Online Safety Advice

We receive information from various groups about the dangers of children being on line and accessing inappropriate websites and materials. When we have this information it will be posted on this page to keep you up to date.

National Online Safety App

You can get up to date information on online safety by subscribing to the National Online Safety app. Just put National Online Safety into your search bar for your apps and download. It will ask what school your child is at and for an email. if you enable notifications this will ensure you are sent important information regarding online safety.

CEOP

Child Exploitation and Online Protection

This is a very valuable site which gives parents, staff and children advice on what to do if they are worried about what their child is doing or interacting with online. Please use the link below for more information:

What parents and carers need to know about Shopping Platforms

This week's guide is all about the different shopping platforms that can be found online and advice for parents regarding their children's possible use of them.

What parents and carers need to know about energy drinks

This week's guide is all about energy drinks. I am always suprised about just what is in the drinks our children crave. This will give you the background you need to make informed decisions.

Clickbate

What parents and carers need to know about Clickbate.

Having Open Conversations with your child

The guide this week is regarding having open conversations with your child about their internet use. 

Tekken

Tekken is a game that originally started on the Playstation but has now moved to being an online entertity.

Bullying

This week's guide is all about what to do if your child is suffering from Bullying.

Helping children with self regulation

This week's online safety guide discusses how to help children with self regulation. It is well worth a read and we recommend these to parents.

Monkey

A parents guide to  Monkey - an online platform which allows users to video conference with others.

Undressed Song

This week Andrew Hall's safeguarding bulletin has highlighted the importance of children being aware of safe use of their phones and tablets and they have pointed to a song produced by the London Grid for Learning.

Please see this fun resource today to ensure your child is aware.

Instagram

The South West Grid for Learning have produced some valuable information about privacy settings and Instagram which are well worth reading.

Smartphone Safety Tips

As each year goes by technology becomes more advanced and smaller. Did you know that there is more computing power in the average smartphone that we carry in our pockets than there was to land men on the moon in 1969!

With this in mind the Wake Up Wednesday guide is a very useful one.

Free Speech versus Hate Speech

The guide this week looks at the difference between Free Speech and Hate Speech.

Setting Parental Controls 

The last online safety guide of this calendar year is about setting parental controls on new devices. I cannot stress how important this is for the safety of all of the children!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Tech free Christmas!

The online safety guide for Christmas is all about how children and young people can enjoy a tech free Christmas! It is possible!

Disney

What parents and carers need to know about Disney is the guide this week.

Black Friday

This week's Online Safety advice is all about Black Friday.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know About Smart TVs

The guide this week features the Smart TV, that useful device that most of us have in our homes.

Microtransactions

This week's Online Safety Guide is to do with Microtransactions.

X formally known as Twitter

This week's online safety guide concerns the social media platform X - formally known as Twitter.

Five Nights at Freddy's

This week's online safety guide is all about Five Nights at Freddy's.

EA Sports FC

What parents and carers need to know about EA Sports FC.

Online Safety support for parents

The Community Safety Team, within Public Health and Communities at Suffolk County Council, have produced a resource aimed at parents to support them in understanding and to raise awareness of Online Safety in relation to Preventing Radicalisation. 

Please see below:

Online Safety Guide: Upsetting Content

This week's guide is all about upsetting content and in view of the present situation in the Middle East this is very apr.

WhatsApp

Please see the recent guide from National Online Safety regarding WhatsApp.

This is something that we have found children are using more and more and it is well worth parents having the details at their fingertips.

The Dangers of Vaping

The guide from National Online Safety this week is regarding Vaping.

Information about Vaping

Increasingly, vaping is becoming more of an issue for our children. The disposable vapes look like sweets and seem aimed at young children. The information below from Action for Children contains some important information.

What Parents and Carers need to know about W App

W App, previously known as Slay, is the subject of the last guide of this academic year.

Stayng Safe Online during the summer

The last guide for this academic year advises how you and your child can stay safe online during the holidays!

Amino

This week's online safety guide is all about Amino.

AI Virtual Friends

This week's guide is all about AI Virtual Friends.

What parents and carers need to know about Anime

This week's guide from National Oneline Safety looks at Anime.

What Parents and Carers need to know about Influencers

This week's online safety guide has information about Influencers. In the main these people can be found on YouTube.

Looking after your wellbeing online

The contribution from National Online Safety this week is about looking after our children's wellbeing on line.

Telegram

This week's online safety advice is all about the communication app Telegram. It is far more likely that children will use newer type apps, such as this one, for their communication than the ones that their parents use. 

Safely Using Smart Watches

This week's guide is all about using Smart Watches safely! They are a wonderful tool but please remember if they are going to be worn at school they must not be able to connect to the internet nor must they be able to make calls or send texts.

WIZZ

This week's online safety guidance concerns the social media platform WIZZ. It is in some ways similar to a dating platform putting users in touch with each other. The app does use age verification but parents need to know about this!

What Parents & Carers Need to Know about OFCOM’s Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report 2023

A free online safety guide on OFCOM’s Children & Parents: Media Use & Attitudes Report 2023.

Ofcom’s annual ‘Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes’ report provides a comprehensive picture of how young people used and interacted with the internet in the preceding year. It’s a fascinating snapshot of what games and apps young people are currently favouring, how long they spend online and how tastes change at certain ages. 

While some of Ofcom’s latest findings will probably come as scant surprise (YouTube being by far the most popular platform among under-18s, for instance), other conclusions may raise an eyebrow or two. This special #WakeUpWednesday guide presents some of the report’s most eye-catching facts and figures in an accessible infographic format.

In the guide you'll find statistics and trends such as the current most popular platforms for young people and the proportion of children in each age group who play online games.

Two guides for you this week. One is regarding Echo Chambers while the second concerns Fortnite Chapter 4.

Top Tips for Passwords

This weeks guide involves online passwords. I think this information is relevant for parents as well as our children. I read it with interest and will be changing some of mine as a result!

Creating Safe Habits for Your Children on Line

Please see below for the latest information from the Online Safety team about developing safe habits when online.

What parents and carers need to know about I Pads.

The I Pad has become almost a normal part of family life with it or other tablets being available in nearly every home. This latest guide from National Online Safety, points to the advantages and the possible problems with using such devices.

Internet Watch Foundation

TALK

As I have mentioned before the school employs a tight filtering service which prevents children from accessing inappropriate materials.

At home you may have access to internet filtering and it is important that this is in place.

Each week we receive an update from Andrew Hall a children's Safeguarding specialist and this week he has highlighted the work of Internet Watch Foundation who have provided a checklist entitled TALK to support parents in keeping their homes safe. This site can be found by clicking the link below:

https://talk.iwf.org.uk/

I recommend that parents have a look at this and take appropriate action.

Online Safety Presentation

Please find below the online safety presentation offered on the 2nd March 2023. If you have any questions about the presentation or would like to know more please make an appointment to discuss this with Mr Cornish, our Headteacher and Online Safety lead.

NGL - Not Gonna Lie

Please find below the latest guide from National Online Safety. I had not even heard of NGL - Not Gonna Lie so it was an interesting read for me! If you are aware of any particular apps or sites that children are using and you want to know more about them please let the office know so we can pass this on to the experts at National Online Safety.

The pace of change is very fast so please come weekly to keep checking for information.

Spotify

Please find below information that you need to know with regard to your children's use of Spotify.

Artifical Intelligence

Over the past couple of weeks lots of information has come to light with regard to artificial intelligence and the various ways this can be used. This guide will help parents navigate this area.

If you click the CEOP button it will take you straight to their pages where you can report abuse.

Gaming

This week as well as having Internet Safety day on Tuesday with its theme of 'Talk About It' is also a mental health awareness week. It is all too tempting for parents and carers only to see a negative side to our children's fascination with the games that they play. This week's guide below discusses ten positive features of gaming which is important to bare in mind!

Internet Safety Day - Tuesday February 7th 2023

The theme of the day is Want To Talk About It? Making Space For Conversations About Life Online. On the day there will be an Assembly focusing on the theme and throughout the week children will undertake activities in their classes to ensure that they know the importance of communicating!

Below are some websites specifically for parents to advise them on how to have these conversations and generally about making sure children stay safe online.

Encouraging Open Conversations About Online Safety

Tuesday 7th February, 2023 in Internet Safety Day and the theme this year is Want To Talk About It - Making Space for Conversations About Life Online. This weeks alert from National Online Safety is particularly pertinent giving advice about this vitally important issue.

The internet is a wonderful environment for everyone to use but it has to be used safely and with all users aware of the possible threats and dangers. Having regular conversations about your child's online activities is a good way of making sure that they know the risks and keep themeselves safe.

Building Online Resilience

Please see the information below about building online safety resilience for your children. The information comes from the National Online Safety as part of their regualar weekly updates.

Twitter

Please see the file below for what parents and carers need to know about Twitter.

World of Warcraft

Please find below advice on the World of Warcraft game from the Online Safety hub.

Benefits and the dangers of Gaming

The world of Gaming is not all negative. Please see the link below from the SWGFL (South West Grid for Learning) which discusses the benefits as well as the risks of Gaming.

Fortnite and the Battle Royale Feature

The internet matters organisation have published information for parents regarding the use of the Battle Royale feature on Fortnite, it is well worth a read.

Facebook's Metaverse

Please see the link to the NSPCC which deals with the dangers of Facebook's metaverse with their use of Virtual Reality headsets.

Using New Devices

Advice from National Online Safety on using new devices! It would be great to share this with your child!

Parental Controls

With Christmas fast approaching it is a good idea to ensure that all new devices as well as those which your children already have, have appropriate parental controls set up. The NSPCC provide some valuable information on how to do this.

There is also advice from the National Online Safety Platform. Please see below for their document.

Using social media has plenty of potential benefits for young people: it helps them stay connected to their friends, hear contrasting views on the world, find reassurance or support, and ease social anxiety. It also brings, however, a corresponding number of negative possibilities – including compulsive use, unhealthy comparisons with others online and exposure to harmful content.

Ironically – for a medium designed to enable engagement with other people – social platforms can actually lead to children feeling increasingly isolated and lonely, taking an obvious toll on their mental wellbeing. 

Andrew Hall Safeguarding

Andrew Hall provides valuable information to schools on a weekly basis regarding issues with regard to online safety. This week he has published this information with regard to TikTok:

TikTok has now raised its Livestreaming Age Requirement to 18 (BBC News)  
TikTok has frequently been called out for its glaring failures to protect under 18s which use its service. With its flashy images, easily digestible content and ‘childlike’ feel it has always been popular among school aged children. A fact which has made its safeguarding failures all the more worrying. The platform’s attempt to ban under 18s seems to be unfeasible however, and so it is as important as ever to be aware of its usage in the classroom. In particular, its gift function can easily be manipulated in order to commit criminal acts against children. As such wariness around the app should not be lowered as a result. To find out more about what motivated their decision, and its potential outcomes head over to the page linked below: 

Please find below some information from the LGFL (London Grid for Learning) this contains valuable advice for parents regarding keeping your children safe online.