Internet Safety Resources
National Online Safety
A Certified School Programme that is a complete solution for schools to implement an effective approach to online safety. Which has been designed by education professionals to meet the statutory online safety safeguarding duties outlined in the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) September 2023 guidance.
Some experts estimate that children’s screen time rises by as much as six hours a day during the school holidays. That obviously inflames all kinds of existing parental concerns around online safety – from disturbed sleep patterns, marathon gaming sessions and possible screen addiction to increased exposure to age-inappropriate content and internet users with malicious agendas.
To mark the start of the holidays, our #WakeUpWednesday guide has some straightforward suggestions for concerned parents and carers. Even simple steps like maintaining regular communication, encouraging young ones to put their devices down occasionally and being a good digital role model yourself can reduce the chances of online issues over the summer!
Click here for our Parent's Introduction to National Online Safety information.
There is a great online safety tool designed for parents by the Department for Education called Parent Info. It's has advice on everything from keeping children safe from online trolls to WhatsApp - a guide for parents.
Childnet is a great website resource for parents and children on online safety. Click here to watch an interactive video on how to keep your child safer online.
Internet Matters is another great site to use - it has advice on cyberbullying, how to talk to your children about internet safety and quick guides to different types of social media such as Instagram and Snapchat. You can visit their pages here Internet Matters.
Smartphone Safe
If you would like to know more information on how to keep your child safe when they are using a smartphone here is a very useful and informative link here.
For information on agencies that can support the use of personal devices, Papyrus have a useful guide specifically on apps that promote access to support for your mental health and well-being.
Vodafone also have some great advice and a downloadable parenting magazine.
The UK Council for Child Internet Safety
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis
Sexting
What is sexting? And how to engage with your child about the issue:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/sexting/
Social Media
A guide on how to change privacy settings on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/help/privacy
More advice on Facebook settings https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/09/17/protect-facebook-places/
News and updates
Hundreds of calls made to UK helpline about sexual abuse in schools
Incidents reported include name-calling, online abuse, unwanted touching, assault and rape.
(Story from: The Guardian 14 Dec 2021)
In 2021, the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) investigated a record 361,000 reports!
On January 13 2022, the UK Government launched a new campaign and website Stop Abuse Together (stopabusetogether.campaign.gov.uk) to help parents and carers spot the signs of sexual abuse and keep children safe.
Could you spot the signs of child sexual abuse? Get confidential advice and support to help keep your child safe, sign up for more information on the Knowsley News website here.
Below you will find a very useful resource from SWGfl where you are able to download checklists for specific social media sites which can help you set parental controls.
https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/checklists/
We have also included a resource from The Lucy Faithfull Foundation called 'parents protect'. This is an awareness learning platform in relation to online sexual abuse, not only for parents/carers but for professionals as well and has been shared with staff at Gretton School.
https://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/sexual-abuse-learning-programme.htm?utm_source=email&utm_medium=csaprevention&utm_campaign=29sep22&dm_i=48W7,1EVQ9,795RAO,6JCIR,1
Click here for this downloadable flyer: The Dark Web Explained