Introduction

As educators, at Manuden Primary School, we value the use of the internet as a  teaching and learning tool; indeed internet use is part of the statutory curriculum and widely regarded as an important tool for learning.  The internet is a part of everyday life for education, business and social interaction and we feel the school has a duty to provide students with quality internet access as part of their learning experience.

Children and young people today are growing up in an increasingly complex world, living much of their lives online.  While the internet provides many opportunities for our children and young people, it also bring with it risks and therefore it is vital that we help our children understand these risks and equip them with the skills to keep themselves safe. We also need to be confident that they understand how to report online harm and where to access help and support if they need it. Any child can be vulnerable online, and their vulnerability can fluctuate depending on their age, developmental stage and personal circumstance. 

Therefore, at Manuden Primary School, we have developed a school policy to help children to learn how to evaluate internet information and to take care of their own safety and security online.

Our Online Safety Policy also includes an agreement for children to sign and parents to endorse outlining our online safety rules.   We ensure all of our children are aware that they can report any material they come across on the internet or any use of the internet which worries them via CEOPS which is the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and On-line Protection centre and parents and families can use this too to make a report. 

We recommend parents keep informed of e-safety issues and understand their child's use of the internet, whatever their age, and parents can find useful information to help them with this through Thinkyouknow (8-10 year olds)  and Thinkyouknow (5-7 year olds).

There is a really good resource called 'Digital Parenting' which is produced by Vodafone monthly and covers many questions or concerns about how to help your child use the internet (which is a wonderful resource) safely. Please follow the link here to the online magazine. 

Head over to our SAFEGUARDING page for our school policies that are linked to eSafety.

There is also a wealth of additional material in the links below to support you child in keeping safe online: 

Useful Links

• Parent Zone - very useful information from CEOP giving expert advice across a range of online harm and a range of resources for families to help them meet the challenges of the digital age
• 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
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre - report concerns to CEOP via the "Click CEOP" button
• Virtual Global Taskforce - making the internet safer for children
• Think U Know - resources and advice for parents, professionals, children and young people

• Internet Watch Foundation - report illegal content online
• Action Fraud - report consumer and online fraud
• Childline - NSPCC Childline Service
• Stop Online Abuse - report online sexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia
• Professionals Online Safety Helpline for professionals who work with children and young people in the UK, specifically tackling online safety concerns: helpline@saferinternet.org.uk or 0844 381 4772

• Charities and support services

  • Anti-Bullying Alliance
  • NSPCC Online Safety - includes a range of resources to help parents keep children safe when they're using the internet, social networks, apps, games and more
  • The Marie Collins Foundation - helping children abused online
  • The Lucy Faithfull Foundation - Advice, self-help and educational programmes about online abuse (including peer on peer abuse)
  • The Samaritans: Supporting Schools
  • Papyrus - Prevention of young suicide
  • Young Minds

Childnet Digiduck Stories

A collection of five stories created to help parents and teachers educate children aged 3–7 about online safety, with accompanying teaching activities.   The collection includes a ebooks, PDFs, a poster and an interactive app.  As well as the books, there is a Digiduck Activity Menu for educators, that can be found here:

https://www.childnet.com/resources/digiduck-stories/

Making Instagram work for your child

Instagram has provided a number of helpful tools that allow users to control their privacy levels.  These tools can be especially helpful for creating a safe space to connect with others for young people.  Click on the link below for the advice from Instagram:

https://www.internetmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Making-Instagram-work-for-your-teens-v3.pdf

Talking about cyber bullying with your child

Click on the link for some great age appropriate tips to help parents talk about cyber bullying with their child.

https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/cyberbullying/cyberbullying-conversation-starter-guide/

Inappropriate or Explicit Content

Click on the link to find our what inappropriate content is and how to support your child if they’ve seen something online that’s upset them.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/inappropriate-explicit-content/

Home Activity Packs

ThinkuKnow have put together a bank of home activity packs on the following topics: watching videos, cyber security, social media, sharing images, live streaming and online gaming. The packs contain 15 minute family activities to support online safety at home.  https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/Support-tools/home-activity-worksheets/