Online Safety

The internet can be an amazing and seemingly endless resource to help support, bolster and engage your child in learning however there are potential dangers when not used safely.  We encourage our children to think SMART when going online: 

Safe – Keep safe by not giving out personal information

Meet – Don’t meet up with strangers alone and always talk to trusted adults if you see anything you don’t like online

Accept –  Don’t accept download files from unknown or untrustworthy websites

Reliable – know that everything you read online isn’t necessarily always true or reliable

Tell – if you are ever in danger online or you don’t feel safe, please tell a trusted adult.

At St John’s we make eSafety an integral part of the computing curriculum. Children can then use their knowledge of eSafety both at school and at home.

In School: 

We believe the use of the internet is a vital tool in developing children’s learning. Children will have numerous opportunities to use the internet at school. All sessions, which children are allowed access to the internet in, will be supervised by an adult.  Our school’s internet access provider operates a filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate materials.  

At the start of the school year, each class discusses how we can all stay safe online and the dangers we may face on the Internet. 

The school has policies to guide the school’s staff and pupils on how to use the internet and technology appropriately, these can be found under the policies section of this webpage.

For parents, we hold termly parents eSafety sessions. We encourage all parents to attend and discuss with representatives from Islington borough the concerns and worries that parents may have with online safety.

At home:  

Children should be encouraged to use the internet at home. Children can have access to the internet through using: mobile phones, tablets, computers/laptops and other technological devices.

 At St John’s, we strongly recommend that parents ask their children what they are using the internet for.  It is recommended that you talk to your child about the following with regards to their internet use:

•  Ask your child (children) to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online
• Ask them about how they stay safe online. What tips do they have for you, and where did they learn them? What is okay    and not okay to share?
• Ask them if they know where to go for help, where to find the safety advice, privacy settings and how to report or block on the services they use.
• Encourage them to help. Perhaps they can show you how to do something better online or they might have a friend who would benefit from their help and support.
• Discuss they games they play online and who they are playing these games with
• Think about how you use the internet as a family. What could you do to get more out of the internet together and further enjoy your lives online
  

Useful links:

Childnet – https://www.childnet.com
Internet matters – https://www.internetmatters.org
NSPCC Net aware- https://www.net-aware.org.uk
Safer internet day – https://www.saferinternet.org.uk​