Queen's Inclosure Primary School Advice on Online Safety

With the ever-increasing pace of modern technology, children are using the Internet from a young age, whether it is to play games, to explore or to socialise.  While this certainly has some benefits, it also brings a host of dangers. Parents can help to keep their children safe by understanding and monitoring what they do online, and by talking to their children about potential dangers and how to avoid them. Key advice is:

1. Begin an open dialogue with your child about online safety from an early age – and revisit the subject as their use of technology expands.
2. Do things together. Show an interest in your child’s online activities, both to support them and to maintain an awareness of what they are doing.
3. Be clear that online ‘friends’ are strangers unless your child knows them in person in the real world. Explain that not everyone is who they say they are online, however friendly they may seem.
4. Set and stick to rules, including when your child may go online – and how long for, what they are permitted to access and who they may communicate with.
5. Ensure game/video content is age-appropriate and use parental controls to prevent your child from viewing unsuitable or harmful material.
6. Educate your child regarding privacy settings and the importance of keeping all personal information private - not only their name and where they live, but also which school or any clubs that they go to.
7. View our children’s Staying Safe Online webpage with your child and discuss the content afterwards.

Excellent advice for parents can additionally be found on the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection), Hampshire Constabulary, Parentzone and ThinkUKnow websites.

Additionally, detailed guidance is available from the Children's Commissioner, which you may wish to read and share with your child, particularly as they become older:

Hampshire County Council Advice on Online and Social Media Safety

With regular reports of children being targeted or groomed by adults via social media or other internet channels, we would like to remind parents of the critical importance of taking steps they can take to reduce the risk of their children becoming vulnerable to this behaviour. The Breck Foundation is raising awareness for playing safe whilst using the Internet - https://www.breckfoundation.org/brecks-story 

Please do take the time to set up robust parental controls on devices and ensure that you set the passwords and codes and keep this confidential, so that only you know them.   For further information on setting parent controls, please visit https://www.gocompare.com/broadband/parental-controls/.

In the unfortunate circumstance that your child receives inappropriate messages or images via social media, please report this instantly to the Police on the non-emergency 101 number. There is some helpful advice relating to this on Hampshire County Council’s website: https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/childrenandfamilies/safeguardingchildren/onlinesafety

You may find it helpful for your children to be aware of and to have viewed this website: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/5_7/ 

Helpful advice is also available from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) website: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

Aside from the risk of exploitation, it is unfortunate in this day and age that content exists on social media that would be inappropriate, and potentially harmful, for children to view.  

If you or your children receive images or videos on Snapchat, Instagram, Whatsapp or via any other social media featuring people that are naked or are sexual in nature, these should be deleted immediately and reported to the Police on the non-emergency 101 telephone number.   Many people are still unaware that showing or sharing such images or videos with others could mean they are committing a crime. However, if a genuine mistake is made, it would be treated as such by the Police.