.
As a parent or carer you play a key role in helping your child to stay safe online. 
The UK Safer Internet Centre website offers a broad range of tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online. Please visit https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers
We would urge you to review and consider the games and apps you allow your children to access, following the developers guidance on the age-appropriateness. The following website link have more information on this https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/online-gaming-advice/mobile-gaming-tips-for-parents/

NATIONAL ONLINE SAFETY

The online world is posing an ever-increasing risk to children, and it is important that schools, parents and carers work together to take an active role in teaching children about online dangers. Learning how to act safely when using the internet is an incredibly important part of safeguarding our children.

To help us ensure that parents and carers are able to have robust advice and information about the ever-changing environment of the internet, we are now working with National Online Safety providing resources for all parents and carers. 

The resources include Parents & Carers courses (presented by Myleene Klass), online video resources and weekly guides covering a huge range of topics, including: 

Every week new guides are added, allowing us all to keep up-to-date with emerging trends or concerns. The guides are particularly detailed and give adults everything they need to know to make informed decisions about what their children are accessing online. Advice on how to discuss any issues internet use has caused is also available.

As a starting point we would recommend you watch the relevant Parent & Carer course for the age range of your child or children. Any resources you engage with once logged in as a Claverdon Parent/Carer enables us, as a school, to show our ongoing commitment to Online Safety and reflects our belief that this is a vital part of safeguarding our children in the modern world.

To create your account, please follow the link below and  and complete your details. When you’re set up, you’ll be able to set ‘Parent/Carer’ as your user type. 

National Online Safety

 You can access National Online Safety online via any device, including via smartphone app. To download the app, please go to:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/national-online-safety/id1530342372

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.nationaleducationgroup.nos

 Answers to frequently asked questions and customer service can be accessed at https://helpdesk.thenationalcollege.co.uk/helpcentre.

SAFE HOME LEARNING

Learning at home with parents and carers can be rewarding for both children and parents. However, there can be challenges including getting the best out of the available resources and staying safe online when using the available tools.

Click on the links below for further information issued by Warwickshire County Council:

Parent Online Safety Newsletter

Parent Home Learning Top Tips

WeLearn365 Online Safety Guide

Top Tips for Safe Use of the Internet

Our top 10 tips for safe use of the internet are:

1.       Make sure your children say no to strangers on gaming websites and  that they understand that they should never agree to meet anyone who contacts them over the internet. Never allow children to meet up with someone that they have only been in touch with online on their own – an adult must be present. Online friends are still strangers

2.       An increasing amount of child abuse is being carried out via on-line webcams. Consider disabling web cams when children are using the internet without the supervision of an adult.

3.       Use the Safe Search Filter in Google to prevent adult content from appearing in search results: www.safesearchkids.com

4.       Use parental control settings on the iPad and/or other iOS devices to block communication apps such as FaceTime & Ping if you are worried who your children might be talking to. (Settings >General>Restrictions and set  a PIN)

5.       Information on the internet may not be true or reliable. Get your children to check in books, and look up 3 other websites to verify information.

6.       Keep children safe by ensuring that they don’t give out personal info when chatting or posting online. This includes name, email address, phone no. & passwords. Teach children not to accept emails, instant messages or to open files, pictures or texts from people that they don’t know or trust. They may contain viruses or nasty messages

7.       Check online games before children play. The quality of graphics is high and may not be suitable for child’s age & be violent or sexually explicit. Be aware of other online users when children are playing games. Check that other online gamers are not using offensive language, bullying others or showing sexual interest.

8.       Take care to spell correctly when typing in a search. Even a small typing error can bring up unwanted results.

9.       Watch out for children sharing files p2p (peer-to-peer) as they can be illegal and dangerous as they can share harmful and unwelcome content. Discuss with your children the use of legal sites for downloading music.

10.   Set age restrictions for TV, films, music in iTunes Store in preferences. In Windows, click the icon in the top left corner, and select preferences from the drop down box and then click the parental control icon. Then set maximum age ratings you wish to allow.