E-Safety

At St Edmund’s we are aware of the great benefits of digital technology and we are striving to update our current provision in order to enhance learning throughout the school.  We are equally determined to teach our children the need to keep themselves safe and to make the right choices when using the internet and all forms of digital technology.

We have a thorough filtering system in school that allows us to have access to many online resources but which also filters inappropriate material to provide us with safe and appropriate online materials. We would like to remind parents that social networking sites such as Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram, Messenger, What’s App, Tumblr, Steam, Bebo etc are all age restricted and none of these sites should be available to primary school aged children (the minimum age for most of these networking sites is 13 and for good reason).

The school policy regarding Online Safety (Located on our policies & Procedures Page) is regularly reviewed and we carefully consider how we can monitor and report any inappropriate use of the internet outside of school, including social networking sites and examples of cyber- bullying. We wish to work alongside parents to ensure our children are safe and secure in their use of the internet. We encourage you to monitor your child’s activity and check that any games being played are not exposing your children to inappropriate material and are always age appropriate. Informing us of any cyber-bullying incidents outside of school will enable us to better support your child. If parents/carers wish to do this then please talk to the office staff and they will pass on the information to the Designated Safeguarding Lead who will assess the situation and deal with the matter in a discrete and appropriate manner.

There are many informative and fun online resources available for children and parents.  Please view the links below and should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• Google internet safety information
• When your child gets their first phone the Own It app will help them to make smart choices, feel more confident and get advice when they need it. https://www.bbc.com/ownit/take-control/own-it-app
• Google Internet Safety
• Think U Know
• Childnet
• Childnet Parent and Carers Toolkit
• Free E-Safety Helpline for Parents and Carer from O2 and NSPCC This website provides further information for parents and carers to help them keep their children safe. The helpline 0808 800 5002 has good availability, 09:00 – 19:00 Monday to Friday, 10:00 – 18:00 Weekends and 10:00 – 16:00 Bank Holidays
• Parent Info – new free service from CEOP and The Parent Zone. The information is designed to help parents build children’s resilience online and off. It covers a wide range of topics that affect children and young people, from body image to sexting, from what you need to know about snapchat to online grooming.
• How to help your child be kind to others online- Parent Info
• I-Rights for children and young people iRights is a civil society initiative that seeks to make the digital world a more transparent and empowering place for children and young people (under 18) by delivering a universal framework of digital rights, in order that young people are able to access digital technologies creatively, knowledgeably and fearlessly. The campaign is widely supported by a range of different organisations.
• NSPCC How to keep your child safe online
• NSPCC Online safety website
• NSPCC Guide to Social networks used by children
• Digital Parenting Magazine