E safety

Online E safety at St. Paul's

 

 

What is e-safety for schools?

 

Online safety forms a fundamental part of our schools safeguarding and child protection measures. By taking a whole school approach to online safety, we can help make sure all our staff, governors, volunteers and parents know how they can help keep children safe online.

 

Government guidance for schools across the UK highlights the importance of safeguarding children and young people online.

 

> Read the key safeguarding legislation and guidance for schools in the UK

 

What we do...

 

Schools have a dual responsibility when it comes to online safety: to ensure the school's online procedures keep children and young people safe, and to teach them about online safety, in and outside of school.

 

At St. Paul's we foster an open environment in which children and young people are encouraged to ask any questions and participate in an ongoing conversation about the benefits and risks of the online world.

 

Our information and resources help to:

• create e-safety policies and procedures that will help you mitigate risk and respond to concerns
• ensure teachers have the knowledge to teach students about e-safety
• provide advice on using social media 
• support and include parents and carers by sharing helpful advice and resources
• review and update your e-safety provision on an ongoing basis

 

We are constantly talking to our pupils, in an age appropriate way, educating them about social media, online safety, gaming apps and around keeping their personal information safe etc. etc. We bring in theatre companies to put on age appropriate productions looking at online safety in a way that children can relate to and understand. Alongside this we are always endeavouring to share our knowledge and understanding of the fast changing digital world with our parents as well as our staff.

 

Online Safety

NSPCC 

 

Many of us see our online lives and offline lives as different.

But for children growing up with technology and the internet, there isn’t a difference – online life and offline life is just life.

Technology can move at an extraordinarily fast pace. So it can be difficult to know how to start talking to your child about what they’re doing online, who they might be speaking to or discussing the potential risks and issues.

 

Starting the conversation

 

Talking regularly with your child can help keep them safe online. Making it part of daily conversation, like you would about their day at school, will help your child feel relaxed.

It also means when they do have any worries, they’re more likely to come and speak to you.

But it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the different technology, the language that children use, the huge number of games and apps which are available and the potential risks.

Age-appropriate conversations

Considering your children’s age and ability will help you decide how to speak to them.

 

For under-11s

• Resources like Talk PANTS will help
• Make sure you’re using language they can understand.
• If you suspect grooming or exploitation, you can report this directly to CEOP.

 

For older children and teenagers 

Their needs and behaviour will be changing and they may find talking to you about difficult topics embarrassing. 

They will still look to you for support, so it’s worth continuing to check in with them regularly, even if there’s nothing they want to talk about.

 

There are some tips in our Positive Parenting guide and on our page on talking about difficult topics.

 

 

 

Digital Leaders

 

We have appointed some digital leaders from Year 6 to support and educate other children with e-safety and to monitor and demonstrate new technology that we will be using in school.

 

Your digital leaders are:

 

Jay Young - Year 6

Jack Langowski - Year 6

Rebecca Daneasa - Year 6

Shaunte Fredrick - Year 6

 

 

Sharing Kindness Online and Building a Better Digital World

E-Safety at St. Paul's

 

The development and expansion of the use of ICT, and particularly of the internet, has transformed learning in schools over recent years. Children and young people will need to develop high level ICT skills, not only to maximise their potential use as a learning tool, but also to prepare themselves as lifelong learners and for future employment.

 

There is a large body of evidence that recognises the benefits that ICT can bring to teaching and learning. St. Paul's has made a significant investment both financially and physically to ensure many of these technologies are available to all of our pupils. We perceive the benefits to outweigh the risks. However, we must, through our E-Safety policy, ensure that we meet the statutory obligations to ensure that children and young people are as safe as possible and are protected from potential harm, both within and outside of school. 

 

The requirement to ensure that children and young people are able to use the internet and related communications technologies appropriately and safely is addressed as part of the wider duty of care to which all who work in schools are bound. Our school e-safety policy helps to ensure safe and appropriate use. 

 

The use of these new technologies can put young children at risk. Some of the dangers they may face include:

• access to illegal, harmful or inappropriate images or other content
• unauthorised access to/loss of/sharing of personal information
• the risk of being subject to grooming by those with whom they make contact on the internet
• the sharing/distribution of personal images without an individuals consent or knowledge
• inappropriate communication/contact with others, including strangers
• cyber-bullying
• access to unsuitable video/internet games
• an inability to evaluate the quality, accuracy and relevance of information on the internet
• plagiarism and copyright infringement
• illegal downloading of music or video files
• the potential for excessive use which may impact on the social and emotional development and learning of the young person

 

As with all other risks, it is impossible to eliminate them completely. It is therefore essential, through good educational provision to build pupils' resilience to the risks to which they may be exposed, so that they have the confidence and skills to face and deal with these risks. At St. Paul's, e-safety is a part of the curriculum. Aspects of e-safety are progressively taught in each year group.

 

Please remember that help is always available at school if you are having any problems online. 

 

Please find some useful links below:

• an activity page for children Age 5-7 giving tips and advice on how to use the computer safely.
• advice on how to use the internet safely for children Age 8-10 .

• NSPCC Net Aware: https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ 

• Child line: https://www.childline.org.uk/ 

• A Parent’s Guide to snapchat: https://parentinfo.org/article/snapchat-a-parents-guide 

 

If you or anyone you know is worried about Child Exploitation, Online Protection or anything related to Internet safety please click the link below which will take you to the CEOP reporting website:

• CEOP