Online Safety at St Michael’s

HELPING TO KEEP YOUR CHILD SAFE

The Importance of Online Safety

Online Safety is an important part of children’s education in today’s digital world and at St Michael’s Nursery and Infant School we take active steps to embed online safety in our curriculum and children’s learning.

We also want to help parents and carers improve their own understanding of online safety so that they can support their children to use the Internet and digital media in a safe and secure way.

Keeping Children Safe Online

Parents are encouraged to work in partnership with our school to teach children about the importance of online safety.

Children use the Internet to learn, play, socialise and express themselves. It is a highly creative place and offers a wealth of opportunity.

The technology that children use every day can seem daunting to parents and carers who often worry about the risks children can face online.

Talking to Your Child About Online Safety

Below are some online safety conversation starters from Childnet:

Questions you could use to help you monitor and support your child’s online safety:

• Ask your child to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online.
• Ask them about how they stay safe online. What tips do they have for you? What is ok and what is not ok to share?
• Ask your child if they know where to go for help, where to find safety advice and how to report or block the services they use.
• Encourage your child to help you. They might be able to show you how to do something better online.

Remember to return to the questions with your child over time. Think about how you use the Internet as a family. What could you do together to get more out of the Internet?

Online Safety at School

Access to the Internet is provided during adult supervised sessions. At St Michael’s Nursery and Infant School, we view access to and use of the web as hugely worthwhile and an essential tool for children as they grow up in the modern world.

In school, we have taken active steps to reduce the risks associated with use of the Internet. Our school Internet access provider operates a filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate material. All our teachers have received training in online safety.

During PSHE and computing lessons throughout the year, all classes discuss how we can stay safe online and the potential dangers we face when using the Internet. Children are taught skills and approaches they can use to keep themselves safe. They also learn about what to do if they feel unsafe or see inappropriate material when they are online.

As part of the KidSafe programme which we have adopted and deliver each year as part of our school curriculum, children are taught many explicit online safety techniques.

Mrs Regan is the designated online safety lead within school.