ONLINE SAFETY

Online safety is an important part of keeping children safe at St Thomas' CE Primary School . We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. Any incidents are recorded and managed.  Online safety is taught to all pupils explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.

We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the online safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.

It’s essential to be realistic - banning the internet or technology will not work and it often makes a child less likely to report a problem. Education around safe use is essential.

SEARCH ENGINES

Please note that no search engine is ever 100% safe but below provides some links to some “safer” search engines:

Research searching

nICE
CBBC
Kids Yahoo

Google offers a safer search option for children searching on the Internet. You can find out how to do this by downloading the instructions at the bottom of the page. 

Image searching

Pics4Learning
picsearch

Gaming

When children are accessing games via Xbox LIVE, privacy settings can be set up.  To read more, click here.

WEBSITES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please click on the icon to go to the relevant site

NSPCC and O2 - Call the helpline, visit an O2 Guru or explore the online safety advice for everything you need to keep children safe online.

At the National Online Safety website you will find the most up to date guides for social media apps and platforms (including Momo,WhatsApp, Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok and many more). Find out more information about each app and download the useful tips to help keep children safe.

CEOP (The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) delivers a multi-agency service dedicated to tackling the abuse and exploitation of children in the real and ‘e’ world. Often it is referred to as an online 999. By clicking on the button, young people and parents can get advice on a range of issues such as viruses, hacking and dealing with bullying online.

Vodafone have produced a Digital Parenting Magazine which informs parents about the various technologies children are accessing today. There is information on Facebook settings, Xbox 360 settings, Blackberry settings, jargon busting and many more 'How to Guides'. They are well worth a read and some are attached below for you to download. 

The “Thinkuknow” website is brought to you by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre.

Kidsmart gives you lots of advice on how to stay safe online.

New e-Safety Portal for Parents and Schools – Internet Matters

Internet Matters is a new online portal designed for parents to access simple, easy and practical advice about online safety for their children, right through from pre-school to teens. It provides tips on protecting children from online grooming, cyberbullying, privacy and identity theft and inappropriate content. Internet Matters is a not-for profit organisation set up by BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. 

ParentINFO is a collaboration between ParentZone and CEOP.  There are useful guides and articles on helping your child stay safe online.

There are an enormous variety of Online Safety resources available and as Parents and Carers, it is often challenging to know where to start or where to find information on a specific topic. The items on this website have therefore been highlighted as a selection of recommended resources specifically designed for Parents and Carers on different aspects.

ONLINE SAFETY GUIDES