Important Information for Parents and Children about Internet Safety

The information sites below give important advice about how to keep your child safe on the internet.

Online safety is a topic that we talk to the children about regularly at school and is an important part of our curriculum. The internet is a great resource and offers us so many opportunities to gain knowledge and skills, but as we know, there are some risks too. We strongly encourage you to talk regularly to your children about their internet use and to monitor their online activity closely. Developing these positive conversations about internet use will help to support your child to keep themselves safe online and to know that they can approach a trusted adult to discuss any concerns or questions that they have.

Some helpful suggestions for general safe internet usage are:

• Be around when your children are online.
• Talk about what they see and read on the internet.
• Set up parental controls if appropriate and check the minimum age requirements (Facebook and Instagram — age 13, WhatsApp — age 16 as of May 2018)
• Have a ‘check before you share’ rule.
• Encourage your children to ask themselves ‘Do I know who I am sharing this information with?’
• Report and block – that is flag any inappropriate material (screenshot the content) and then block the account.
• Find further support if needed – talk to us at school and/or to other agencies that could be helpful e.g. NSPCC (see above)

We ask that parents reinforce the key messages shared on the websites below with their children. If you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to talk to us.