Online Safety
At Woden Primary School we aim to prepare young people for the digital world that they are being immersed into every day. It is important that they are educated and given the tools that are needed for them to be more resilient online and allow them to become constructive and self-aware members of the online world.
We deliver this through a robust computing curriculum that draws attention to online safety throughout their life at Woden Primary school.
We also have a focused group of young people known as “Digital Ambassadors” who are trained by our online safety training partner, Wider Learning, to allow them to advise the children in school how to be more resilient online and we have a group known as “Digital Ambassadors +” who also go into lessons in school to support the young people when working online in computing, engage with school governors and look at the policies of the school from the children’s perspective.
To compliment this we also have termly focus days and activities to raise awareness of Online Safety within school, Parent Workshops to share knowledge and awareness with the parents in our school community and a comprehensive monitoring system within the school which logs all of the online activity in school and allows us to ensure the safety of children and staff.
Finally, all staff complete a yearly training course focused on online safety and the dangers that the children may face so that they can share their knowledge and experience.
Know what your children are doing online and who they are talking to. Ask them to teach you to use any applications you have never used. Keeping the computer in a family room means that you can share your child’s online experience – and that they are less likely to act inappropriately (i.e. via webcam).
Help your children to understand that they should never give out personal details to online friends — personal information includes their messenger ID, email address, mobile number and any pictures of themselves, their family or friends. If your child publishes a picture or video online, anyone can change it or share it. Remind them that anyone may be looking at their images and one day a future employer could! If your child receives spam/junk email & texts, remind them never to believe them, reply to them or use them.
It’s not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don’t know. They won’t know what they contain — it could be a virus, or worse — an inappropriate image or film. Help your child to understand that some people lie online and therefore it’s better to keep online mates online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust.
Always keep communication open for a child to know that it’s never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable. Teach young people how to block someone online and how to report them if they feel uncomfortable.
Top Tips!
- Help your children to understand that they should never give out personal details to online friends they do not know offline.
- Explain to your children what information about them is personal: i.e. email address, mobile number, school name, sports club, arrangements for meeting up with friends and any pictures or videos of themselves, their family or friends. Small pieces of information can easily be pieced together to form a comprehensive insight in to their lives and daily activities.
- Make your children aware that they need to think carefully about the information and pictures they post on their profiles. Inform them that once published online, anyone can change or share these images of them.
- It can be easy to forget that the internet is not a private space, and as result sometimes young people engage in risky behaviour online. Advise your children not to post any pictures, videos or information on their profiles, or in chat rooms, that they would not want a parent or carer to see.
- If your child receives spam or junk email and texts, remind them never to believe their contents, reply to them or use them.
- It’s not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don’t know. They won’t know what they contain—it could be a virus, or worse – an inappropriate image or film.
- Help your child to understand that some people lie online and that therefore it’s better to keep online mates online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust.
- Always keep communication open for a child to know that it’s never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable.
Online Safety Poster Winners
To celebrate Safer Internet Day 2024 the children in KS2 were asked to create E-Safety posters to display around school. Here are the fantastic winning posters. Well done!
Our school has two teams of Digital Ambassadors who are all trained by online safety specialists from Wider Leaarning who meet with the children throughout the year and give them regular challenges and tasks to give them the knowledge and tools that they need in order to be able to support the children in school to be the best versions of themselves online.
Our Digital Ambassadors have been a fixture of our school community for four years and support young people in their computing lessons and help to run our Online Safety Events in school. They have delivered assemblies to Key Stages one and two and have spent days with nursery and reception talking to them all about staying safe online.
Digital Ambassadors + are our higher level of support within the school and are drawn from Year 6. They work closely with the schools Online Safety Lead, Senior Leadership Team and Governors to promote online safety in school and review school policies and produce display materials. They also meet with school governors, school inspectors and parents to share their knowledge and explain their roles within the school.
The programme includes four main areas: self-respect and respect for others, healthy habits, staying in control and maintaining positive relationships.
They have also supported in lessons around the school giving children advice and guidance about staying safe online.
At Woden we believe in empowering parents and carers with the information to hold an informed conversation about online safety with their children, should they feel it is needed. The following guides focus on games, software, devices and apps that your children my come into contact with. The guides offer advice and information for parents.
