Online Safety
Please do speak to us if you have any concerns about anything your child is doing or experiencing on the internet.
At Whingate Primary School, we know how important staying safe is. Safe and responsible use of the internet is something which is growing in importance; our curriculum at Whingate promotes online safety and teaches the children ways to keep themselves safe, and what to do if something happens.
Parents and carers- you play a crucial role in empowering and supporting you child / children to use digital technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively.
Online safety is a key part of our curriculum for both Computing and Personal, Social and Health Education. In Computing, there is a unit dedicated to Online Safety through the whole school Purple Mash programme (please see Computing tab for more information), and in PSHE, it is covered throughout the units where appropriate. This is a safe forum where the children can ask advice and voice any issues or concerns. If there are any issues that arise, these are dealt with quickly and we seek professional advice where needed so that we are giving the correct messages to our young people.
In addition to this, whole school assemblies are dedicated to keeping safe online, and we recently held a 'Safer Internet' assembly where children discussed appropriate ways to use the internet, how to keep themselves safe, and what to do if they feel something unsafe happens.
Please click the link below to watch the short video, which was shared during assembly:
The 4 Cs of Online Safety
The 4 Cs
Contact: Being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users.
Content: Engaging with or being exposed to potentially harmful content (websites, videos, images that are not age appropriate).
Conduct: Witnesses, or participates in posting/sharing/messaging people in an inappropriate or harmful way.
Commerse: Risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams.
Please visit the Safeguarding page for more information about popular online games and social media sites.
How to keep your child safe online:
This is a CEOP video that provides useful information about keeping your child safe on the internet.
If you're worried about something a child or young person may have experienced online, you can contact the NSPCC helpline for free support and advice on 0808 800 5000.
Parental Controls Information
Please see below steps that will help you set up parental controls to provide your child with a safer online environment. Parental controls can help to protect your child from seeing something that they shouldn’t - although it is important to emphasise that no system is effective all of the time so it is important to engage with your child and talk to them about their online life regularly.
Internet Legends Assembly - 21.04.23
On Friday 21st April, we have an exciting assembly linked to Online Safety. Rachel Reeves (local MP) is going to visit school and deliver the assembly from Be Internet Legends, which is a multifaceted programme developed by Google and Parent Zone, helping primary school children become safer, more confident explorers of the online world. The assembly will take the pupils on an interactive educational adventure, helping them better understand disinformation, scams and search engines as part of a focus on media literacy - as well as taking a look at the fundamental pillars of the programme.
Useful Links
The following links provide useful guidance about Online Safety with helpful tips to keep your child / children safe:
www.internetmatters.org Lots of useful advice for parents on a range of issues including cyber bullying, online reputations and online grooming. There is also a link to a useful ‘guide for parents’.
www.ceop.police.uk The official site of the National Crime Agency’s CEOP (formerly the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre), containing advice and useful information and a link for reporting online abuse, exploitation or inappropriate images.
www.nspcc.org.uk NSPCCs own website with lots of safety advice including video to watch with your children and a link to their work with O2.