Online Safety
'All schools will be required to put in place strengthened measures to protect children from harm online - including cyber bullying, pornography and the risk of radicalisation' Department for Education.
Link to CEOP website for reporting any information: https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safer-By-Design/safety-centre/
- Parent Zone’s parent guides cover reporting to different apps and platforms
- Contact NCA-CEOP if you are worried about child sexual abuse
- You can talk to Childline anonymously on 0800 1111
- If you see sexual images or videos of someone under 18 online, you can report to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
- If you’re worried about radicalising content, you can get help on the Educate Against Hate website
- You can report material promoting extremism and terrorism through the government’s online reporting tool
- Shout’s crisis messenger text service provides advice 24/7. Text PARENTZONE to 85258. More information on the Shout page on Parent Zone
#OnlineSafetyAtHome
What is Online Safety?
Online Safeguarding, internet safety, online safety and digital safeguarding are interchangeable but all relate to ensuring that those who use technology do so safely and responsibly. Typically, online safety tends to be associated with online grooming, online bullying or access to inappropriate images/video. However, there is a broader and developing agenda related to the growth of social media including information privacy, sexting, self-generated indecent content, gaming addiction, radicalisation and others. Online Safeguarding is a common thread running across related areas including child sexual exploitation, anti-bullying and anti-social behaviour.
Online Safety encompasses Internet technologies and electronic communications such as mobile phones as well as collaboration tools and personal publishing. It highlights the need to educate pupils about the benefits and risks of using technology and provides safeguards and awareness for users to enable them to control their online experience. The school’s Online Safety policy should operate in conjunction with other policies including those for Student Behaviour, Bullying, Curriculum, Data Protection and Security.
This plan links to UNICEF Rights and Responsibility: Articles 16 & 17
Article 16: Right to privacy
“Every child has the right to privacy. The law should protect the child’s private, family and home life, including protecting children from unlawful attacks that harm their reputation …”
Article 17: access to information from the media
“Every child has the right to reliable information from a variety of sources, governments should encourage the media to provide information that children can understand. Governments must help protect children from materials that could harm them.”
Online Safety Curriculum Statement
The overview of the sequence of lessons we use alongside our SWGFL curriculum and also PHSE linked curiculum is available in our downloads. We ensure we embed online safety in all computing lessons and also cross curricular lessons when appropriate. The children use technology everyday so it is imperitive they are safe. Children keep their passwords for curriculum websites private and they understand they must log out of each session to ensure their information is kept secure.
Please find links to online safety information set out by year group. These have been taken from a free scheme of work developed by South West Grid for Learning. It covers key learning about digital literacy and citizenship.
Online Safety Links
Most of us can use the internet to help with our education and to play games. We can use it to stay in touch with our friends and family by email, instant messaging and social media. We can download the latest music, stream movies and TV shows and watch live events from across the world. The Internet has become such an everyday tool, that it is difficult to imagine life without it.
However, it is important that we know how to use it safely and understand the dangers we face when we don't use it responsibly. On this page, you will find a number of very helpful links for both children and parents/carers, to ensure that everybody can always stay safe online.
Links for Children
http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/Visit CEOP's website to find the latest information on the sites you like to visit, mobiles and new technology. Find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it. You will also find an interactive button on our front page which will take you directly to this site.
http://kidsmart.org.uk/ Learn more about the Internet and how to become a SMART Surfer.
http://www.childnet.com/young-people/primary/ Find the latest information on the sites and services that you like to use, plus information about mobiles, gaming, downloading, social networking and much more.
Links for Parents and Carers
http://www.internetmatters.org/Internet Matters is an independent, not-for-profit organisation to help parents and carers keep their children safe online. Supported by leading experts, they have developed this online portal specifically designed for all parents and carers to access simple, easy and practical advice so that you can make confident, informed choices when it comes to children’s online safety.
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware The NSPCC's straightforward, no-nonsense advice will untangle the web, and show you how you can be just as great a parent/carer online as you are the rest of the time. The Internet is a great place for children to be. Being Share Aware makes it safer.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ Common Sense is dedicated to helping children thrive in a world of media and technology. They aim to empower parents by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help you to harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all childrens’ lives.
http://www.childnet.com/young-people/primary/Home to 'Know IT All for Parents', which is a unique interactive e-safety guide for parents and carers produced by Childnet International. It's designed to help you as a parent or carer keep up-to-date with how children are using the internet, and support them in using these new exciting services safely and responsibly.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/ CEOP's website aims to make online parenting simple.
Parent Info provides high quality information to parents and carers about their children's well being and resilience. The aim is to help parents and carers to help their children be discriminating, web-literate and resilient.
http://parentinfo.org/ Parent Info provides high quality information to parents and carers about their children's well being and resilience. The aim is to help parents to help their children be discriminating, web-literate and resilient.
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ A guide to social networks your kids use. Stay up to date and keep your child safe in today's digital world.
It can be hard to keep track of what your child is doing on social networks, apps and games. Or know how to keep them safe. Helping parents untangle the web andd teach their children to be Share Aware.
Because, just like in real life, kids need your help to stay safe online.
Prevent Strategy
https://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/documents/s93848/LATEST%20PREVENT%20Strategy_Draft%20V2.0%20Edit.pdf
Sefton Council's online safety strategy booklet draft for 2020.
St Oswald's School receives award for Online safety
An Assessor from the South West Grid for Learning has visited St Oswald's School to review the school’s online safety provision. The Assessor met school staff, parents and carers, Governors and pupils and was pleased to find that the school provides a high level of protection for users of the new technologies.
The South West Grid for Learning Trust provides the internet connection and a range of other services to schools across the SW region and is in the forefront of national developments in online safety. To enhance these services, they have developed a tool to help schools address online safety issues, not least the changes to Ofsted inspections, which include a stronger focus on safeguarding. The online tool allows schools to evaluate their online safety policy and practice and then suggests how the school might do more to protect young people and staff.
To apply for the 360 degree safe Online Safety Mark, schools have to reach a series of benchmark levels when they complete the online self review. The evidence is then verified by a visit from experienced Assessors.
The prime benefit of using the review and applying for the Online Safety Mark is that it does not focus on the individual aspects of online safety such as technological solutions, but instead it integrates online safety into school policy and the curriculum, challenging teachers and managers in the school to think about their provision and its continual evolution.
Schools are expected to show that they have provided a high standard of online safety education and awareness for all staff , pupils and also for parents and carers, to ensure that these users of the new technologies can be safe online – whether they are in school, in their homes or out and about using mobile phones or other handheld devices.
Following their visit the Assessor reported:
Areas of strength and good practice.
Educating Parents – whilst the school accepts there are some hard to reach parents, they are proactive in identifying a range of ways to engage parents.
Pupil involvement – in addition to educating their peers and highlighting potential dangers of new technologies and apps to teachers. Pupils have had input into policies, rewriting the anti-bullying policy (ensuring online bullying was included) and writing the school online safety rules.
This award is due for renewal in 2020.
Online Safety Champions
Article 1 (definition of the child) Everyone under the age of 18 has all the rights in the Convention.
Article 5 (parental guidance and a child’s evolving capacities) Governments must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents and carers to provide guidance and direction to their child as they grow up, so that they fully enjoy their rights. This must be done in a way that recognises the child’s increasing capacity to make their own choices.
Article 12 (respect for the views of the child) Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. This right applies at all times, for example during immigration proceedings, housing decisions or the child’s day-to-day home life.
Article 16 (right to privacy) Every child has the right to privacy. The law should protect the child’s private, family and home life, including protecting children from unlawful attacks that harm their reputation.
This year, we have developed our online safety group to be part of the Rights Rangers. The group consists of 2 children from each year group. This year we have delivered assemblies with the help of Mrs Carr, created an informative clip which was shared with everyone in school, helped to develop online safety rules and facilitated discussions with our own classes to help our teachers with new apps and technology we are using. We also enjoyed our mentor lunch where we discussed any issues around online safety with each other.
If you have any worries or issues you would like to discuss with school please don't hesitate to book an appointment to speak with you child's teacher or a member of the senior leadership team.
Free Parent Zone Membership until June
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