Keeping Children Safe Online
It is essential that children are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material, and at Bramcote College we view online safety as a priority and as a crucial part of modern education. Schools have a remit not only to ensure good practice in school but also to deliver the education required to allow children to make critical judgements and keep themselves safe when using the Internet outside the school environment.
We focus on teaching students about being safe online, and how to conduct themselves appropriately on different platforms. The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable and ever evolving. It is important for everyone (parents, carers, children, and staff) to recognise that children can be subjected to a number of concerns online, which can be categorised into four areas of risk (the 4 C’s):
- Content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate, or harmful content.
For example: pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation, and extremism. - Contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users.
For example: peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes. - Conduct: online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm.
For example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g. consensual and nonconsensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and/or pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying. - Commerce: risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams.
It is vitally important that students and parents are aware of these areas of concern online so we can all work together to safeguard children better. We educate against these and raise further awareness in tutor time and assemblies when necessary. Educating children about these matters empowers them to report any concerns whether via school or the support mechanisms that are signposted to them, such as CEOP | Child Exploitation and Online Protection - Safety Centre
We have put together this section for parents and carers, containing information and links to resources produced by different organisations on a range of topics, from guides to different popular apps to information on keeping your details safe and private. When discussing safeguarding and children’s Internet usage, the feedback we receive is that many parents are unaware of what their children could be accessing online, what the latest apps and trends are, and what tools they can use to help their children use the Internet safely.
Technology
Real-time monitoring and reporting
As part of our commitment to protecting our students we use Senso’s real-time management and monitoring products to help us provide a rich, yet safe, digital learning environment for our students in line with Ofsted's recommended approach. The software's intelligent monitoring features provide an additional layer of protection on top of a standard firewall, and allow us to provide much more protection than traditional basic filtering, while allowing young people to learn how to navigate the online world safely and assess risk for themselves. Keyword detection and real-time monitoring by the software, our teachers and our specialised IT staff help us identify vulnerable students, viewing anything that has been flagged within the wider context of a student's behaviour, and high level filtering and content blocking help to ensure material deemed inappropriate is not accessible.
Firewall and filtering
In addition to the intelligent real-time monitoring provided by Senso, we use a separate industry leading firewall and filtering system designed specifically for education, providing real-time categorisation for all web content that ensures content delivered to students and staff is safe, legal and appropriate and assists in the detection of new and emerging safeguarding threats.
Advice and Education
Teenage years, in and out of school, can be difficult and stressful time, although children may not always show or share it. If you have any questions or need support, please do not hesitate to get in touch with school via email. You can email the school directly or encourage your child to email their teachers who are regularly in touch setting work.
An area we all need to be mindful of is the increased exposure and reliance on online platforms both for work and for social purposes. Children can become particularly vulnerable online if we do not supervise or monitor their usage, even on apps that appear 'safe' such as YouTube. Key apps to monitor and be mindful of are Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to name a few, although the list is ever-growing as new apps enter the market. Keep checking and asking who children are following, or who they have received follow requests from. If they do not know them in person, it is hard to justify a connection online.
National Online Safety
In school, we use and share resources from National Online Safety, a multi award winning and comprehensive online safety programme designed to make the internet a safer place for children and help schools meet statutory safeguarding and curriculum requirements. Their resources are constantly updated to alert schools, parents and children to current online dangers and identify appropriate preventive and reactive measures.
Sign up for FREE guides and resources
Parents can sign up to view resources and guides for free only using our enrolment link. If you sign up without our link, there will be a cost for the resources.
All parents have been sent the enrollment link. If you have any issues, please contact the school and we will re-send it.
Once enrolled, some of the most popular and useful indtoductory courses for parents are as follows, presented by Myleene Klass:
An Introduction to Online Safety for Parents of Children Aged 7-11
Annual Award in Online Safety for Parents & Carers of Children aged 11-14
An Introduction to Online Safety for Parents of Children Aged 14-18
Anyone can also access free material by following on social media, where they publish guides and help to everything from apps, trends, help with online dangers and abuse, and current affairs.
National Online Safety - Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Other resources
You can research and read up on Internet Safety and Online Awareness at the following links:
Internet matters
For support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
https://www.internetmatters.org
London Grid for Learning
For support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
https://www.lgfl.net/online-safety
Net-aware
For support for parents and careers from the NSPCC
https://www.net-aware.org.uk
Parent info
For support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
https://parentinfo.org
Thinkuknow
For advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk
UK Safer Internet Centre
Advice for parents and carers
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers
CEOP Safety Centre
Report concerns to the police
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre
