Online Safety at Haseltine
The digital world has become a huge part of everyday life for all of us, including our children. It is vital that we support our children to be aware and manage the risks that are associated with online technologies. We also want to teach them to become good digital citizens, who are respectful and kind when communicating online.
A vital aspect of online safety is our partnership with parents.
We want to use this webpage to keep you up to date with all things online safety, including tips and suggestions to put in place at home in order to help your children navigate the online world in the most appropriate way.
TIP 1
Write a family agreement together and decide how you want your family to use the online world at home.
Example Family Agreement
Advice On Family Agreements
Below are our SMART online safety rules, which govern the children’s decisions online, and our NETIQUETTE rules, which help them to make the right decisions when communicating online.
SMART rules
S – Keep your personal details safe.
M – Never meet strangers face to face.
A – Do not accept or respond to files, images or emails from strangers.
R – Make sure all that you read is reliable.
T – tell someone you trust if you feel uncomfortable.
NETIQUETTE rules
T – is it true?
H – is it high quality?
I – is it informative?
N – is it necessary?
K – is it kind?
We asked our Year 6 pupils how long they spend online. 70% of them spend 3 or more hours online each day.
The number of hours children spend online will have any impact on other parts of their lives.
These are just some of the negative effects that too much screen time can have on children:
- increased chance of obesity (due to a reduced amount of movement and an increased likelihood of snacking)
- a harder time falling asleep at night
- increased possibility of developing depression, anxiety and attention problems, including ADD and ADHD
TIP 2
Agree a time limit with your child and use a digital timer (on an oven or phone) to ensure that you all stick to it.
We asked our Year 6 pupils about what they had seen or heard when they were online.
- 56% of children have received offensive comments from someone online
- 55% of children had seen something offensive or inappropriate online
However, it is not all bad news!
- 79% of children would tell their parents if they were worried about anything online
- 89% say that they know how to block people or report incidents on social media apps
Most of our children know what to do but how can we avoid it in the first place?
TIP 3
Make sure that you are always in the room when your children are using online devices so that you know exactly which games and apps they are accessing.
The CEOP website is an online policing organisation that has been set up by the National Crime Agency. It is here to keep children safe from sexual abuse and grooming online.
We are here to help and give you advice, and you can make a report directly to us if something has happened online which has made your child feel unsafe, scared or worried. This might be from someone they know in real life, or someone they have only ever met online. We take all reports seriously and we will do everything we can to keep children safe.
CEOP Website
Online Parenting Styles
There are three different parenting styles:
Digital enablers
Parents who allow their children unrestricted access to the internet. Given the fact that children are tech-savvy from a young age, these parents believe their children can figure out their online world using their own common sense and initiative. The children are trusted to do the right thing and to use the internet to their advantage, for example educational purposes.
Digital limiter
The polar opposite of a digital enabler. These parents limit device and technology use as much as possible. Being well aware of the mountain of inappropriate content online, digital limiters make good use of parental controls and don’t allow their children to play violent games or to use social media networks.
Digital mentors
Parents who are aware that they can’t hide their child from the internet, so their focus is on teaching their children how to be smart and resilient online. They are involved in what their child is doing online without feeling the need to oversee everything they do. Screen time rules are agreed on in advance and regular conversations about online safety take place.
TIP 4
Become a digital mentor! We believe that being a digital mentor to our children will have the most impact in terms of safety and online conduct.
What does a ‘Digital Mentor’ Parent look like?
Discuss the permanence of online behaviour and how to conduct themselves onlineSupport your child to create their accounts with appropriate privacy settingsCollaborate with your child’s online activityHave open lines of communication between parent and child (no judgements!)Manage screen time (agreed with the child in advance)Set up filters or parental controls, where appropriate (and edit them, dependent on the age of the child).
Internet matters has made some really helpful guides to help you set up appropriate parental controls and filters for your devices, networks and social media sites.
iPad Guide
YouTube Guide
SnapChat Guide
What are we doing as a school?
- Educating children (and parents) on up to date information about online safety, teaching them how to conduct themselves online and supporting them with issues that arise
- Appointing digital leaders to keep in touch with what the current issues are for our children (monitoring online safety worry boxes)
- Partnership with the London CLC to keep staff professional development up to date and for support in running workshops with the children
- Online Safety Group (made up of staff, parents and governors) to monitor our curriculum and support us to make improvements where necessary
- Use our right to remove school-based technology from children who break our Usage Agreements in school. We keep a log of all incidents that occur in school to monitor and report to governors.
