E-Safety
The internet is essential in life for education, business and social interaction and can be a great place to be. At Danesfield, we take e-safety very seriously and it is integral to our children’s curriculum, embedded in their learning. As a Microsoft Training Academy, we strongly believe that the use of the internet is vital for children as they grow up in the modern world. It’s essential to be realistic – banning the internet or technology is not the answer and it often makes a child less likely to report a problem; education around safe use is the key to giving children the knowledge and skills they need. We use a range of strategies to ensure we are teaching children good habits and safe behaviours when going online, as well as providing a range of contexts and experiences for them to practice and embed these habits. These will often include:
- Modelling of safe behaviours through Office 365 and other online tools;
- Drip feed of key messages through all curriculum subjects, such as how to search safely through a search engine, or how to collaborate in a document;
- Sequential and progressive planning for direct teaching of Online Safety throughout the school;
- Specific whole school focus on annual and national events such as Safer Internet Day.
Now, more than ever, we need to need to talk with and listen to young people about what they do, see and experience online. Conversations are key to ensuring they feel confident to speak up about anything that troubles them online and can tell us what they think should be done to make the internet safer and more enjoyable for everyone. The latest report from Safer Internet Day 2023 highlights the importance of making time for conversations about life online.
The links below are some of the sites we use in school to support our work with e-safety.
Think You Know (The CEOP Approach)
CEOP (The education arm of the police service)
Safer Internet Day Research Report
Social Media
Social media sites and apps are updated all the time and children often know a lot about them! The link below will tell you where to go to find help about the safety features available on these popular social networks.
Guides and Resources for Parents and Carers
TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook all have a legal age of 13, so please consider this when your child asks for these apps. Here are some useful links to learn more about these apps and safety advice for parents and carers.
TikTok App Safety- What parents need to know
Instagram App Safety- What Parents Need to Know
Is Snapchat Safe for My Child?
Tips to help keep your child safe on WhatsApp
Video Games
More and more children are accessing online gaming and used positively, this can be a way for them to interact with their friends. However, there are risks to online gaming and the links below will give you advice about different games, how the PEGI ratings work and settings for how to set parental controls so that they can play safely.
