Keeping safe online
We at Blaendulais Primary School, we believe that it is vitally important that parents/guardians and children are aware of the positives and negatives that being online can bring for our children. The internet can be a great tool for education, however, it can also have safety issues that we should all be aware of.
E-Safety: In our ever-evolving digital world, children have more online platforms to communicate on than ever. It’s imperative that we all have the knowledge and understanding of how to best support and protect our children online. We teach our pupils that if they ever feel uncomfortable online, they should report it to a responsible adult immediately and not respond to the situation. Pupils are also made aware of the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) report button/logo and know how to use it to report any worrying incidents online. Below are links to websites that offer information on keeping your child safe online, setting up parental controls, and understanding the legal age restrictions for different social media platforms. We hope you find these helpful:
Keeping children safe online | NSPCC
Support for parents and carers to keep children safe online – GOV.UK
Keep Children Safe Online: Information, advice, support – Internet Matters
Keeping children safe online | Barnardo’s
Taking control of your online safety | Childline
The importance of internet and digital communications
The purpose of Internet access in school is to raise educational standards, to support the professional work of staff and to enhance the school’s management information and business administration systems.
Access to the Internet is a necessary tool for staff and students. It helps to prepare students for their on-going career and personal development needs. It is a requirement of the National Curriculum (NC) orders for ICT and is implied in other subject orders.
Internet use to enhance learning
Internet access is provided by Neath Port Talbot CBC (ICT Learning and Support) and designed for pupils. This includes filtering appropriate to the content and age of pupils. Internet access is planned to enrich and extend learning activities. Access levels are reviewed to reflect the curriculum requirement.
Pupils are given clear objectives for Internet use:
- Staff select sites which support the learning outcomes planned for pupils’ age and maturity.
- Pupils are taught how to take responsibility for their own Internet access.
- Pupils are taught how to evaluate Internet content.
- Pupils are taught ways to validate information before accepting that it is necessarily accurate.
- Pupils are taught to acknowledge the source of information, when using Internet material for their own use.
- Pupils are made aware that the writer of an e-mail or the author of a Web page might not be the person claimed.
- Pupils are encouraged to tell a teacher immediately if they encounter any material that makes them feel uncomfortable.
