ICT and Online Safety – Toftwood Infant and Junior School Federation

ICT safety is about being safe online.

Online Safety Newsletters

What is online safety?

Online safety is concerned with safeguarding young people (and indeed adults!) in the digital world. It is about learning to understand and use new technologies in a positive way.

Online safety is not about restricting children, but educating them about the risks as well as the benefits so they can feel confident and happy online. Adults must ensure they are educated to be able to support and help young people.

How does the federation ensure our children and adults are safe online?

We have made online safety a priority across the federation.

All staff have regular and up to date training, they can recognise and are aware of online safety issues.

Children are aware of how to report issues or concerns to staff and systems are in place to ensure online safety is of the highest priority.

An online safety policy is in place and is integrated with our behaviour and safeguarding and child protection policies.

We have a home school agreement that relates to our ‘Acceptable use policy’ which we ask parents to read and sign

We are teaching a progressive curriculum that is used to promote online safety through teaching pupils:

how to stay safe
how to protect themselves from harm
how to take responsibility for their own and others safety.

Within the federation, we use the Norfolk Services recognised Internet Service Provider and an Internet Watch Foundation recognised service provider, both of these providers have age related filtering systems in place.

How can you ensure your child is safe online at home?

Make sure your child knows to always keep private information safe and watch what they say on the internet. People may not be who they say they are online and it’s not always possible to control who can see your child’s information.
Your child should know not to give out information like: their full name/ photos/ postal or email addresses/ school information/ mobile or home telephone numbers/ details of places they like to spend time
Make sure your child knows that they shouldn’t arrange to meet people that they have only met online. Even if they have been chatting with someone for a while, that person is still a stranger.
If you have an older child who uses social networking sites, then you can help keep their information safe by setting privacy settings. This can restrict access to personal information and photos on things like facebook.
You should also encourage your child to use a nickname instead of their real name in chat rooms or on instant messaging services.
To stop people accessing your child’s online accounts, encourage them to keep their passwords secret, and to change them regularly.
If your child is using e mail, then ensure they know how to block people who send offensive messages and tell them not to open unknown links and attachments. They should delete any suspicious emails or attachments as they may contain something offensive or have a virus that can cause damage to the computer.
One of the main ways children can come across inappropriate content online is through search results. Most search engines include a ‘safe search’ option that excludes results containing inappropriate images or key words.
You can also install parental control software to filter out harmful and inappropriate content for computers, tablets and some mobile phones and games consoles.
The final rule is that your child should come to you or a trusted adult if they are worried or unhappy about anything they see online. They should also do this if a friend they have made online has asked to meet them in the offline world.
If your child does experience inappropriate content online, report it to the website it appears on. CEOP has developed an internet safety web page with more information. Visit ceop.police.uk/safety-centre

Please read our online safety tips below:

Online safety tips for Nursery and Reception pupils:

To recognise that people you don’t know are strangers.
To be nice to people on the computer, like you would on the playground.
Keep your personal information private.
If you ever get that ‘uh oh’ feeling, then turn off the monitor and tell a grown up they trust.

Online safety tips for Key Stage 1 and 2:

Always ask a grown up before you use the internet
Don’t tell strangers where you live, your phone number or where you go to school. Only your friends and family need to know this.
Don’t send pictures to people you don’t know, you don’t want strangers looking at photos of you or your family
Turn off the monitor, then tell a grown up if you feel scared or unhappy about anything.
Keep passwords safe, and don’t tell them to anyone else

We recommend that parents and carers closely monitor the use of the internet in the home and when out and about using personal, portable devices to ensure children are being safe online at all times.

Where can you find additional information and support?

There are lots of useful websites that offer more advice for you and your child about how to stay safe on line. Here are some links you may find useful:

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

www.digitalclassrooms.co.uk/supporting-parents-with-e-safety/

www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers

www.nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides

Parental Controls

Below is a link to NSPCC guidance and advice on using parental controls on the internet to keep your child safe

www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/parental-controls/

NSPCC Net Aware

Click on the link below to give you information to the apps and sites your child may be using.

You can use it to explore the apps and sites and get advice on their suitability for your child and their age

www.net-aware.org.uk

Live streaming – what parents need to know

Live streaming is used now by many children and describes broadcasting a real time video from a mobile device, tablet or games console. Whilst it can be exciting, it also creates a worldwide platform for unsuitable content to be shared and all kinds of dangers for children. This leaflet will help parents understand more about the dangers of live streaming.