Online Safety Top Tips
Reducing Risks
Here are some tips to help you reduce the risk to your child's safety while they are using an online device;
- Make sure that parental controls are set appropriatly. You can use these to control what your children are able to do or see while they're using their devices. Although they're not a perfect solution, they can block many problems.
- Watch for behaviour changes in your child which could indicate that they are at risk from harm online, e.g. nervousness or anxiety, unwillingness to discuss online activity, becoming secretive or withdrawn, etc.
- Monitor your child’s activities while they are using any online device.
- When children are searching the internet, use filtered search engines like Kiddle.
- Check for age ratings on games and apps which they are using. Just like with movies, 18+ ratings are there for good reason!
- Have open conversations with your child about the risks with online devices.
- Ensure that your child knows what to do if something unwanted happens while they are online, e.g. using the 'Report' button, and speaking to a trusted adult about it. Remind them that they won't get into trouble for speaking out, and that they have to keep themselves safe.
Reducing Risk in School
At Brookfield Primary School, we are committed to our children's online safety. This includes keeping them safe while using school's online devices and teaching them how to keep themselves safe while using their own devices outside of school. Here are some of the steps we take:
- School's internet service is heavily filtered.
- We have a current Online Safety Policy
- When teaching Computing, our staff include online safety as part of the curriculum.
- We run assemblies which give children opportunities to learn about and discuss online safety issues. All children are aware that if they are worried about anything, they can speak to any adult in school and are always welcome to have a chat with Mrs Walker-our Headteacher or Mr Davis-our Computing Lead. They could also find and speak to one of our I-Vengers.
