The online world is changing and developing at an ever-increasing pace. Our aim is to equip children to know how to navigate and stay safe within this evolving world. To be most effective this learning needs to be supported at home.

At Home:

As parents and carers, you will have seen that children love having opportunities to learn, play and socialise online. It can be very daunting to think how you can best prepare them and your environment to help support your child at home. The first step to a successful and safe online home environment is to have open and honest communication between the members of your household. By having a safe space to discuss online safety your child will feel comfortable to come to you to discuss any difficulties they may face online.

Use these conversations starter ideas from Childnet to get the conversation started:

  • Ask your children to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online.
  • Ask them what games they are playing and get involved with playing the game too, so you are informed as well.
  • 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?

Below we have provided some helpful links to help you set up a safe online home environment for your family:

Childnet is a great website resource for parents and children on online safety. It provides information in multiple languages to support all families in keeping your children safe online. 
https://www.childnet.com/resources/supporting-young-people-online

Think U Know has a great section for parents and covers topics such as gaming and talking to strangers. It has age specific information as well as videos and games for your child to help them learn about being safe online.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents

Internet Matters has a fabulous step by step guide on setting up parental controls on a range of devices across your home, which you can access here. They also provide advice on cyberbullying, different types of social media and how to talk to your child about internet safety.
https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/

Parent Info is a great new online safety tool designed for parents. It has advice on everything from keeping children safe from online trolls to WhatsApp - a guide for parents.
http://www.parentinfo.org/

National Online Safety is a useful tool where you can search for guides which provide information about games, online trends and how to set up parental controls. https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides

At School:

Through our Computing, PSHE and everyday technology use we provide children with the opportunities to develop their critical thinking when online, therefore supporting students to use technology effectively and safely.

The school uses the LGFL secure web filtering system, which restricts access to inappropriate materials,  to minimise the risk of children accessing undesirable material. We are also using Impero to support the monitoring of technology in the classroom by the class teachers.

At the beginning of the year, each class creates a Digital Usage Class Agreement. Within this agreement, the students and teachers come up with strategies and rules on how they can work online safely and securely throughout the year.

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