E-Safety

The internet is an amazing resource, overflowing with knowledge, games and communities of people. At Devonshire Infant School we make sure our pupils are aware of some of the risks to safety that are online and what to do to stay safe.

We do this through a scheme of lessons each term and children are reminded of the e-safety rules whenever using the internet at school.

We are committed to improving e-safety not only in school but at home as well and encourage parents to set up filtering on their home internet. To learn how to do this for the major providers of internet please click the text below.

Setting up internet filtering and parental control

The internet is accessible in many ways, through laptops, computers, tablet, phones and even games consoles. In just a few simple steps you can keep your child safe and give them the awareness to know what to do if they encounter a situation which makes them uncomfortable.

Ask your child to show you the sites they use. In doing this you will be included in their online life and you can visit the sites later to check security and how to report any issues should they arise.
Remind your child to only have online friends they know and trust in the real world and remind them to never to give out their personal details such as, school, address or phone number.
Encourage your child to talk to you about the internet, so that if they encounter an uncomfortable situation they feel they can come to you if they are concerned.

We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work together to ensure the e-Safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.

It’s essential to be realistic - banning the internet or technology will not work and it often makes a child less likely to report a problem. Education around safe use is essential.

Here are some tips and useful links to help you to keep your children safe online:

Search engines
Please note that no search engine is ever 100% safe but below provides some links to some “safer” search engines:

Google offers a safer search option for children searching on the Internet. Click here to read more.

Image searching

Safe Image Search

Pics4Learning

Wikiforkids

Gaming

If not managed correctly, children using modern computer games consoles can be exposed to inappropriate content and have contact with numerous strangers online. Please read the 'Online Gaming' leaflet and use the PDFs below, to set up parental controls on your consoles at home.

Websites for more information:

	The UK Safer Internet Centre is coordinated by a partnership of three leading organisations; Childnet International, the South West Grid for Learning and the Internet Watch Foundation. It is co-funded by the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme and is one of the 31 Safer Internet Centres of the Insafe network. The centre has three main functions: an Awareness Centre, a Helpline and a Hotline
	Internet Matters is a new online portal designed for parents to access simple, easy and practical advice about online safety for their children, right through from pre-school to teens. It provides tips on protecting children from online grooming, cyberbullying, privacy and identity theft and inappropriate content. Internet Matters is a not-for profit organisation set up by BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.
	CEOP (The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) delivers a multi-agency service dedicated to tackling the abuse and exploitation of children in the real and ‘e’ world. Often it is referred to as an online 999. By clicking on the button, young people and parents can get advice on a range of issues such as viruses, hacking and dealing with bullying online.
	Think you know is a fabulous web resource brought to you by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre with information and guidance for parents, carers and teachers. It also has tailored content for children and young people. Interactive activities, videos and animation make this site a very useful one to explore together with you children.
	Kidsmart is an excellent website to explore to help with all aspects of online safety, including chat, gaming and safe search. One of the most useful aspects of the site is that it gives you clear help videos on how to set up internet controls, check privacy settings and enforce safe searching on your home computers.
Vodafone have produced a Digital Parenting Magazine which informs parents about the various technologies children are accessing today. There is information on Facebook settings, Xbox360 settings, jargon busting and many more 'How to Guides'. Well worth a read!