Online Safety and Safeguarding Statement

Educational settings have specific, statutory responsibilities to ensure and promote children’s safety and well-being; this also applies to the online environment. At Monkston Primary School, we recognise and fully understand our role in ensuring that all pupils and staff are given the necessary skills to become safe, responsible and confident online users. This also extends to parents through the notification of any online safety issues through the school newsletter and website. The Designated Online Safety Lead is Aimee Mills [Assistant Head].

Monkston Primary School adopts the key statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education published by the Department for Education in September 2016. The specific responsibilities, regarding online safety; include, but are not limited to:

•  A requirement for an effective child protection policy in place, together with a policy on Social Networking Sites & Personal Internet Presence for School Staff;
•  All staff are aware of the role of technology within abuse;
•  All staff recognise that abuse can be perpetrated by children themselves; and appropriate policies and procedures in relation to peer on peer abuse, including cyberbullying, are in place;
•  Ensuring that children are taught about online safety, through a variety of teaching and learning opportunities, as part of providing a broad and balanced curriculum;
•  All members of staff receive appropriate online safety training;
•  That leaders and managers ensure there is appropriate filtering and monitoring in place.

As well as this, the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS) 2017 sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. The specific responsibilities, regarding online safety; include, but are not limited to:

•  Educational programmes must guide children to make sense of their physical world and their community; including the use of technology;
•  Safeguarding policies must cover the use of mobile phones and cameras within the setting;
• All staff should be trained to recognise inappropriate behaviour displayed by other members of staff, including inappropriate sharing of images.

In line with the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance, leaders and managers at Monkston Primary School will ensure that they are aware of safe practice expectations and will proactively seek advice and support when developing online safety approaches for the pupils and other members of staff. As some online safety incidents could require child protection action or elements, the designated online safety lead will have an understanding of the school’s safeguarding procedures and has been trained to the level of deputy designated safeguarding lead.

For more information on the programme of online safety we teach at Monkston and the training of staff on the possibilities and risks of online abuse, please see our Safeguarding and Online Safety Policy below.

Online Safety Update! February 27th 2019

Today, parents and carers will have been emailed home a message in regards to the recent press coverage about an online 'challenge' pop up, which encourages children to carry out potentially dangerous challenges. This is known as the 'Momo Challenge' and has been linked to a number of sites and apps that we know our children are very familiar with (Whatsapp, Facebook, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Fortnite, Peppa Pig, etc)

Please take a look at the guide using the link below, produced by the National Online Safety Centre, for more information and top tips on how parents can help keep their children safe online. 

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/momo-online-safety-guide-for-parents/

Online Safety Update!

This week, we have had a number of assemblies in school all about how we can be safe when using the internet in the run up to national Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 5th February 2019.

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2019

Every class will follow an online safety programme of study during the course of the year, but it will be a particular focus next week with children taking part in role play scenarios, watching informative videos and completing tasks where they will learn about the possible risks and dangers when online (age appropriate), along with promoting the educational benefits and fun they can also have on the internet.

As a school, we often become quickly aware of the latest crazes with certain new apps, websites or computer games that sweep the nation and excite our children. We will always endeavour to help you stay up to date with these and help guide you through the possible risks and online implications. The National Online Safety Centre often has very useful tips and guides for you to download and read about new apps or games, along with general online safety advice - https://nationalonlinesafety.com/ 

Please see a letter below, which was sent out to all parents, with some helpful advice on keeping your children's devices secure and how you can try to protect your child when they are using search engines on the internet. We also included the following links to the National Online Safety Centre's newest guides on 'Battle Royale' (a free section of the hugely popular 'Fortnite' game) and 'Twitch' (a game-focused live-streaming service). 'Twitch' is a website where you can watch your favourite gamers play different games and give advice on strategy and playability. The links for these guides have also been included below -

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/fortnite-battle-royale-parents-guide/

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/twitch-online-safety-guide-for-parents/