REMEMBER - the legal age for most social media accounts is 13 years old...
E-Safety
E-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at Holy Family. We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. Any e-Safety incidents are recorded and managed in accordance with our E-Safety Policy. E-Safety is taught to all pupils explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.
The best way to help your child to be safe when using the internet is to talk to them and make sure they understand a few simple rules which can be found in our E-Safety Policy. Here, you can read about our school rules for responsible ICT use and other ideas about how to keep your child safe when using the Internet.
We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the e-Safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online. It’s essential to be realistic- banning the internet or technology will not work and it often makes a child less likely to report a problem. Education around safe use is therefore essential. Please note that no search engine is ever 100% safe but below provides some links to some “safer” search engines:
Overview of key parental controls
As a parent you'll know how important the internet is to children - they use it to learn, play, socialise and express themselves. It is a place that can provide the most amazing opportunities. However, the technology children use every day can seem a bit daunting and you might worry about the risks your child can face online - such as bullying, contact from strangers or the possibility of them seeing illegal or inappropriate content.
We hope you find this booklet informative and helpful, and we want to work with you to promote the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.
Internet Safety Tips for Kids
Sharing photos, posting comments, playing video games -- these are just a few of the ways that kids interact online, but sometimes there are risks. Learn five ways to keep your kids safe on the internet.
At School
As part of your child’s curriculum and the development of computer skills, we provide access to the internet only in teacher supervised lessons. We strongly believe that the use of the web and email is hugely worthwhile and an essential tool for children as they grow up in the modern world. But because there are always concerns about children having access to undesirable materials, we have taken positive steps to deal with this risk in school. Our school internet access provider operates a filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate materials.
At the start of the school year, each class discusses how we can all stay safe online and the dangers we may face on the internet. We then ask every child in KS2 to sign an Acceptable Use Agreement so that we know they have read and understood our school's rules on staying safe. We also have an Acceptable Use Agreement for our younger children and you can download a copy here.
Please read our latest online safety newsletter here.
Internet Safety Resources
There is a great new online safety tool designed for parents launched by the Department for Education called Parent Info. It's has advice on everything from keeping children safe from online trolls to WhatsApp - a guide for parents.
Think U Know has a great section for parents and covers topics such as gaming and talking to strangers. You can also search by topic or age range to find information that is relevant for your family. You can find the site here.
Internet Matters is another great site to use - it has advice on cyberbullying, how to talk to your children about internet safety and quick guides to different types of social media such as Instagram and Snapchat. You can visit their pages here Internet Matters.
Here are quick links to a range of Internet safety sites that you may find useful too...
Conversation starter ideas
- Ask your children to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online.
- Ask them about how they stay safe online. What tips do they have for you, and where did they learn them? What is OK and not OK to share?
- Ask them if they know where to go for help, where to find the safety advice, privacy settings and how to report or block on the services they use.
- Encourage them to help. Perhaps they can show you how to do something better online or they might have a friend who would benefit from their help and support.
- Think about how you use the internet as a family. What could you do to get more out of the internet together and further enjoy your lives online?
Parent Checklist
Click here to see a simple checklist that may help you start to protect your children online and decrease the risks they face.