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Online Safety and Digital Leaders

Online Safety At Comberton

We consider the safety of the children of paramount importance. In a modern world, this includes ensuring they are safe on the internet and with the technology they use. The internet is a wonderful resource that we all make use of, however it can be a dangerous place to be. In school we educate the children, throughout their time here, about what those dangers are and how they can protect themselves from them. They develop the skills and knowledge that they need to have positive and safe experiences when using technology. 

The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable, but they can be categorised into four areas of risk:

  • Content: Being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material, e.g. pornography, fake news, self-harm and suicide, and discriminatory or extremist views.
  • Contact: Being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users, e.g. peer pressure, commercial advertising, and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit children.
  • Conduct: Personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm, e.g. sending and receiving explicit messages, and cyberbullying.
  • Commerce: Risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and/or financial scams.
Filtering and Monitoring Systems

We use 'smoothwall' which filters what the children are able to see and do whilst using the internet in school, ensuring appropriate restrictions are in place. 

We use a software system called SENSO to monitor children and staff's activity on the ipads, laptops and desktops in school.  This is monitored by Mrs Frost (Headteacher and DSL) and Mrs Phillips (Deputy Head and DDSL)  Any alerts to inappropriate activity are followed up on immediately. 

The children know what systems are in place to keep them safe, however also understand that sometimes there may still be content, contact or conduct that makes them feel uncomfortable.  We regularly reinforce the importance of reporting to a responsible adult in these circumstances. 

Acceptable Use Agreements

Each year, in consultation with the online safety lead and digital leaders, we review our acceptable use agreements for staff, volunteers and pupils to ensure that everyone using technology at Comberton is committed to doing so safely and sensibly.  Staff and pupils sign up to these annually and teachers spend time ensuring that the children fully understand the expectations of them when working online.  

EYFS & KS1 IT User Agreement
KS2 IT User Agreement
Online Safety Conference for Parents 27.11.23

  • Parental Controls Get advice on setting up parental controls to help keep your child safe online.

Digital Leaders

We have established Digital Leaders at Comberton Primary School, consisting of pupils and staff. We have representatives from each Phase 2 class, whose job it is to keep the rest of the school informed and up to date when it comes to Online Safety. They are spokespeople for the pupils in their classes and share ideas and concerns in regular meetings. Digital Leaders can also offer technical support and help in computing lessons.

Safer Internet Day 2024

Each year, we celebrate Safer Internet Day to develop our Digital Literacy. This year, the theme was: Inspiring change? Making a difference, managing influence and navigating change online. 

Created in consultation with young people across the UK, this year's Safer Internet Day focused on change online. This included covering:

  • Young people’s perspective on new and emerging technology
  • Using the internet to make change for the better
  • The changes young people want to see online
  • The things that can influence and change the way young people think, feel and act online and offline

We will continue our discussions about how to seek support if there is something that the children feel upset or worried about online. We will be helping children to develop the skills that they need to have conversations about their use of technology. Whether this be sharing what they enjoy and use online, any concerns that they have or discussing their vision for the future online.

 All children, from Reception to Year 6 have thought about how they can play their part in building a better internet.

For more information and support on how to stay safe, take a look at the website below, which provides advice for parents and carers.  http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/

 

 

Safer Internet Day 2023 - Sharing Your Online Experience: Primary Schools

Hear from primary schools about how they are getting involved in the Safer Internet Day 2023 theme 'Want to Talk About It? Sharing Your Online Experience https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2023

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Hanni and the Magic Window

A reading of Hanni and the Magic Window by the author, Amy Lockwood. This has been used across school as part of our learning for Safer Internet Day.

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Helping at Home

Online Resilience tool - The Online Resilience Tool provides a practical way to assess young people’s online behaviour and help them make decisions about whether that behaviour represents risk of harm.

https://www.headstartkernow.org.uk/digital-resilience

We strongly recommend that you consider how safe the internet environment is for your children at home. Take a look at the ThinkUKnow website by using the link below. They have some fabulous games, videos and information about staying safe online that may help you protect your children and be aware of the risks. 

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk

If you see something or become aware of an online danger, you can report it to CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre) who will investigate the concern. 
https://ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/  

Another useful site is PACE which  helps parents across the UK understand what is happening to their child and how parents are the prime agents in helping their child exit exploitative relationships.: https://paceuk.info/for-parents/

We are also aware that many children of primary school age have access to mobile internet technology such as smart phones and tablets, which they can use to access social networking sites such as Whatsapp, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. The minimum age to have an account on these sites is 13. If you would like any more information on this, we have included parents' guides below to these sites.

We have also included links to a number of mobile operator's sites that have sections of their website dedicated to online safety.

Guides for Parents

Parental Controls

Cookie Policy