E-Safety

Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend our E-Safety event online on Wednesday 9th February with our guest presenter Tanya Cross; Schools Health and Wellbeing Adviser.

Tanya works across Primary and secondary schools across Stockport and was able to share local and national issues and trends pertaining to E-safety.

If you were unable to attend the event, or simply would like to revisit some of the links and advice given by both Tanya and the school you can download the presentation here.

The event was live and had parental input, as such this was not recorded. Tanya has also shared the Social Media Guidance document she referenced.

The E-Safety Team.

What is e-Safety?

E-Safety encompasses Internet technologies and also electronic communications via mobile phones, games consoles and wireless technology. It highlights the need to educate children and young people about the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology.

E safety:

Concerns safeguarding children and young people in the digital world.
Emphasises learning to understand and use new technologies in a positive way.
Is less about restriction and more about educating children and young people about the risks as well as the benefits so we can feel confident online.
Is concerned with supporting children and young people to develop safer online behaviours both in and out of school.
The Internet is an unmanaged, open communications channel consisting of the World Wide Web, email, blogs, and social networks which all transmit information using the Internet.

Anyone can send messages, discuss ideas and publish material with little restriction. These features of the Internet make it an invaluable resource used by millions of people every day.

However, some of the material on the Internet is published for an adult audience and can include materials which are unsuitable for children and young people.

Our students need to develop the skills to evaluate online material and learn that publishing personal information could compromise their security and that of others. We have a duty of care to enable pupils to use on-line systems safely.

The use of school equipment for inappropriate reasons is “unauthorised” for all members of the school community.

The rapid development and accessibility of the Internet and new technologies such as personal publishing and social networking means that e-Safety is an ever growing and changing area of interest and concern. The school’s e-Safety policy is updated regularly to keep abreast of changes.

The e-Safety policy operates in conjunction with other school policies including the ICT Acceptable Use Policy- Parent/Carer and Student agreement; Mobile Phone Policy, Behaviour; Anti Bullying and Child Protection Policy. Education around E-Safety has been built into the curriculum.

Keep Your Child Safe On-Line

Internet Matters.org.uk (https://www.internetmatters.org/) have launched a series of guides to help parents understand what children do on line and how they can support their child to stay safe.

Policies and useful guides for parents

APP Risks

Most students access a growing range of apps via their mobile phones – most social media apps have an age limit of 13 years. Many Apps can be fun to engage with, however, they all carry some element of risk that we as parents/carers should be aware of. Below is a link to an excellent website called Protect Young Eyes which provides risk profiles for a range of apps.
https://protectyoungeyes.com/apps/

If you would like further support in developing digital parenting skills – to help you make informed decisions about addressing the risks to young people then a superb site has been set up between the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command and Parent Zone, the leading provider of information, training and support, making the internet work for families.