Online Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at The John Wesley CE Primary School. We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. Any online safety incidents are recorded and managed in accordance with our Online Safety Policy which can be found below and on our policy page. Online safety is taught to all pupils to explain and demonstrate how to stay safe and behave appropriately online. It is taught in Computing lessons and through P.S.H.E. lessons.

We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the Online Safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.

We have one principle message for our children to keep them safe;

“If you see or read anything online that worries you or upsets you in any way, tell an adult you trust.”

If you’re wondering how you can help your children to enjoy the internet and keep them safe at the same time, you’re certainly not alone. Many parents find it a challenge. But with toddlers taking to touch screens like ducks to water and so many education and entertainment opportunities online, it’s vital that you take action early on. By setting boundaries and offering support from the moment they first log on, you can help your children to thrive in the digital world.

Parents and carers need to be aware of ever changing new technologies and trends in order to better educate our children how to protect themselves.   We have gathered information on this reference page for you to browse expert websites for the latest updates, watch a few of the Online Safety awareness videos and explore technology articles below.  If any of these raise concerns you’d like to know more about, then please do come in to see one of the DSLs or our computing teacher, Mrs Rogers.

How can you safeguard your children online and guide them to be web-SMART?

UK Safer Internet Centre

Haven’t got time to browse through everything and want to go to one site, then click on the Childnet International UK Safer Internet Centre.

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day: Celebrated globally every year, Safer Internet Day offers the opportunity offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community. It calls upon young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers, and wider, to join together and play their part for a better internet. Ultimately, a better internet is up to us! www.saferinternetday.org.uk

Factsheets/ Information for Parents & Carers

The internet is an integral part of children’s lives, enabling them to undertake research for school projects, develop problem solving skills through strategy adventure games and access information, which allows the opportunity to learn from the wide variety of material and games available on the internet.

Setting some family safeguards and agreeing online Safety rules will help children understand the importance of keeping safe and ensure they know they can always talk to you or a trusted adult, such as a teacher, if they see anything that makes them feel uncomfortable.

• It is advised for parent/carers to locate the computer children have access to in a family area, not a bedroom, to supervise children as they learn what “appropriate use” really means.

•  It is recommend a responsible adult sets their browser home page to a recommended ‘Safe Search Engine‘ and checks websites to ensure they are age and content appropriate.  Child friendly search engines apply higher level filtering systems to help you safeguard your child at home, however no site is guaranteed ‘safe’.  Such as: NICE for Primary Schools, Primary School ICT, Pics4Learning, or CBBC Safe Search (only searches approved BBC content)

• Browser Settings; Pay particular attention to image advertisements as they can change each time the web page is accessed, and for this reason parents and carers are advised to set the security levels within a browser, such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, with appropriate levels of security

• For secure online learning environments, such as username membership sites, please set the url site address as a ‘Trusted Site’ (security settings) in your browser’s Tools/Internet Options

• What may be considered a safe site today might not be tomorrow.  NSPCC Net Aware is your online guide to the social networks your kids use, visit it periodically to keep up to date with the latest digital trends to keep you child safe in today’s online world.  Parent Info provides expert information from CEOP and Parent Zone on a range of topics, such as Under 13s and Social Media and vLogging (making video blogs, known as ‘vlogs’ on YouTube)

Where to Report/ Get Help

Need Help?: Information about what to do if a child comes to you for help and advice about how to report online concerns such as cyberbullying, inappropriate content or illegal behaviour. www.saferinternet.org.uk/need-help

Parental Controls

Our recommendation is to return here periodically and revisit the above websites to keep up to date with changing digital trends and parental guidance.  Although any help guide and pdf information sheet can be out of date within mere weeks of publishing with many hand-held devices, gaming console or social networking sites updating their services so frequently, please check for updates on the different websites.

MAKE the most of tools like Parental Controls on computers, mobiles and games consoles, privacy features on social networking sites, and safety options on Google and other search engines, why not visit Google’s Family Safety Centre website for lots more information.

We would like to thank Childnet.com for generously granted permission to use their Parent Factsheet information on our school website.