Parents
Digital Parenting
The role that we as parents play in supporting our children to develop the life skills and knowledge they need to use the online world safely and confidently, is crucial.
As our children grow and inhabit an online world that can sometimes be very different to the one we use, we may require support and advice in order to keep them safe.
Please click here (appendix 1 - Digital Parenting 6 NEW) to download Parent Zone's digital parenting magazine to help support you in ensuring that your child/children stay safe online.
Online Safety & Digital Awareness in School
Online Safety is integral to our responsibility to ensure that children are kept safe in school. Digital parenting is also a key aspect to maintaining children’s safety at home.
The development of children’s digital awareness is woven throughout the Computing curriculum and also forms a part of our RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) provision.
The Inspire Partnership has identified that the teaching of computing and use of technology is to be a priority as part of our curriculum. As we move technology forward as a Trust, our strategy is to achieve the following for all pupils:
-
Improve children’s engagement in lessons
-
Help children adapt to different learning styles
-
Provide a secure and safe environment for online use
-
Be prepared for the digital world
As the high-tech world advances in telecommunications, it is imperative that we all work together, both at school and home, to ensure that Online Safety is paramount and at the very core of all use of digital resources. As a school, we are very mindful of how important it is to ensure that our children are fully aware of how to use the internet safely. We do this by embedding e-safety lessons throughout our curriculum and by talking about issues surrounding the internet through circle time sessions and assemblies. It is important that we teach our children to communicate with respect and kindness in real life and online, and also that we show them that we are working together on this.
Please find below and attached some very useful resources to help you remain vigilant at home.
Childnet have produced a leaflet designed to support parents to have those tricky conversations about life online.
"As a parent or carer, the best tool to support your child in leading a safe and positive life online is open conversation. This leaflet includes practical advice and conversation starters to help you discuss the online world with your child. Whether you are approaching these conversations for the first time, or you have already made a start, this advice can help you to support your child to use technology in a happy and healthy way."
Childnet International - Lets talk about life online
Parent Zone offers advice and support to parents and carers to help children be safer online, develop resilience to cope with online challenges and help educate them for their digital futures. There is a specific parent area of the website where tips and information from experts about parenting in the digital world can be found.
The top articles include:
-
The six apps and services that every parent should know about.
-
A guide for parents to some of the most popular apps children use online.
-
Screen time: everything you need to know
-
Low mood - or something else
Parent Zone - Top articles on digital parenting
There is also a comprehensive parental guide section which gives information and safety advice on many popular games and apps including; Fortnite, Disney+, Clash of Clans and Roblox.
PARENT ZONE - PARENT GUIDES
Thinkuknow and the National Cyber Security Centre have worked together to give advice about how families can make small changes to the security of online accounts and devices to better protect them from online scams. ‘Cyber security is the way we reduce the risk of becoming a victim of cyber crime. Cyber crime is criminal activity that either targets or uses digital technology, like a computer, a computer network or a mobile device, in order to steal money or information to sell on.
For example:
-
Phishing, where bogus emails asking for security information and personal details
-
Malicious software, through which criminals hijack files and hold them to ransom
-
Hacking to get information, including social media and email password
Cyber security is about protecting the devices we use and the services we access online. It’s also about preventing unauthorised access to the personal information we store on these devices, and online.
Thinkuknow | Cyber Security: a guide for parents and carers
Please also find below a selection of helpful tips to guide parents through the privacy settings of different social media apps. You can find more information on their website Internetmatters.org
If you would like to discuss any of the information given, or learn more about our digital and online safety, please do speak with the School Office to make an appointment with one of our school leaders.
Safer Internet Day
Our school takes part in Safer Internet Day which includes differentiated assemblies and activities across the school. This year, our Digital Leaders led the assembly as part of the Junior Leadership Team.
We have also held workshops across KS1 and KS2, specifically with year 6 children linked to the appropriate use of social networking. In KS1, children are draw into discussions through the use of texts and narrative such as ‘Digi-Duck’s Dilemma’.
Children in Year 6 explore social media and social networking through the discussion of privacy settings and appropriate online behaviours whilst interacting with social media platforms.
Digital Awareness within the Classroom
We employ a range of texts and narratives to engage the children in discussions about their learning. These carefully selected texts are applicable across key stages and each explore different aspects of our digital world.
Children in Year 5, for example, explored the text ‘When Charlie McButton Lost Power’ by Suzanne Collins.
The narrative engages children with the implications of our increasing use of technology for our personal relationships and questions whether the impact this has on us is always positive.
The children analysed the feelings, thoughts and actions of Charlie McButton and this stimulated a debate about the role of technology in our everyday lives.
Children have also engaged with Google’s ‘Interland’ which forms part of their ‘Be Internet Awesome’ campaign. This gave the children the opportunity to enhance their digital literacy skills by assessing and evaluating online behaviours across a range of online scenarios.
Additional Links
To find out more about E-Safety please click here.
To view our E-Safety policy please click here.
To view our letter with social media advice for parents please click here
Here are some helpful links on E-Safety: