E-Safety Information and Advice

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The education of pupils in online safety is an essential part of the school’s online safety provision. Children and young people need the help and support of the school to recognise and avoid online safety risks and build their resilience.

Online safety should be a focus in all areas of the curriculum and staff should reinforce online safety messages across the curriculum. The online safety curriculum should be broad, relevant and provide progression, with opportunities for creative activities and will be provided in the following ways:

• A planned online safety curriculum should be provided as part of Computing / PHSE / other lessons and should be regularly revisited
• Key online safety messages should be reinforced as part of a planned programme of assemblies
• Resilience to radicalisation by providing a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping them to understand how they can influence and participate in decision-making.
• Pupils should be helped to understand the need for the pupil Acceptable Use Agreement and encouraged to adopt safe and responsible use both within and outside school / academy.
• Staff should act as good role models in their use of digital technologies, the internet and mobile devices
• in lessons where internet use is pre-planned, it is best practice that pupils should be guided to sites checked as suitable for their use and that processes are in place for dealing with any unsuitable material that is found in internet searches.
• Where pupils are allowed to freely search the internet, staff should be vigilant in monitoring the content of the websites the young people visit.
• It is accepted that from time to time, for good educational reasons, students may need to research topics (eg racism, drugs, discrimination) that would normally result in internet searches being blocked. In such a situation, staff can request that the Technical Staff (or other relevant designated person) can temporarily remove those sites from the filtered list for the period of study. Any request to do so, should be auditable, with clear reasons for the need.

Education – Parents / Carers

Many parents and carers have only a limited understanding of online safety risks and issues, yet they play an essential role in the education of their children and in the monitoring / regulation of the children’s on-line behaviours. Parents may underestimate how often children and young people come across potentially harmful and inappropriate material on the internet and may be unsure about how to respond.

The school will therefore seek to provide information and awareness to parents and carers through:

• Curriculum activities
• Letters, newsletters, web site
• Parents / Carers evenings / sessions
• High profile events / campaigns e.g. Safer Internet Day
• Reference to the relevant web sites / publications e.g. swgfl.org.uk www.saferinternet.org.uk www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers