Online Safety
Safeguarding and On-line Safety
Keeping our pupils safe is our highest priority. In assemblies we often talk about children needing to feel safe, healthy and happy in order to learn well. We provide a secure environment in which the children flourish and do everything we can to ensure that this expectation is a reality in our school.
Parents also have a very important role to play in keeping pupils safe. We would like to remind you of the current advice issued in conjunction with Herts For Learning regarding the safe & responsible use of images and request that parents and carers do not distribute or put images of any members of the school community online. Click here for a copy of this guidance.
Online safety is embedded in all areas of our curriculum and we protect and educate pupils and staff in their use of technology.
We all use the internet and it has many benefits. However, we need to ensure that the children are not exposed to material that is inappropriate. In school we use ‘Herts for Learning’ which filters any unsuitable websites. If by any chance the children do come across anything which they find upsetting, they know that they can tell an adult. They can do this in the knowledge that they themselves will not be in any trouble.
Many children today feel a pressure among their peers to be accessing social media sites. However, primary age children are not old enough to use most of these. Below is a list of the age limits for many of the sites.
- Tik Tok – 13 years
- Instagram – 13 years
- Snapchat – 13 years
- Facebook – 13 years
- WhatsApp – 16 years
- KIK – 17 years
- YIK Yak – 18 years
- ooVoo – 13 years
We are also becoming increasingly aware of the children playing Xbox and Playstation games that have an age rating well beyond their years. If you are unsure of the content of many of the games, there is a fantastic website where parents review the games and explicitly describe their content.
See link: www.imdb.com
As a school it is our duty to protect the young people in our care.
If necessary, we will have to talk with parents if we are aware of any pupils using these sites or playing games that are inappropriate.
Click here for Online Safety Links and information about Safe Search Engines.
