Children are never too young to learn about how to keep safe online. 

At Buryfields we teach the children right from the word go about internet safety. We ensure that children know:

• to always ensure that an adult knows that they are using the internet
• to tell an adult straightaway if they see something they don't like, or if they see or hear anything scary, rude or inappropriate
• to not share personal information about themselves, such as their real name, where they live or go to school, or what clubs they attend.

We remind children about the internet safety rules each time they use the internet and we also teach explicit internet safety lessons as part of their computing curriculum.  For this we use resources and videos from websites such as Thinkuknow, which makes learning about how to keep safe online fun and relevant.

Keeping Children Safe in Education makes clear the responsibilities schools have to ensure that children are safeguarded from harmful or inappropriate online material. There are four main areas of risk which we address:

Content

We ensure that children are not exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content through:

• • rigorous web filtering
  • making sure that the children stay on the sites they have been guided to use
  • teaching them to close a programme if content appears that scares them or worries them in some way, and to immediately tell an adult

Contact

In school we do not use websites where the children are expected to communicate with others, but outside of school we aim to prevent the children from being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users through teaching them:

• • That peple can pretend to be someone else online, especially through the use of avatars or photos of other people
  • To share worries and concerns about any behaviour – in ‘real life’ and online – with a trusted adult

Conduct

In computing lessons we teach the children that how they behave online is important, through teaching them:

• • To be kind to others online and to expect the same in return
  • To not share personal information about themselves, such as their real name, where they go to school or their address

Commerce

Our web filtering system prevents the majority of pop-ups or inappropriate advertising from appearing, but this cannot always be guaranteed at home. We teach the children:

• • To question what they see online and to know that not everything they see online is true
  • To close pop-ups when they appear, and to never click ‘yes’ or ‘agree’ without checking with an adult first
  • To share any worries about something they see online with an adult.

We try to hold parent information sessions about internet safety at least once every year, either as a dedicated session or as part of a curriculum workshop or evening.  We ask that parents reiterate the rules we teach in school, as well as ensure that they know what their children are using the internet for, what websites they visit and if they are making contact with other people online.  We also recommend that apps such as youtube kids are used rather than unfiltered sites.

We also ask that if parents are taking photos or videos of school performances or assemblies, that they do not share these to any social media site or with other people if they have captured the faces of other children. Parents are not allowed to take photos if they are visiting the classroom, for example as a volunteer helper, or if they are helping out on a school trip.

Should you have any questions or concerns about your child and their use of the internet, please do come and speak with your child's class teacher or me.

Lauren English