Online
Safety
The internet has revolutionised the way children are spending their free time. It has become an integral part of children’s education and is taught regularly through the Curriculum. We believe that internet safety should be a community approach and are always eager to educate both our children and their families in ways they can stay safe online.
When children are in school, they are kept safe on the internet in a number of ways. We have an industry standard firewall that protects the network from all sorts of advanced threats, backed up by a web filtering solution designed to stop access to websites that aren’t suitable for children. It does this by using a series of banned categories and also connects to the Internet Watch Foundation (https://www.iwf.org.uk/our-technology/our-services/) to prevent access to unwanted imagery. Keyword monitoring is carried out using Smoothwall Monitor software installed on computers, which scans anything that the children type in real-time, and sends alerts to senior members of staff.
At Home
We all know about how important the internet is to each of us and is increasingly important to our children. Keeping children safe online is not as simple as removing the devices that they use. We need to educate them on how to use them safely. After all it is an important way for them to play, learn, socialise and express themselves.
The most important method that you can adopt is to be open and honest with each other. Regularly talk about what sites have been visited, what they have been doing on the internet and let them know that you will check.
We will be sending further information via the school website and newsletters. Also, feel free to check out the links available for more resources.
At School
As part of all the children’s continued Curriculum they receive at least 1 detailed e-safety session every half term. Where possible all computing sessions are linked to elements of the online safety curriculum too.
We believe at Woodhouse that the internet and advancing technology is a significant importance to all children and we like to think that we are preparing all of our children for future technology which may not have even been invented yet.
We like to think that instead of avoiding the issues we discuss openly how all our children can reduce the risks they take online and should something happen they know what to do about it.
Should there be any issues regarding internet safety then please feel free to come and speak to a member of staff who will be happy to help or direct you to someone who can.
7 questions is a resource from National Online Safety to help start a conversation with children about online safety.