Online Safety
Online safety is an important part of keeping children safe at St James Infant and Pre-School. We teach all children how to stay safe and behave appropriately online through age-appropriate learning, regular reminders and our annual Online Safety Day. Online incidents are recorded and managed appropriately.
Our online safety mascot, Buzz, reminds children how to stay safe and what to do if something online makes them feel worried, uncomfortable or unsure: “See it, close it, report it.” We encourage children to close the content and tell a trusted adult straight away. We reassure them that asking for help is always the right thing to do.
Keeping children safe online is a shared responsibility. We work with parents and carers to reinforce consistent messages at school and at home. Regular conversations about what children watch, play and do online help them learn how to keep safe and treat others with kindness and respect. This includes gaming, videos, social media and messaging services such as WhatsApp.
Education, open conversations and appropriate supervision are essential. Simply banning technology does not teach children how to use it safely. We want children to feel confident that they can tell a trusted adult about an online concern without fear of getting into trouble.
Google offers a safer search option for children searching on the Internet. You can find out how to do this by downloading the instructions at the bottom of the page.
Image searching
Gaming
When children are accessing games via Xbox LIVE, privacy settings can be set up.
Websites for more information
CEOP (The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) delivers a multi-agency service dedicated to tackling the abuse and exploitation of children in the real and ‘e’ world. Often it is referred to as an online 999. By clicking on the button, young people and parents can get advice on a range of issues such as viruses, hacking and dealing with bullying online.
The “Thinkuknow” website is brought to you by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre.
Internet Matters is a new online portal designed for parents to access simple, easy and practical advice about online safety for their children, right through from pre-school to teens. It provides tips on protecting children from online grooming, cyberbullying, privacy and identity theft and inappropriate content. Internet Matters is a not-for profit organisation set up by BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.
ParentINFO is a collaboration between ParentZone and CEOP. There are useful guides and articles on helping your child stay safe online.
