Safety Online
"Making space for conversations about life online"
(the focus of SID 23)
At Southroyd we want to encourage children to learn how to use the world wide web successfully and safely. Internet safety is vital and we work as a school to regularly update our Safe Internet Use policy and ensure that we are well aware of online safety and how to get the most out of the internet. At school celebrated International Safer Internet Day, on February 7th 2023, alongside regular curriculum based lessons on online safety.
We regularly review our "Acceptable Internet Use" for Southroyd children and also talked about our netiquette (how we should behave online) At the same time we want children to discuss how we can make the "internet better for us" and not a means of taking over too much of our lives. In 2023 the guidance promoted the 4Cs (Content, Contact, Conduct, Commerce) as a means of focusing our thoughts on online risks. We have re-written our school curriculum to match this new guidance from Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE)
After the February 2023 survey, we found that children across school were more likely to meet other people online, using gaming. We have links to useful resources to support parents in managing the settings within "gaming" on this page.
The data reflected pockets of children using tik-tok, even as young as in Y2/3, but with Y5 having a particular trend for using Snapchat, whereas Y6 were more likely to communicate using WhatsApp.
Survey results showed that over half of all children across year groups Y2 to Y6 were communicating through gaming platforms.
Children in Y5/6 were commonly using a phone for internet access, with younger children often borrowing an adults phone to access online materials. This means that parents will need to ensure that their settings are child friendly, if the child is given free access to the phone.
There was also a trend for children to use their own bedrooms, rather than a family room, to access the internet. This emphasizes the need to keep our children talking about what they are doing online and ensuring that their settings are correctly managed.
Returns suggested that devices are used commonly for children to watch videos, with YouTube being the most common outlet. Please see this page for details on making YouTube more appropriate for your child.
As a result of certain of these trends, more specific information has been shared with year groups and parents.
The 4Cs of Child Online Safety
School is working with updated Government guidance, linking the risks of online safety for children within 4 areas - the 4Cs. These are indicated below from Children Online: Research and Evidence. Using the 4Cs (contract can interchange with "commerce") updates have been made to the internet safety curriculum, to update school wide provision.
As well as the curriculum being adjusted, as a result of the recent guidance, children were also introduced to the language of the 4Cs to manage their own risks online.
Below is a summary of the Children Online classification.
Parent Support (Updated Feb 2021)
National Crime Agency - Cyber Crime
Privacy and Settings Advice
Parental Controls for Android Apps
General Internet Safety Advice
Parent Guide to Internet Settings
Childnet - Keeping Under 5s Safe
Safety Detectives - Parents Guide
Safety Online Direct Help
Look at the link below for advice on how to report abuse:
