At Christ the Saviour we recognise that online safety is both a safeguarding duty and an essential part of the curriculum in preparing children to become educated citizens in a global world.

Online Safety Policy

We aim for pupils to be able to use the internet responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively.

Filtering

The main filtering system in place is provided through LGFL for all devices accessing the internet via the school network. Through the use of Webscreen the school regularly update our bespoke LGFL filter settings as a result of our ongoing risk assessments and circumstances. In addition to the filtering in place for devices used at school, our chromebooks are all set to the Google Safe Search setting and additional filters are put in place through the Google Admin.

Monitoring

We have a range of monitoring strategies and systems in place including physical monitoring, internet and web access monitoring via Gsuites as well as a cloud based safeguarding and monitoring software which helps us monitor pupils’ online activity through their school accounts. This monitoring system enables us to provide early intervention for pupil safeguarding issues and helps us to support pupils to learn from their mistakes quickly and safely.

Curriculum

As a school, we aim to ensure that online safety is woven into the curriculum to promote a culture where children talk openly about what they view online.We aim to teach pupils about the educational content of online platforms as well as the potential risks that can be encountered online.

Throughout their time at Christ the Saviour children are guided to appropriate routes of online support and they are encouraged to build and develop the language to use when reporting online incidents. In KS1, pupils learn the S.A.F.E acronym (see below) and then the S.M.A.R.T acronym in KS2 when their understanding of E Safety becomes broader and they start becoming more independent in their use of technology.

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Digital Leaders

Digital leaders are children within UKS2 who have shown an interest in technology and want to take on a leadership role within the school. All pupils are invited to apply for the role by filling out an application form listing what they want to achieve by being a digital leader. 

Once selected the children complete a structured training to support them to go on to educate their peers, parents and teachers about staying safe online. 

After the training, children work hard to raise awareness about internet safety throughout the school. They do this by presenting assemblies, conducting surveys and giving feedback to senior staff as well as being a positive influence and ensuring they are role models in being kind, respectful, creative and responsible when using technology.

Below, you can see the assembly our Year 5 and 6 digital leaders have created for pupils to support Safer Internet Day 2023. The video encourages children to start conversations about what they do online, sharing what they enjoy about the internet as well as what frustrates or worries them. Being able to talk about our online lives is an important step to making sure we are safe online and can recognise unsafe behaviour.

For Pupils

Below you can find some helpful E-safety tips created by our Digital Leaders:

Tip 1: Digital Leaders Tip 1 – Recognising Reliability “Become internet detectives and look for clues to see if the website can be trusted and if it is providing reliable information.”

Tip 2: Digital Leaders Tip 2 – Privacy Settings “Be aware of the location settings of your devices. Remember to switch them off when not in use, and always check the permissions of an app when downloading it. Look to see if it has access to your location even if it does not relate to the app.”

Tip 3: Digital Leaders Tip 3 – Be Yourself “Remember that it’s ok to be different. You don’t have to be forced into doing things you don’t like. People should understand it’s ok to be different so they should be themselves and be proud of it.”

Tip 4: Digital Leaders Tip 4 – Stay Safe  “We should not be messaging people online if have never met them and/or don’t know them that well in person. Always tell a parent or trusted adult about any communication or conversation you have online that was scary or hurtful.”

Keep a look out for these new posts which will be there to help keep our school community safe online.

Please use the child-friendly links below to learn more about safer internet use :

•    Think You Know

Thinkuknow is the education programme from NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children both online and offline. They provide tailored content for children and young people. Interactive activities, videos and animations make this site a very useful one for families to explore together.

•   BBC Own It

For Parents

As well as wanting to continually improve our e-Safety provision within school, we also understand the importance of supporting parents in being able to provide this at home as well. The DfE have published their own guidance for parents and below we have gathered together a few of the most helpful online resources that will help parents navigate internet safety at home.

1. UK Safer Internet Centre – Issues

They provide a breakdown of potential online risks into 4 categories and explain each of them.

Safer Internet advice 

2. UK Safer Internet Centre – Parental controls for internet providers

Filters are an essential tool in reducing the chances of children coming across something upsetting when using the internet at home. For the four major internet providers in the UK, here is a link to learn how to apply these filters in the home.

 Safer Internet Centre 

3. Ask about Games – Parental controls for devices

By following these helpful guides by ‘Ask about Games’ parents can easily use parental controls and age ratings to limit of the types of content that the family can access online, and how long they can spend online.

Ask games parent controls

4. Net-Aware – Informed choices on apps to use

Net-Aware, produced by O2 and NSPCC, is a guide for parents to the most popular sites, apps and games that young people use. Using reviews from adults and children, it helps you decide if a site is right for your child, if it’s age appropriate and explores what risks they might encounter.

Net aware

5. CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre)

CEOP is a law enforcement agency and is here to keep children and young people safe. Use this link to report any serious E-safety incidents.

CEOP