E-Safety
START THE CONVERSATION
Talk to your child about staying safe online
Most of us tend to think of our online and offline lives as separate, but children today are growing up with technology and the internet as a natural part of their lives. To them there isn't a separation. It's all just life. The internet is now part of the real world.
Talking to your child about what they do online is just as important as asking where they are going when they go out with their friends. It can be difficult starting the conversation with your child about their online activities. Technology keeps changing and you might find it overwhelming trying to keep up with it all, but you don't need to. You just need to take an interest in what apps and games your child is using. That's the best place to start.
Your child might not want to share anything with you at first, but keep trying.
Having honest and open conversations with your child and speaking to them regularly about what they are doing online, could be crucial in giving your child the confidence to tell you if they have seen something that makes them feel uncomfortable or may highlight someone who is wanting to cause harm.
See the below leaflet for some helpful tips on how to start the conversation.
Further guidance is available on the LSCP website as well as information on how to set up parental control on all the devices that your child uses.
A guide TO PARENTAL CONTROLS
E Safety in school
The internet is a powerful tool which we use to enrich children's experience of learning. It is increasingly an essential part of everyday life and work and we take our responsiblity to teach children to use the internet effectively but also safely, very seriously. The online world does not stop at 3:20pm and so we work with parents to support them in keeping all our children safe online. These pages contain some information to help parents with internet safety.
Safer Schools App
This is an amazing resource for parents and pupils alike.
There is a loads of information about different games and apps the children might be using (e.g. TikTok, Roblox, Fortnight, SnapChat etc) and what parents need to know about them. It also has information from the different wifi providers about how to set up parental controls and filters. There is even a section on getting your first phone and things parents need to know - just in case Santa is feeling generous this year!
We strongly recommend you have a look at it and make sure you are doing all you can to keep your children are safe online. The school codes you need are on the last slide of the powerpoint below:
Useful Links
As you might expect, much of the information about internet safety is online. Here are some of the best links to information.
http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
Worried about your teenagers? This website is specifically designed to support teeneagers to spot and avoid abusive relationships - it goes beyond e-safety, but we thought some families might find this useful. http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/
Internet Use in School
At school, children use the internet via our bespoke Internet Service Provider contract with Next Generation IT. This comes with inbuilt firewall and suitability protections including keyword monitoring and adaptive filtering. In Key Stage 2 children use Google Classroom as a Learning Platform via their individual user names and passwords which are unique to them. Children also have access to Purple Mash as an alternative Learning Platform, again with unique and individual logins. School provides regular teaching and support for the appropriate use of the internet both in and out of school. All activity on the Learning Platforms can be monitored and children can report inappropriate content by alerting their teacher either via a link on the relevant webpage or by sending a comment to their teacher alongside the assignment or work they are completing. All activity is linked to a child's username and account and all individuals remain identifiable (even if the user has given themselves a different nickname). All KS2 children must now sign an Acceptable Use Policy which is available to view here. Parents of children in KS1 must sign the permission to use the internet form included in the starter pack.