E-Safety
New technologies have become integral to the lives of children and young people in today's society, both within schools and in their lives outside school. The internet and other digital and information technologies are powerful tools, which open up new opportunities for everyone. These technologies can stimulate discussion, promote creativity and increase awareness of context to promote effective learning and therefore should be integrated within a rich, broad and balanced curriculum. In addition to this, children and young people have an entitlement to safe internet access at all times and must develop an awareness of safe internet practices and how to report any issues that they may have.
We ensure that children are able to use the internet appropriately and safely through Computing, Safer Internet Day and KiVA (anti-bullying) lessons.
The challenges our children face online include:
- Access to illegal, harmful or inappropriate images or other content
- Unauthorised 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 individual's 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 those risks completely. Our aim, therefore, is 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.
If you would like to know more about how the school keeps your children safe online and the answers to some of our frequently asked questions, have a look in your child's communication diary. There is a page dedicated to E-Safety in the first section which is written in simple language.
Useful Links:
www.thinkuknow.co.uk
www.internetmatters.org
www.getsafeonline.org
Our Social Media and E-Safety Policies can be viewed on the Policies page.
