The Internet is an integral part of children's lives.  It opens up so many educational and social opportunities, giving them access to a world of information and experiences.  As you would protect your child in the real world, you will want to make sure that they are safe whatever they are doing.  Like learning to cross the road, online safety skills are essential skills for life.  If your child understands the risks and can make sensible and informed choices online, they can get the most from the internet and stay safe whilst doing so.

 

So how can you protect your child online?

If you understand the Internet and understand what the risks are, there are a number of things you can do that will make your child safer online.  Below you will find a list of some websites you can visit to find out more.

The NSPCC has launched a new campaign about the importance of parental controls -  NSPCC - Parental Controls

www.thinkuknow.co.uk – a site run by CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre) with up to date information for children of different ages and parents.

www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-and-resources/parents-and-carers/parents-guide-to-technology - A guide to answer questions and introduce some of the most popular communication devices, highlighting the safety tools available and empowering parents with the knowledge they need to support their children to use these technologies safely and responsibly.

http://www.swgfl.org.uk/safe - provides online safety advice for parents, children and schools.

http://www.chatdanger.com/ - offers information related to potential danger using chat related services both on computers and mobile phones.

A guide to social media platform age restrictions can be found below.

Using the internet in school

In school, we have a very clear internet safety policy which we ask all children to sign up to before they are allowed to use the internet.  

Social Networking Sites

Our pupils are not permitted access to these sites at school, so the increasing number of issues that they can create are being brought into school from the use of these sites at home. We know that children under the age of thirteen should not be using most social networking sites such as Facebook at all and as a parent, if you choose to ignore this clear guidance and allow your child to effectively lie about their age, then you must accept the consequences of any difficulties that arise.

 

It is not the school’s responsibility to investigate and unravel the complex relationship problems that occur as a direct result of this potentially dangerous form of communication. We continue to strongly advise all parents to be fully aware of and to monitor their child's computer use.

 

Photographs and videos of children in school

Digital cameras and the recording of class and club activities are now part of the normal school day.  Great care and sensitivity is always given to any photographic image taken in school that might have a wider audience.  All parents/carers are requested to read the policy statement given out to all new admissions to the school and inform the Headteacher if they have any concerns.