About
At County High School, we are committed to educating children to be responsible users of technology and the internet, including how to be safe online. This can only be achieved with close partnership between home and school.
E-safety/Online Safety is about ensuring that learners can access the technologies and resources they need without putting themselves at risk personally or financially. It’s about a learning provider making sure that learners, staff and all their stakeholders know how to keep safe while using technology and resources.
E-safety/Online Safety can include topics such as cyber-bullying, mobile phone technology, preventing identity theft, privacy, social networking sites and child protection.
Using the Internet responsibly is now a significant part of many lessons. All students will look at issues relating to safety using the Internet in ICT lessons, and issues involving cyber-bullying in PSHEE/assemblies.
Online Safety can include topics such as cyber bullying, mobile phone technology, preventing identity theft, privacy, social networking sites and child protection. Using the internet and technology responsibly is a significant part of many lessons. All school students will look at issues relating to safety using the Internet in ICT lessons, and issues involving cyber-bullying in PSHE/assemblies.
If you have any worries about Online Safety or any online activities, please contact school and speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team.
Online Safety – What You Can Do
Teaching children to stay safe online is part of our job. However it is just as important that parents are aware of the dangers and ensure their children are safe at home.
There is a huge range of devices in the home which connect to the internet, from smart phones and computers to televisions and games consoles. Remember – Internet Service Providers (such as Virgin, BT, Sky and TalkTalk) all have parental controls which you need to ‘switch on’ – just contact your provider, or take a look at these videos.
Top Tips!
- Talk to your child about their use of the internet! Be part of what they are doing.
- Make sure you know what devices in your home connect to the internet and how.
- Set boundaries! Be clear about how long they can be online and what they can do online.
- Keep all equipment that connects to the internet in a family space.
- Don’t forget though: Encourage your child to go online and explore! There is a wealth of age-appropriate sites online for your children. Encourage them to use sites which are fun, educational and that will help them to develop online skills.
Try the ‘Think You Know’ Website (part of CEOP) which has great age-appropriate resources and activities for children and advice for parents and teachers. Don’t let them lie about their age, most social media sites (such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat) are not for children under 13. There is more guidance on Childnet.
Help & Advice
Games Consoles – such as Xbox or Playstation – all have parental controls which can be enabled in the ‘Settings’ . However, they only work if your child is playing on an account which has their information. In other words if the console knows how old the player is!
One of the biggest areas of concern in recent years is YouTube … advice can be found here
If you have downloaded new apps or bought new technology to help stay connected at this time, remember to review and adjust privacy and safety settings if you or your child is signing up to a new online service.
Internet Matters has provided step-by-step guides on how to set up parental controls so that you can control what content your child can access online.
The UK Safer Internet Centre has developed guidance on how to switch on family-friendly filters to prevent age-inappropriate content being accessed on devices in your home.
The NSPCC provides more information for parents or carers with concerns about their child seeking inappropriate or explicit content online.
The BBC have a website and app called Own It. The website has a lot of content for children to help them navigate their online lives, and the free smartphone app comes with a special keyboard which can intervene with help and support in the moments that children need it the most. It can be downloaded for free in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
SafeToNet is an app for parents to help them safeguard their children from online risks like cyberbullying and sexting, whilst always respecting their child’s rights to privacy. The SafeToNet Foundation is providing UK families with free-for-life access to the SafeToNet safeguarding solution during coronavirus.
‘Sexting’ (Youth-produced sexual imagery)
If you are worried about your child sending nude images or videos (sometimes referred to as ‘youth-produced sexual imagery’or sexting), NSPCC provides advice to help you understand the risks and support your child.
If your child has shared nude images, Thinkuknow by NCA-CEOP provides advice on talking to your child and where to get help.
If you are concerned that any family member, friend or loved one is being radicalised, you can call the police or 101 to get advice or make a Prevent referral, so that they can get safeguarding support. Support is tailored to the individual’s needs and works in a similar way to safeguarding processes designed to protect people from gangs, drug abuse and physical and sexual exploitation. Receiving support through Prevent is voluntary, confidential and not any form of criminal sanction. If you need further help, you can also contact your local authority safeguarding team.
Educate Against Hate Parents’ Hub provides resources and government advice for parents and carers on keeping young people safe from extremism, including online.
Let’s Talk About It provides support for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation.
Any member of the public can report terrorist content they find online through the GOV.UK referral tool. More information about what to report and what happens when you make a report can be found on the Action Counters Terrorism campaign.
Thinkuknow by the National Crime Agency – Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (NCA-CEOP) provides resources for parents and carers and children of all ages to help keep children safe online
Childnet has developed guidance for parents and carers to begin a conversation about online safety, as well as guidance on keeping under-fives safe online
Parent Info is a collaboration between Parent Zone and NCA-CEOP, providing support and guidance for parents and carers related to the digital world from leading experts and organisations
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has guidance for parents and carers to help keep children safe online
UK Safer Internet Centre provides tips and advice for parents and carers to keep children safe online – you can also report any harmful content found online through the UK Safer Internet Centre
Get Safer Online also covers many aspects on online security such as online banking, identity theft and keeping children safe.
There is a great Digital Parenting guide from Vodafone HERE – this contains details of setting up mobile phones with parental controls and how to use safety modes on other apps and services.
If you or your child has concerns about something that has happened online, remember that you can report this to the police at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)