Online Safety
Why is online safety so important?
Shobnall Primary & Nursery School understands that using online services is an important aspect of raising educational standards, promoting pupil achievement, and enhancing teaching and learning. The use of online services is embedded throughout the school; therefore, there are a number of controls in place to ensure the safety of pupils and staff.
The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable, but they can be categorised into four areas of risk:
- Content: Being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material, e.g. fake news, self-harm, and discriminatory views.
- Contact: Being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users, e.g. peer pressure, commercial advertising, and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit children.
- Conduct: Personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm, e.g. sending and receiving explicit messages, and cyberbullying.
- Commerce: Risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and/or financial scams.
The measures implemented to protect pupils and staff revolve around these areas of risk. Our school has created a policy and age-appropriate curriculum with the aim of ensuring appropriate and safe use of the internet and other digital technology devices by all pupils and staff.
What can parents do?
- CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) has a dedicated website which covers all aspects of online safety. There are age relevant sections and specific areas for parents/carers containing games, videos and lots of advice and support to help you and your child learn how to stay safe online. They are also there to help you if things do go wrong.
- We recommend that you take a look at the links below, and revisit them regularly. Remember, technology is changing all the time, and the best way you can help your child stay safe is to keep up to date with these changes. We have also produced a handy guide for parents to online safety, which you can download from this page. The latest safety tips are also available on our weekly newsletter.
Procedures
Please click on the links below to access the relevant procedures relating to online safety at Shobnall Primary and Nursery School.
Safer Internet Day
Safer Internet Day 2024 was on Tuesday 6th February and was celebrated with the theme ‘Together for a better internet’.
Safer Internet Day inspires a national conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically, and creatively. Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees thousands of organisations get involved to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.
Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees thousands of organisations get involved to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.
Please visit the UK Safer Internet Centre for further advice for parents and carers.
Social Media Awareness & Further Resources for Parents
Following the national school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, colleagues in our partner services have seen a rise in reports of online bullying and incidents occurring over social media.
Please click on the links below to find further information regarding age restrictions on social media/apps and also a document from Staffordshire Police with further information about some apps that are popular with children as well as some further sources of support and information.
NSPCC & O2 have launched a campaign to illustrate how innocent searches online can lead to not so innocent results.
