Wednesday 15th November 2023

A big thank you to Ellen who came into school today to speak to our Key Stage 2 pupils and their parents about how to safe safe and healthy while we are online. 

Please find below the documents she shared in our assembly which is full of helpful advice and ways to find support for online safety.

These links will help you to stay safe on the internet.
You will also find information on bullying and cyber-bullying.
Parents will also be able to find information on keeping their children safe.

A free, safe and anonymous place for young people to access online support and free counselling 

This is the link to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Here you will find help and advice about keeping safe online.
You will also be able to make a report if something has happened to you online.
Just look for "Make a CEOP report link:

We cannot regulate the online access that pupils have outside school, but if an issue of cyber-bullying is reported to us, I feel we have a duty of care to become involved in managing the situation. There is clear guidance on the appropriate age ranges for certain online apps and I would like to draw your attention to these below.

WhatsApp recently announced a change to their terms and conditions for users based in Europe. Users need to be 16 years old to use WhatsApp. Nearly all other social media services require users to be at least 13 years of age to access and use their services. This includes Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Musical.ly and Skype.

Whilst there is no age restriction for watching videos on YouTube, users need to be 13 or older to have their own YouTube account (enabling them to subscribe to other channels, like videos, post comments, share their own content and flag inappropriate content).

The online world is a minefield for children and the situation has changed significantly in the last 10-15 years, as a whole range of unlimited content, both good and bad is a few clicks away. Once something has been posted on social media, it is very hard to get rid of.

I know you trust school to keep your children safe whilst they are at school and we will be working with all pupils through our computing curriculum and PSHE lessons to help them understand how to keep themselves safe online. We would appreciate your support with this at home and I would ask parents therefore, to be vigilant and monitor what children are posting online at this current time. Threatening and abusive content could result in police involvement if a child is over the age of 10.

I would also like to signpost an excellent resource that is available to parents on Purple Mash, called “Parenting in a Digital World” below.

Thank you for your continued support.