This page contains information relating to child safety and the Internet.
This is our slideshow from an Act of Worship where we learnt about the online safety links on our website.
Online Safety (formerly known as e-Safety) Information
- Safer Internet Day Latest Information
- Safer Internet Day Tuesday 6th February 2018 link to SID TV
- Safer Internet Day Tuesday 6th February 2018 top tips for parents & carers
- Meet our Cyber Safety Team 2017/2018
- Cyber Safety Team script from their Worship presentation
- Cyber Safety Team script from their Worship presentation June 2
- November 2018 Digital Wellbeing – Guidance for Parents
- June 2018 – Online challenges (advice for parents)
- January 2018 – Advice for parents on what to do if your child sees something upsetting online
- 31st January 2018 Online Safety Webinar – Parents & Carers please register via this link
- Our Online Safety Policy
- Our Image Use Policy
- School guide for parents regarding use of images online
- NEW MARCH 2019 – Instagram revised online safety guide for parents & carers
- NEW MARCH 2019 – TikTok (formerly known as Musical.ly) revised guide for parents & carers
- NEW MARCH 2019 – Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) safety guide for parents & carers
- NEW SEPTEMBER 2017 – Digital 5 a Day – Guide for parents
- NEW SEPTEMBER 2017 – Start School Safe Online #oneword
- NEW JULY 2017 – Advice for parents and carers on cyberbullying
- NEW JULY 2017 – Cyberbullying: Advice for headteachers and school staff
- NEW JUNE 2017 – ‘Be Internet Awesome’ – new google resource to help KS2 children make smart decisions online#esafety
- NEW MAY 2017 – NSPCC launch new tools to help parents ensure children are ‘#shareaware’
- NEW MAY 2017 – ‘What’s the problem?’ A guide for parents of children & young people who have got in trouble online
- NEW MARCH 2017 – Body image and self esteem tips for children and young people – download free parent guide.
- NEW MARCH 2017 – Childline launches new ‘For Me’ app to support young people via their smartphone. This new app provides uto young people in need of help directly through their mobile devices. The app has been named ‘For Me’ to ensure that it can be discreetly installed, this means that if someone happens to see the young person’s phone they can’t tell it’s a Childline service. This app has been created by 4 teenagers who realised there was an urgent need for young people to have easy access to confidential advice and support. The app, developed in partnership with Barclays, is now available as a free download by clicking here so young people can easily access Childline’s online services which include: 1 to 1 chat with a counsellor, ‘Ask Sam’ problem pages and a private locker – a personal area where young people can track their mood and write down their thoughts.
- JULY 2016: Pokemon Go App Information for Parents
- NEW MAY 2016 – Guidance from Kent Online Safety: What can parents/carers do to help children keep safe online? Follow the “Gold”en Rules
- NEW MAY 2016 – Guidance from Kent Online Safety: 5 Steps to a safer ooVoo
- NEW JANUARY 2016 – Cybersense a new App for Parents/Carers from Internet Matters by kentesafety.CyberSense is Intern Matters new app designed to help parents and carers talk about online safety issues with their children to ensure that they make smart choices to stay safe online. The app is aimed at children aged between 8-10 to help them think about what they would do if they were faced with different situations online; from cyberbullying to sharing content with someone they don’t know.
The App includes a quiz that is played on a tablet with a split screen. This is mainly to encourage parents/carers and children to answer the questions at the same time to help create talking points around different Online Safety scenarios. At the end of each quiz, depending on how many question have been answered correctly, you are rewarded with a specific amount time to play a fun game together. The app is a great way for parents/carers to get talking with their children about practical ways to be resilient and get the best out of the internet.
The app can be downloaded for free on the iTunes app store and Google Play store.
- NEW JANUARY 2016 – Parent Information and advice from Google
- NEW JANUARY 2016 – Child Online Safety: A practical guide for parents and carers whose children are using social media
- NEW DECEMBER 2015 – NEW DEVICES FOR CHRISTMAS HELP AND ADVICE FOR PARENTS
- Updated December 2015 – Parent Information Sheet with information and online resources
- NEW SEPTEMBER 2015:
On the 29th July 2015 Baroness Beeban Kidron launched iRights, a new civil society initiative which seeks to make the digital world a more transparent and empowering place for children and young people (under 18) by delivering a universal framework of digital rights, in order that young people are able to access digital technologies creatively, knowledgeably and fearlessly.
The initiative was also supported by Baroness Shields, the UK’s Minister for Internet Safety and Security and Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England,
The iRights framework has five iRights principles which interlinks to try to tackle the multiple issues of digital engagement for children and young people. Please click here for a direct link to the site.
A family agreement is a great way to start a conversation as a whole family about how the internet should be used safely and responsibly when online at home, at school or at a friends house. To support parents in creating a family agreement Childnet International have put together some free advice and a helpful family agreement template for families to use as a starting point.
New Online Safety Leaflet for Parents/Carers from Kent Trading Standards and Kent Safeguarding Children Board – The leaflet features useful tips and information for parents/carers as well as links to websites to report concerns and access support and advice such as CEOP, Childnet, NSPCC, The Parent Zone and the UK Safer Internet Centre. Please click here to access the leaflet.
- NEW – JULY 2015
Live streaming apps are currently very topical and gaining popularity with adults and children alike. Towards the end of March 2015, Twitter announced that it was launching Periscope, while earlier in the year Meerkat appeared. Both apps, along with other similar apps and sites allow users to share live video from a phone or tablet to the world via Twitter or other social media.
The apps request access to camera, microphone and location, and users will be notified when someone they are following begins a live broadcast. Both apps contain a leader board showing the most popular users. They require users to be aged 13 or over.
Find out more about these and similar live streaming apps via Insafe’s Live Streaming Tipsheet. - NEW – MAY 2015 – Kent County Council and Kent Police are increasingly receiving reports of children and young people accessing inappropriate content and being contacted by unknown individuals using apps and websites which enable video chat. There has also recently been national reserarch published by the Internet Watch Foundation which identified that children and young people as young as seven were being exploited online on webcams and chat sites. KCC’s eSafety Strategy Group and KSCB Education Sub Group have asked schools and settings to help raise awareness of these issues with parents and carers and a copy can be found here of their adapted letter recently sent out to parents.
- NEW – JANUARY 2015 NSPCC Keeping Children Safe ‘Share Aware’
- NEW – JULY 2013 Keep children safe when using internet enabled devises look at entire range of resources from the UK Safer Internet Centre
- NEW – NOVEMBER 2014 Advice for parents and carers on cyberbullying
- Online SafetyResources
- Letter to parents December 2011
- Children, ICT & e-Safety Guide
- Safer Internet Day – Tuesday 10th February 2015
- Safer Internet Day – Tuesday 10th February 2015 information for parents
- E-safety certificate
- Guidance on how to set up parental controls
- Music, Film, TV and the Internet – A Guide for Parents and Teachers
- Stop text bullying poster
Useful Links
New link available from May 2015: net-aware A parental guide to the social networks children use provided by the NSPCC.
A new portal with internet safety advice for parents was launched on 13th May by the 4 biggest Internet Service Providers in the UK – BT, Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk as part of the Government’s push on the use of parental controls in the home. Internet Matters offers a lot of sound advice and practical information to parents either by issue (cyberbullying, grooming, privacy and so on) type of technology (social medial, mobile, gaming etc.) or by age. Amongst its supporters are the NSPCC, Childnet, Lucy Faithful, CEOP, OFCOM and many others and is worth exploring! Please click here for easy access to the site.
Messaging Apps such as Whisper and Yik Yak
Over the last few months quite a few new messaging apps have been released giving young people different spaces to share secrets anonymously online (Whisper and Yik Yak to name a couple). Just as a Sat Nav uses GPS data to locate where you are in your car, these apps use the same data, this time from your smartphone, to identify your physical location and share anonymous posts from people who are nearby (typically within a 5 mile radius). This makes the service all the more unique to each person which might attract some younger users. As with other anonymous messaging services such as Ask.fm, the new apps highlight similar risks around seeing posts or receiving replies which contain harmful/harassing content. For more information regarding Instant Messaging Apps please click here.
- The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Web Site
- CEOP’s ThinkUKnow Web Site
- Childnet
- E-safety poster
- ‘Digiduck’s Big Decision’ – New esafety eBook for children aged 3-7 from Childnet and UK Safer Internet Centre
- ‘The Adventures of Smartie the Penguin’ eBook
- Smartie the Penguin time to chat
- CEOP Friends Lee and Kim’s Adventures
- Hector’s World
- Being online UK Activity Book
- ‘The Adventures of Captain Kara – Winston and the SMART Crew’ cartoons
- Cybercafe for Key Stage 2 children which allows children to experiment safely with a range of communication technologies
- Safer Internet Centre – advice and guidance for parents
- ParentsSocial Networking Guide
- Know IT All for Parents
- Parents’ Guide to e-safety – this resource is a comprehensive guide to internet safety including best practices for messaging apps such as WhatsApp
- Internet Watch Foundation – this site provides an internet hotline for the public to report websites with potentially illegal content
- Get Net Wise – provides guidance on protecting your home PC, stopping unwanted emails and keeping your personal information private
Please look at the ‘Useful Links’ section at the bottom of our main menu for links to other online safety sites and links to the parentzone website.