Online Safety

Online Safety

The internet is great and there are so many things you can do on it from finding out information, to playing games, to meeting friends, to live streaming. We know that there are lots of opportunities online but there are also risks. We want you to be completely safe when using the internet so that you enjoy and use it properly. That is why we study Online Safety in school so that you know how to behave online and feel safe and confident using the internet. See below for a PDF of the Online Safety Curriculum Yearly Overview.

Parson Street Primary School is a 360 Safe School. This means that we engage with a tool which helps us constantly improve our provision for e-safety. Information about this scheme can be found by looking at: https://360safe.org.uk 

Safer Internet Day 2022 is on February 8th. The UK Safer Internet Centre have lots of resources for parents and carers on their website. The National Online Safety website has videos, online safety resources and a free app for parents and carers. The app is called Safer Schools. This app will develop adult's knowledge about digital safety for our children. To download the app, look at the letter below. 

If you are worried about anything that happens online then you can talk to any of your trusted adults at school. Parents/Carers are also welcome to get in touch with any member of staff if you would like advice or support. Our Online Safety Lead is Miss Beech and she can be emailed at gbeech@parsonstreet.com

If you would like to report abuse online or would like further advice and support, click on the link below: https://www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/

Alternatively you can call Childline on 0800 1111.

Here are some great sites to help you learn more about keeping safe online:

• The BBC Own It website offers support for young people to take control of their online life, including help and advice, skills and inspiration on topics such as friendships and bullying, safety and self-esteem.

• The Childline website includes information for pupils on sexting, gaming, grooming, bullying, porn and online relationships.

• Internet Matters – a not-for-profit organisation set up to empower parents and carers to keep children safe in the digital world. Their support for parents includes a range of downloadable guides covering subjects such as transition to secondary school, Vlogging & livestreaming, online gaming and cyberbullying.

• NSPCC - includes a range of resources to help parents keep children safe when they're using the internet, social networks, apps, games and more.

• Parent Info  - from CEOP and Parent Zone, Parent Info is a website for parents covering all of the issues amplified by the internet. It is a free service which helps schools engage parents with expert safety advice, endorsed by the National Crime Agency’s CEOP command. This website provides expert information across a range of online harms.

• Parent Zone - offers a range of resources for families, to help them meet the challenges of the digital age, including parent guides on the latest digital trends and platforms.

• UK Safer Internet Centre - see this website for more tips and information 

One of the fastest growing areas of internet use today is social networking. There are over 3,000 social networking sites on the internet. This is changing the way that we communicate. On most of these sites, it is incredibly easy to communicate with our friends, in many cases, sharing lots of personal information and photographs.

These common social network sites all have age limits:

• Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Skype have an age limit of 13.
• MySpace set their limit at 14.
• YouTube requires account holders to be 18, but a 13-year-old can sign up with a parent's permission.

There are some things to remember when you are surfing the internet.

1. Treat your password like your toothbrush - keep it to yourself!
2. Keep your home address, your phone number or email address off the internet, MSN and chat rooms.
3. Learn to report someone who is behaving badly.
4. Save the evidence - learn to save emails or on-line conversations.
5. Don't retaliate or reply.
6. Always respect others - think carefully about what you are typing.
7. Tell someone you trust if you see something that worries or upsets you.
8. Remember what you have learned in school - use that at home.

More Online Safety links