#WakeUpWednesday

Each week National Online Safety share top tips for parents and carers around apps, games, social media and mental health, online safety and internet controls. To register your National Online Safety Account follow the link below.

 

We take part in #WakeUpWednesday campaign each week and share online safety user guides like the ones below. There are all available free of charge once you have registered your account on their website. Additionally we will send one out to all parents in KS2 each Wednesday. 

Talking about the online world with your child can be difficult, and some topics can be particularly awkward; for you and your child! As a result of this, NOS have put together a series of 7 questions that will help you start an initial conversation with your child, so you have a better understanding of what they do online and how you can protect them. Additionally, it’s important to note that regular conversations with your child about the Internet will help your child to build confidence when talking about online issues, and therefore help to build trust too. You can use this to create your own family online agreement.

#Goldilocks is a modern twist on the classic fairy tale that offers a fun and accessible way for you to discuss all things social media related with your younger children. Co-branded by Vodafone UK and Andersen Press, award-winning author Jeanne Willis created the light-hearted story alongside illustrator Tony Ross. The book is designed to help educate children about the potential consequences of being unkind, getting carried away with selfies, or oversharing images, as we see Goldilocks getting into trouble with the three bears over her pursuit of likes on social media….

Oscar’s Adventures in the Online World has been created to help you understand what it takes to stay safe in the online world. It can be used as a story book at home or as a resource in the classroom. All you need is a hint of adventure to open up endless hours of wonder and excitement, while learning how to make safer decisions when using the internet. Help Oscar make the right decisions so he can avoid dangers on his journey through the online world.

Online Safety at Coten End Primary School

Without question, the most impactful online safety education comes from home. We cannot prevent children from accessing the internet and all parental controls/restrictions have their limitations. Children need to feel safe in discussing online safety issues with their parents and it is the role of the school to enable children to feel safe discussing internet safety issues at school too.

A recent survey has shown that 77% of children want their parents to be there for them if something worries them or happens to them on the internet. It is important that as parents and educators we react calmly to online safety incidents and that our first instinct is to make children feel safe not scared in these situations.

 

We recommend that the most important step parents can make is to have regular conversations with their children about internet usage and how to be safe online, but a few additional steps we can suggest are:

• Share profiles/devices with children
• Ensure the strongest privacy settings are in place
• Set time boundaries
• Never share any personal information
• Look at the potential danger of sharing offensive/inappropriate content

 

It is the role of the school to provide children with an effective, reactive Online Safety curriculum. As a school we follow guidance from the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and the Education for a Connected World framework (2018) alongside resources provided by Common Sense Media and Internet Matters.

 

Online safety education will be provided to pupils in the following ways:

• An online safety programme of study will be provided and should be regularly revisited – this will, however, be reactive and will include vital, relevant and up to date messages about internet usage, video gaming and apps we are made aware of;
• Key online safety messages will be reinforced as part of a programme of externally supplied assemblies and activities annually on World Safer Internet Day;
• Pupils will be taught in all lessons to be critically aware of the materials/content they access on-line and be guided to validate the accuracy of information;
• Pupils should be taught to acknowledge the source of information used and to respect copyright when using material accessed on the internet;
• Pupil questionnaires about internet usage will be carried out annually;
• Staff should act as good role models in their use of ICT, the internet and mobile devices.
• Key messages will also be linked in with work children do in their annual Taking Care Project

 

Websites with further information for parents, carers and young people:

www.saferinternet.org.uk

www.commonsensemedia.org

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

www.net-aware.org.uk

 

Website for parental controls and privacy settings set-up guides:

www.internetmatters.org 

 

Warwickshire County Council Websites:

www.cybersafewarwickshire.com

www.safeinwarwickshire.com/prevent