Online Safety
E-Safety is an integral part of children's education in today's digital world and is embedded in their learning at school. At Parkhill Infants' School we also want to help our parents and children improve their own understanding of e-safety issues so they can learn to use the internet and all digital media in a safe and secure way.
We subscribe to a monthly newsletter on e-safety and encourage all parents to read this and talk to their children about the issues raised.
Redbridge prevent - digital safety during covid-19
With the increased use of online resources during lockdown, there is a danger that children may be exposed to radical influences online as groomers seek to exploit feelings of anxiety.
Redbridge Prevent has issued advice regarding the safeguarding of children and other vulnerable individuals during these uncertain times. Click to view it here
New! Tiktok app advice
Due to the increased popularity of Tiktok during the lockdown, we have been sent a further guidance newsletter. Please click to access it HERE.
At School
As part of your child’s curriculum and the development of computer skills, we provide access to the internet only in teacher supervised lessons. We strongly believe that the use of the web and email is hugely worthwhile and an essential tool for children as they grow up in the modern world. But because there are always concerns about children having access to undesirable materials, we have taken positive steps to deal with this risk in school. Our school internet access provider operates a filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate materials.
TOP TIPS FOR SAFE USE OF THE INTERNET
Our top 10 tips for safe use of the internet are:
1. Make sure your children say no to strangers on gaming websites and that they understand that they should never agree to meet anyone who contacts them over the internet. Never allow children to meet up with someone that they have only been in touch with online on their own – an adult must be present. Online friends are still strangers
2. An increasing amount of child abuse is being carried out via on-line webcams. Consider disabling web cams when children are using the internet without the supervision of an adult.
3. Use the Safe Search Filter in Google to prevent adult content from appearing in search results: www.safesearchkids.com
4. Use parental control settings on the iPad and/or other iOS devices to block communication apps such as FaceTime & Ping if you are worried who your children might be talking to. (Settings >General>Restrictions and set a PIN)
5. Information on the internet may not be true or reliable. Get your children to check in books, and look up 3 other websites to verify information.
6. Keep children safe by ensuring that they don’t give out personal info when chatting or posting online. This includes name, email address, phone no. & passwords. Teach children not to accept emails, instant messages or to open files, pictures or texts from people that they don’t know or trust. They may contain viruses or nasty messages
7. Check online games before children play. The quality of graphics is high and may not be suitable for child’s age & be violent or sexually explicit. Be aware of other online users when children are playing games. Check that other online gamers are not using offensive language, bullying others or showing sexual interest.
8. Take care to spell correctly when typing in a search. Even a small typing error can bring up unwanted results.
9. Watch out for children sharing files p2p (peer-to-peer) as they can be illegal and dangerous, as they can share harmful and unwelcome content. Discuss with your children the use of legal sites for downloading music.
10. Set age restrictions for TV, films, music etc. in iTunes Store in preferences. In Windows, click the icon in the top left corner, and select preferences from the drop down box and then click the parental control icon. Then set the maximum age ratings you wish to allow.
