Online Safety - Guidance and Information for Parents and Carers

While we know there are huge benefits to being online for example to stay connected to family and friends, find out a huge wealth of information and to have fun playing games, we also recognise that many parents/carers can feel worried and concerned about the activities and content their children are accessing. On this page you will find a breadth of resources and information about some of the risks your children may encounter online, how you can help to keep your children safe when online and where to go for advice and support.

What dangers might my child come across when online?

The Internet has become part of our everyday lives and is now easier to access then ever before. Use of the Internet can also have risks. Young people are more at risk of exposure to inappropriate or criminal behaviour if they are unaware of the dangers.

These dangers include:

viewing unsuitable content e.g. hate material, adult content, sites that endorse unhealthy behaviour
giving out personal information
arranging to meet an online 'friend'
becoming involved in, or the victim of, bullying, identity theft, or making and sending indecent or illegal images
spending too much time online (internet addiction), which can effect concentration, sleep and health
copying information from the Internet or buying work from other people to use as their own.

What should I do if I have an Online Safety concern?

Report the content or user to the website or app that is being used.
Contact our designated Online Safety office, Miss Porter. You can contact her via email about any Online Safety concerns at tporter@rivieraet.co.uk or you can contact her via telephone on 01803 61556
Report your concerns to CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command) at https://www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/ , you can find a fast link to their website at the bottom right of our homepage.
Visit https://parentinfo.org/ for more information.
Report any websites or content that you deem to be harmful at https://reportharmfulcontent.com

How do I know what information is appropriate to share with my child about Online Safety?

There is a lot of information Online regarding what Children should know about Online Safety, some of it is not age appropriate so please bear this in mind when talking about online safety with your child. If you open the document below you will see the progression of skills for each year group. It identifies what your child should know about Online Safety by the end of their Year group, this will help you reference what is appropriate content and information.

Online Safety Progression of skills

What does my child learn at school about Online Safety?

All of your children should be familiar with our Shiphay Online safety mascot, Berty the Bee-Safe Bee.

At the start of each new term, during welcome weeks, and during Online Safety week, your child will have been introduced or re-familiarised with Berty and how he helps remind us to stay safe online. You may want to start by discussing with your child what they already know about staying safe online. You will be surprised at how much they already know as Online Safety is something we take very seriously at Shiphay Learning Academy.

Berty reminds the children of our 3 Online Safety golden rules:

1.ZIP IT! Don't give out our personal details such as full name, address and school. Think before we click, is my message kind? would I want to be sent it?

2. BLOCK IT! Block any users who are sending inappropriate or unkind messages. Block any adverts or pop-ups.

3. FLAG IT! Tell a trusted adult so that they can help you with what to do next and report it to CEOP or the police.

Whilst at school, the children use child friendly search engines that are specially designed to filter out any inappropriate and unsuitable content. These websites are https://www.kiddle.co/ and https://swiggle.org.uk/ . We would strongly suggest you encourage your children to use these at home.

Online Safety is also part of our PSHCE curriculum and you can find out about the tasks and activities they have completed by taking a look in each class floor book.

You may wish to discuss or share the poster below with your child too, we always encourage our Shiphay children to be SMART when online, this means:

Further information about Online Safety

Here are some useful links for you and your child and a little explanation of what you will find on each website;

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ This is a really good website which has activities and information that targets different age groups appropriately. It looks at the specific things children of each age should/ shouldn’t be doing online. It also has a section for parents about what to do if they are concerned about their child online and how to report online incidents.

https://www.internetmatters.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIktuA5LWK2wIVRYXVCh2afg2aEAAYASAAEgIJ5vD_BwE This website link is for parents and carers; it offers you support and practical tips to help children benefit from connected technology and how to use the internet safely and smartly.

https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ The NSPCC and O2 have worked together on this website to offer advice on social networks, apps and games for both you and your child. You can search any social network, app or game and find out information about it such as its official age rating, risk factors and what it is used for. This is a really useful and informative website and I strongly recommend having a look at it.

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/ Here you will find a huge range of tips, advice and resources to help your child stay safe online.

https://parentzone.org.uk/home This Website has lots of parent workshops, live online safety lessons and hundreds of fun games and activities to support you with keeping your child safe online.

https://parentinfo.org/ Parent Info is a collaboration between Parent Zone and NCA-CEOP, providing support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations.

How can I stay up to date with what my child is doing online?

You might wonder whether what they are doing is safe, and you might also be thinking how can I be as good a parent online as I am offline?

Think about how you guide your family in the real world and use the parenting skills you already have, such as showing an interest in their lives and the company they keep, to do the same in the digital world.
Try out the technologies your child enjoys. Download some of their music and have a go at games they like.
Talk to friends and family about how they manage their children's digital lives.
Remind older siblings that websites they use may not be suitable for younger brothers and sisters.
Make digital issues part of everyday conversation. Use news stories or things that have happened to people you to know to raise subjects like cyberbullying, sexting and copyright infringement by downloading music or films you haven’t paid for.
When you're talking about bullying, sex and relationships and other issues, don't forget to include the online aspects.
Ask your child about whether the issues they face are different online and offline.
Don't be afraid to set boundaries and rules. Children may complain but research shows they respond to this.
Talk to your child about their controlling their online reputation by thinking before they post or share anything.

Shiphay Learning Academy