Online Safety & Digital Awareness in School 

Online Safety is integral to our responsibility to ensure that children are kept safe in school. Digital parenting is also a key aspect to maintaining children’s safety at home.

The development of children’s digital awareness is woven throughout the computing curriculum and also forms a part of our RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) provision.

The Inspire Partnership has identified that the teaching of computing and use of technology is to be a priority as part of our curriculum.  As we move technology forward as a Trust, our strategy is to achieve the following for all pupils:

• Improve children’s engagement in lessons
• Help children adapt to different learning styles
• Provide a secure and safe environment for online use
• Be prepared for the digital world

As the high-tech world advances in telecommunications, it is imperative that we all work together, both at school and home, to ensure that Online Safety is paramount and at the very core of all use of digital resources.  As a school, we are very mindful of how important it is to ensure that our children are fully aware of how to use the internet safely. We do this by embedding e-safety lessons throughout our curriculum and by talking about issues surrounding the internet through circle time sessions and assemblies. It is important that we teach our children to communicate with respect and kindness in real life and online, and also that we show them that we are working together on this.

Apps to help children stay safe online

Online safety and guides to using apps and games safely (it might be worth uploading the guides relevant to the context of the school) https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides

The BBC have a website and app called Own It. The website has a lot of content for children to help them navigate their online lives, and the free smartphone app comes with a special keyboard which can intervene with help and support in the moments that children need it the most. It can be downloaded for free in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

SafeToNet is an app for parents to help them safeguard their children from online risks like cyberbullying and sexting, whilst respecting their child’s rights to privacy. The SafeToNet Foundation is providing UK families with free access to 1 million licences during coronavirus