Please click on the links below for information and ideas about how to keep your child safe online.
Safeguarding
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Mrs Ashleigh Tubbs
Designated Safeguarding Lead
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Mrs Emma Williams
Deputy Safeguarding Lead
The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for our school is:
Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.
The information is given in strict confidence to a school’s Key Adult to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child.
Further information about the scheme is included in the poster and letter below and also on the Operation Encompass website.
http://www.operationencompass.org
eSafety Resources
ThinkuKnow
Find the latest information on the sites you like to visit, mobiles and new technology. Find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it. If you look after young people there’s an area for you too – with resources you can use in the classroom, at home or just to get with it. Most importantly, there’s also a place which anyone can use to report if they feel uncomfortable or worried about someone they're chatting to online.
Other Useful Web Sites for Parents
www.childnet-int.org - A non-profit making organisation working directly with children, parents and teachers to ensure that the issues of online child protection and children’s safe and positive use of the internet are addressed. Childnet International produce an online CD guide specifically for parents KnowITAll - www.childnet-int.org/kia/
www.getsafeonline.org/ A beginners guide to using the Internet safety, including a quiz and some video tutorials about how to ‘stay safe’ on-line.
www.kidsmart.org.uk/ - Kidsmart is an award winning internet safety website for parents and those working with children. It has been developed by the children's internet charity Childnet International and has excellent information on many of the technologies used by children, with guidance on how to ‘stay safe’ online.
www.bullying.co.uk - One in five young people have experienced bullying by text message or via email. This web site gives advice for children and parents on bullying.
www.chatdanger.com/ - This website is about the potential dangers with interactive services online like chat, IM, online games, email and on mobiles. It provides information, advice, true stories and games. The resource page also contains a number of links to other useful websites.
https://www.internetmatters.org/
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ (especially good for advice on different websites and applications)
http://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers
In addition there are a number of useful guides here: https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides
Reporting Online Abuse
The Child Exploitation and On-Line Protection Command (CEOP) is a branch of the National Crime Agency.
If you are you worried about online sexual abuse or the way someone has been communicating online you can file a report with one of their Child Protection Advisers. www.ceop.police.uk
Further Advice
Parents can help protect their children online with these tips based on advice from the NSPCC and CEOP:
- Regularly talk with them to find out what sites they are visiting and what applications they like to use to talk with friends.
- Keep your son/daughter's computer in a communal area such as a living room. Never let them keep it in their bedroom. If possible, do not allow younger pupils to have a webcam on their personal computer.
- Agree to keep phones/tablets in the living room overnight (rather than in their bedrooms).
- Ideally negotiate being given your son/daughter's password(s) (perhaps kept in a sealed envelope).
- Discuss the dangers of giving out information online. Not only in webchats or emails but on any personal profiles. Information can sometimes be read or downloaded without their knowledge, such as personal photographs they have posted of themselves as part of their profile including information on where the photo was taken.
- Tell your child to be honest about their age and tell them they must never lie to gain access to popular networking sites aimed at over 16s.
- Ask your son/daughter to explain/show their current privacy settings to you for the websites and applications they use. Both Childnet and Net Aware have regularly updated advice on best practice privacy settings for all major websites and applications.
National Anti-Bullying Week
As part of this year’s National Anti-Bullying campaign, the children of Branscombe CE Primary School considered how they and those around them could use their “Power for Good” to stop bullying from happening. The children considered different types of bullying and the impact these can have and they thought about the roles of teachers, parents, children and others in preventing bullying from happening. The children of Class 1 then made posters about these different types of bullying, with the message to “Stop Bullying” and the children of Class 2 worked in pairs or groups to create a comic-style storyboard about different bullying scenarios and how people might use their power for good to stop these from happening or bring an end to bullying.
Safer Internet Day
Class 2 celebrated Safer Internet Day by completing a range of activities around the theme of "The Power of Image". The children discussed the first impressions they might get of someone from a picture. They looked at different images to recognise how seeing part of a picture can distort our view of what is happening. They explored a range of images to discuss which were real and which were fake and noticed that it can sometimes be quite hard to tell when images have been altered. They looked at images and talked about how sometimes these can give people personal information about the subject. They discussed the importance of seeking permission before taking photographs of people and checking how these can be used and also the importance of being careful with images of themselves. Finally, the children were challenged to consider images that they might post online to represent themselves, without giving away any personal information that may not be safe.
On Thursday 10th May, the Key Stage 2 children of Branscombe Church of England Primary School were visited by former police officer Gary Gates to support their learning about internet safety. Gary, who used to be involved as a police officer in identifying and addressing dangers on the Internet, led first the Year 3 and 4 children and then the Year 6 children in workshops, in which he discussed with the children what they knew about the Internet. “I never say not to use the Internet”, Gary remarked, “as I think it is a wonderful thing”. However, in the course of the quizzes, conversations and stories that he shared with the children, there were some clear messages for them about how to be wise and careful and avoid any threats to their safety caused by communicating with unknown people on the Internet or sharing personal information. In the after-school session for parents, there were also some cautionary tales, including a clear message to read terms and conditions carefully. Gary set the children homework to ask their parents if they were aware that any images posted on Facebook become the property of the website. He advised parents also against allowing the children unsupervised access to sites such as Youtube. To the children, Gary’s message was that they need to take care of their own safety on the Internet and could also help to protect members of their family, such as younger siblings. He left the children with the slogan, “Think before you click, think before you tap, think before you post, think before you share.”