Online Safety Advice for Parents & Carers
We have gathered a number of resources, documents, videos and links to other websites to help you successfully navigate through the ever-changing face of the internet. If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to contact the school. We would be only too pleased to give you any help or advice about keeping you and your children safe whilst online.
A family agreement is a great way to start a conversation as a whole family about how the internet should be used safely and responsibly when online at home, at school or at a friend's house.
To support parents in creating a family agreement Childnet International have put together some free advice and a helpful family agreement template for families to use as a starting point.
Please find below a document to help you create your own family agreement:
Children at Collaton St. Mary C of E Primary School use the Internet on a regular basis as part of their learning. In school, we have regular 'online safety' activities to remind children of the importance of keeping themselves safe online.
At home, sometimes children can be given unsupervised access to the Internet. This, potentially, allows them to access all kinds of society (both good and bad) and bring them virtually into their homes.
Articles for Parents from CEOP
Here are some tips and useful links to help you to keep your children safe online:
Explore e-safety sites - There are lots of links to useful e-safety sites for children in our Children's Zone. They are great fun to explore, so why not browse through them with your children?
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok - Many of these sites have a minimum age limit of 13, so our pupils should NOT be using them. They allow children to communicate with anyone.
Keep your computer in a shared area - Talk to your child about what they are doing online and, if possible, set up your computer in a shared area at home so that you can all share in the wonderful sites that are available online.
Download our online safety posters:
We have these e-safety posters on display in our school. Why not put one up next to the computer at home and talk about it with your children?
Useful links:
Think U Know - containing internet safety advice for those aged from 5 to 16, along with parents and teachers, this site is produced by CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre).
'Digital Parenting' magazine from Vodafone has lots of fantastic practical advice for parents.
Kidsmart - An award-winning internet safety programme for children.
Know IT All - lots of useful advice for keeping yourselves and your children safe on the Internet.
Bullying UK - Information and advice about bullying for children, parents and schools.
Kidscape - An organisation which helps to prevent bullying and child abuse.
Childline - ChildLine is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK.
https://www.internetmatters.org/
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
www.nspcc.org.uk/underwear-rule
https://www.o2.co.uk/help/online-safety
https://www.virginmedia.com/blog/online-safety/childrens-internet-safety-test
Additional Useful Information
We have been working with the NSPCC to highlight the importance of online safety. To children, online friends are real friends. Online life is real life. There's no distinction.
As a parent you'll know how important the internet is to children - they use it to learn, play, socialise and express themselves. It's a highly creative place of amazing opportunities. But the technology children use every day can seem a bit daunting and you might worry about the risks your child can face online - such as bullying, contact from strangers or the possibility of them seeing illegal or inappropriate content.
For advice and support on setting up parental controls, adjusting privacy settings, understanding social networks and more check out the links below or call the NSPCC online safety advice helpline 0808 800 5002 - Lines are open from 9am - 7pm, Monday to Friday and 10am - 6pm on weekends. All calls are free of charge.