What is On-line Safety?

This may be described as school and home's ability to protect and educate pupils, parents and staff in their use of technology, as well as having appropriate mechanisms in place to intervene and support any incident where appropriate. Protecting students means providing a safe learning environment by using the propriate monitoring and filtering, to control what students can access while at school.

We use a system in school, provided by Entrust, which enables us to capture screen and keyboard shots of any words and phrases that may be of concern. These are closely monitored and increases safety in school.

However, filtering in school only protects pupils while they are on our premises. Education around on-line safety is the only way to ensure that, wherever they are, children develop the skills to know how to stay safe and happy online.

Scroll down to view the useful sites for children and parents. Parents can receive advice about on-line safety from the NSPCC's website (below) or by calling the free helpline on 08088005002.

What is On-line Safety Education?

On-line safety education runs throughout the curriculum as well as through special units, events and days.

The digital literacy learning in school covers a wide range of subjects, including:

• Online behaviour – understanding what constitutes cyber-bullying and inappropriate texts and how to behave safely and with respect for others
• Protecting your online reputation – understanding both the risks and rewards of sharing personal information online (your digital footprint)
• How to use social networking safely
• Understanding the reliability and validity of online information
• Data security – keeping your personal information safe and being aware of viruses and hacking
• Knowing what to do if anything bad happens (e.g. you are a victim of cyber-bullying or you upload something by mistake)

Remember that you may use the CEOPs button at the top-middle of the home page to report any concerns.

These resources have been provided for Safer Internet Day, but contain a wealth of information all year around. Why not sign up to their free monthly newsletter: bit.ly/UKSICNewsletter

ThinkUKnow is a superb resource for parents and carers. Click to find out how to look out for your children in Nursery and Reception, how to manage devices at home and what to do if you have concerns.