E-Safety

Download our Internet Safety Guidance to help keep your child safe online.

ICT is an everyday part of people’s lives and schools are making increasing use of new technology.

At NWHS we have systems in place to protect your children.

We recognise that we encourage students to go online for work out of school where there is less supervision and they have more freedom.

On social media sites, children should only people they know and trust in real life.

Predatory paedophiles can often convincingly pose as another teenager/adult and may spend months or years ‘grooming’ the victim until they meet face to face.

Children must always be accompanied by an adult if meeting an online friend in person.

Avoiding banning children from these sites; but instead educate them on the risks associated with using these sites. Children will find ways to access these sites e.g. use them at friend’s houses or on their phone, personal media player or hand-held games console.

Take an interest and suggest they add you as a friend, so you can keep an eye on them when they first join.

Have the main computer in a communal area of the home where there is passive supervision and be reasonable about time online. Talk if you feel your child is spending an excessive amount of time on the computer or their phones and set some boundaries when discussing this with your child.

If they have a wireless laptop and you want to stop them going online after a quota of hours is up, unplug the ‘router’ where the phone line comes into the house. For those children who have access to data, limit the amount of data they can use or look into buying a ParentShield SIM card.

Educate yourself on the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence). AI has the power to be useful to support with everyday work tasks, but there are also concerns around its use to create fake images, videos and recording to harm individuals and groups, as well as misinform or disinform.

The CEOP report button is the online equivalent of dialling 999.

We need to train young people, just like we do with 999, to recognise it and know how to use it if they need to.
Look out for good websites that have the button built in.
Some websites refuse to add the button, so visit direct: www.ceop.police.uk

Cyber bullying is the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner.
Children can be unkind to each other online. Bullying is not new but the technology has changed making it is easier to track and prove who is responsible.
If you suspect your child is having a problem, the evidence will be on your computer. If you can print off copies of messages and screen shots of web postings (ctrl + prnt scrn) we can investigate.

Visit the CEOP channel on YouTube.
Put this website in your favourites: www.thinkuknow.co.uk and make sure every member of the family spends time familiarising themselves with the area aimed at them.