Online Safety

In today’s digital world, where it seems everything has an internet connection, having the knowledge and confidence to stay safe is imperative. We embed online safety throughout the curriculum and elements can be seen in almost every lesson using digital technology as part of the learning resources. It’s very easy to say “the internet is dangerous” – “don’t use the internet when you’re on your own” etc, but the internet is an amazing resource and this was highlighted in the pandemic. Without the internet children would not have seen their friends, they would not have seen their educators, they would not have had that interaction they needed.

We strive to give the children the skills they need to be independent learners and keep themselves safe. However we strongly encourage their online usage to be shared with their “trusted adult”. This is a term we use a lot and identifies adults in and out of school who they can share their online experiences with. By sharing their online experience, it gives us all the opportunity to be role models in how to stay safe and be respectful and accepting of other views and opinions. An online world where no one trolls or bullies would be a wonderful place and our children, along with those around the world, could make it happen!

This page will act similarly to one of our learning walls in class. The page will grow and change as the digital world around us develops. Below are some useful links to external websites that provide advice for parents and children. We hope you find them useful.

One of our Morden community emailed in suggesting this particular link on keeping children safe while on YouTube. The article advertises some parental control apps, we are not affiliated with any of these and do not endorse any application over another. It is something you would need to do your own research on and decide which one if any is best for your particular situation. However, we do think that parental control applications are a fanctastic way of keeping young people safe online.

Please click here to visit safetydetectives.com

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day 2022 will be celebrated on 8th February with the theme ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’.

From gaming and chat, to streaming and video, young people are shaping the interactive entertainment spaces they are a part of. Safer Internet Day 2022 celebrates young people’s role in creating a safer internet, whether that is whilst gaming and creating content, or interacting with their friends and peers.

About Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day is celebrated globally in February each year to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people, and to inspire a national conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically, and creatively. Safer Internet Day 2022 is on 8th February and will be celebrated with the theme ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’.Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over a hundred countries coordinated by the joint Insafe/INHOPE network, with the support of the European Commission, and national Safer Internet Centres across Europe

What we’re doing

Y5 and Y6 are going to be taking part in a game show regarding online safety and the things we can do to make it safer for everyone. It will mainly focus on interactivity with others online and include questions on social media, online gaming and some content creation too. The children will talk about the social and emotional aspects of using the ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ buttons and how that influences how other behave towards you. We will look at blocking people if things get unfriendly and how to correctly deal with conflict. Giving children the tools to stay safe online is a very important task for educators and hence it is embedded within the curriculum not only for computing, but throughout.

Y3 and Y4 will be creating videos giving tips and advice on how to interact with content online. They will be discussing how to leave safe, respectful comments and how to correctly handle conflict and disagreements while online. This particular topic provides lots of opportunities for discussion and promotes acceptance in the wider community. Children will have to think not only about the content they are creating, but the content within their videos – Street names, logos, bus numbers are all ways people could track you if you were posting online, the children will need to think about this and minimise the risk.

Rec, Y1 and Y2 will be talking about their “trusted adult” these are the people at school and home that they feel they could talk to about what is happening within their world. The internet can be an amazing place to learn, play and discover, but it also has it’s dangers, sharing their internet usage with their trusted adult provides a safe experience for the children as well as allowing adults to see what their young creators are involved in. To help promote this time together the children will be creating a voucher to be used at home. The voucher will ask their “trusted adult” for 10 minutes of together time online. We suggest one of our many learning applications like Maths Seeds or Reading Eggs. However, this could be an opportunity for you to share what you loved to learn about at school!

Below are a selection of posters and information leaflets we thought you might find useful. This page is under development and will be updated shortly.