Children are taught how to keep themselves safe online through a combination of assemblies, books and lessons from their class teacher.

In particular, children are shown how to:

• use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly
• recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour online, such as cyberbullying
• keep passwords and personal information safe
• report when they feel unsafe
• understand their online presence and how to be in control of their own privacy

The 'Digiduck Stories' have been created to help teachers and parents/ carers to educate children about online safety. Please follow this link to access the stories and accompanying teaching materials: https://www.childnet.com/resources/digiduck-stories/

We understand that it can be overwhelming to keep up-to-date with new technologies so we highly recommend using the resources below to keep your children safe online.

As well as the Trust Online Safety Policy, we have a range of printed guides within school that explain how you can keep your children safe online.

A quick guide to what is safe for your child online and age restrictions:

Barnardos RUSAFE 2020 - Online Privacy Settings

Resources

Knowsley City Learning Centres

Newsletter 13 - December 2024 - New Techonology and Roblox

Newsletter 12 - November 2024 - WhatsApp and You Tube

Newsletter 11 - October 2024 - Mobile phones and Instagram

Newsletter 10 - September 2024 - WhatsApp and Snapchat

Newsletter 9 - July 2024 - CapCut & Being Unkind Online

Newsletter 8 - June 2024 - Age Ratings & Chatting Online

Newsletter 7 - May 2024 - Digital Mental Health 

Newsletter 6 - April 2024 - Cyber Bullying & TikTok

Newsletter 5 - March 2024 - Fortnite & Instagram

Safer Internet Week - newsletter

Newsletter 4 - Feb 2024 - Playstation & Snapchat

Newsletter 3 - Jan 2024 - New Devices

Newsletter 2 - Dec 2023 - Age Ratings & Snapchat

Newsletter 1 - Nov 2023 - Roblox & Tiktok

Parental Controls Booklet

Internet Matters explains how to apply parental restrictions at home:

https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/6-10/

This wizard from Internet Matters guides you through the process of applying parental restrictions at home to many different types of devices, from mobile phones and tablets, to broadband routers and apps: https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/

Net Aware from the NSPCC is a website that lists many apps that children use. It explains their risks and how you can keep children safe if they’re using them:

https://www.net-aware.org.uk/

Childnet International, a non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children:

https://www.childnet.com/

Safety Net Kids is involved with Safety Net at looking at things that make us feel unsafe and working on them ourselves. To be safe means to be comfy and not scared.  They do things like standing up to bullies without being mean, listening to our bodies as they are clever at spotting danger and thinking about things we can do to make the areas where we live safer:

http://www.safetynetkids.org.uk/

Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) helps keep children and young people safe from sexual abuse and grooming online. Thet help thousands of children and young people every year, as well as their parents and carers who have been in a similar situation to you. CEOP are unable to respond to reports about bullying, fake accounts or account hacking:

https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

Worried about YouTube?

More and more children are using YouTube at home and we understand that this can cause greater anxiety for parents/carers. We also share these anxieties and so we’ve looked into some possible options to help you. The best way to ensure your children are safe online is to encourage them to use their devices within shared family areas and to openly talk to them about the dangers.

The simplest option (for tablets and phones) — YouTube Kids

Simply install the app on your children’s devices and remove the adult-version of YouTube. Your children will only be able to access specially selected content for their age group. The adverts are also suited towards children.

See more information about YouTube Kids at:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/youtube-kids

Setting up parental controls on YouTube (for laptops and computers)

This involves signing into YouTube and setting up parental restrictions. You can then see what your children are looking at. There are more instructions on how to do this at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK1v0tGsHxo

Internet Safety Workshop - video

Internet Safety Workshop - PDF version