E Safety for Parents & Children

National Online Safety Platform

The National Online Safety website is full of useful resources and training for parents to enable them to keep their child safe online. We have taken out a subscription to the website so that our parents in our school can access all the resources. Please do sign up using this link https://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/chenies-school and explore what is on offer.

Using the internet safely at home

Whilst many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer filtering systems to help you safeguard your child at home, it remains surprisingly easy for children to access inappropriate material including unsuitable texts, pictures and movies. Parents are advised to set the security levels within Internet browsers with this in mind. Locating the computer or tablet in a family area, not a bedroom, will enable you to supervise children as they use the Internet. However, don’t deny your child the opportunity to learn from the wide variety of material and games available on the Internet. Instead, set some simple rules for keeping them safe and make sure they understand the importance of these rules.

To keep your child safe they should:

Ask permission before using the Internet
Only use websites you have chosen together or a child friendly search engine.
Only email people they know (why not consider setting up an address book?)
Ask permission before opening an email sent by someone they don’t know
Do not use Internet chat rooms
Do not use their real name when using games on the Internet (create a nick name)
Never give out a home address, phone or mobile number
Never tell someone where they go to school
Never arrange to meet someone they have ‘met’ on the Internet
Only use a webcam with people they know
Ask them to tell you immediately if they see anything they are unhappy with.

Go through the rules with your child and put them up on display where the family can see them. It is also a good idea to do regular checks on the websites your child is accessing. You can do this by clicking on the 'Bookmarks or Favourites' and 'History' tabs of your internet browser. Continue to reassure your child that you want to keep them safe rather than take Internet access away from them.

Talking to your child about online safety

We regularly use our PSHE and ICT lessons to remind your children about the importance of staying safe online. You can use some of the online resources below to continue the conversation.

How to Report Concerning Material

If there is any concern that a young person or child has had inappropriate contact or has been approached by a stranger online, you should report this to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre or the police. You can report online material promoting terrorism or extremism via the Online Tool. The online tool is for reporting illegal or harmful information, pictures or videos found on the internet. You can also report a page or post to the site you are on. Parentzone have information on how to do this.

Parental support

Childnet offers a toolkit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support
Commonsensemedia provide independent reviews, age ratings, & other information about all types of media for children and their parents
Government advice about protecting children from specific online harms such as child sexual abuse, sexting, and cyberbullying
Government advice about security and privacy settings, blocking unsuitable content, and parental controls

Internet Matters provide age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, and a host of practical tips to help childrenget the most out of their digital world
Let’s Talk About It provides advice for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation
London Grid for Learning provides support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online, including tips to keep primary aged children safe online
Stopitnow resource from The Lucy Faithfull Foundation can be used by parents and carers who are concerned about someone’s behaviour, including children wh omay be displaying concerning sexual behaviour (not just about online)

National Crime Agency/CEOP Thinkuknow provides support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
Net-aware provides support for parents and carers from the NSPCC and O2, including a guide to social networks, apps and games
Parentzone provides help for parents and carers on how to keep their children safe online
Parent info from Parentzone and the National Crime Agency provides support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations
UK Safer Internet Centre provide tips, advice, guides and other resources to help keep children safe online

Parent Fact Sheets and Guides

The Key has interactive training for parents on setting parental controls on devices and information sheets about popular apps. You can access them here.

SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN

Childline for free and confidential advice

UK Safer Internet Centre to report and remove harmful online content

CEOP for advice on making a report about online abuse