Online Safety
Online Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at Ilmington School. We have security measures in place to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. We are proactive in assessing and improving our approach to online safety and how to best educate our children, staff and families in the most up to date and innovative ways. We use the 360 Online Safety Review tool as part of this process.
Any Online Safety incidents are managed in accordance with our Online Safety Policy.
Online Safety is taught to all pupils - explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online. For this, we use the award winning scheme Project Evolve which contains the following strands:
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Self Image and Identity
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Online Relationships
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Online Reputation
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Online Bullying
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Managing Online information
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Health Well-being and Lifestyle
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Privacy and Security
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Copyright and Ownership
Ilmington School has an active and ambitious Online Safety Committee.
Ilmington participates in national Online Safety campaigns and events and promotes safety on the internet as a regular feature of our daily life in school.
Safer Internet Day is a global campaign which promotes the safe use of the internet for all children. Ilmington participate in this every year. Click here to find out more.
We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the Online Safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.
It is also 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.
CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection).
CEOP is an organisation run by the NCA (National Crime Agency), and is therefore government run. They are tasked with keeping children (and adults) safe while online. As well as offering many resources to educate children in this area, they are also somewhere where safety concerns can be raised if required.
CEOP helps any child or young person under the age of 18 who is being pressured, forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity of any kind. This can be something that has taken place either online or in ‘the real world’, or both. The CEOP Safety Centre has clear information and advice on what can be reported to CEOP, the reporting process and what will happen if you do decide to make a report. You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre and make a report directly to CEOP by clicking the Click CEOP button. If you are experiencing online bullying or something else online has worried you please speak to an adult you trust, or you can talk to Childline at any time on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.
We teach the children in KS2 about this ‘report’ feature (while encouraging them to speak to an adult and complete it together wherever possible) and have included a link to it below so that parents can familiarise themselves with it too. You will also see the link on various social networking and messaging websites.
For more information please click here.
Search engines
Please note that no search engine is ever 100% safe. Ilmington has substantive security controls on all devices which children and adults use. Children are always monitored when using Search Engines and the message of "tell an adult", when something doesn't 'feel right' is reinforced through our online safety learning in school.
Swiggle is our recommended 'child-safe' search engine for use at home. Click here to discover more.
Parental Controls
Qustodio Parental Control Software.
This free parental controls software allows parents to:
- Monitor chat
- Block harmful content from search results
- Limit the time spent online and on devices
- Restrict games or applications on devices
- Track a device
- See who a child calls or texts most
- Prevent access to mature or adult sites
- View and manage activities from anywhere
- Protect and monitor without children knowing
To find out more information about Qustudio, please click here.
Useful websites
There are also a number of websites and videos designed to be shared at home to give parents the opportunity to discuss online safety issues with their children.
They cover:
- Cyberbullying
- The digital footprint
- Identity and self-esteem
- Relationships and grooming
- Security and privacy
- Sexting
Click on the links below
Further Information
Internet Matters Guide for Parents - Ages 0-5
Internet Matters Guide for Parents - Ages 6-10
Internet Matters Guide for Parents - Ages 11-13
Ilmington School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff, governors, visitors and parents to share this commitment.