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Our pupils often use the internet as part of their learning, and have regular lessons on e-safety to help them know how to keep safe online. Pupils in school are always supervised when using the internet.
The use of technology has become a significant component of many safeguarding issues. An effective approach to online safety empowers us to protect and educate our children in their use of technology and establishes mechanisms to identify, intervene in, and escalate any incident where appropriate.
On entry to our school, every parent and child signs an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
Our IT curriculum ensures that the 3 key areas of risk online (Content, Contact, Conduct) are addressed thoroughly. In addition, we work alongside the Met Police in our delivery of online safety objectives.
We work closely with parents to help keep them informed on how to keep their children safe online.
We support Smartphone Free Childhood, a movement of families standing together to delay smartphones and social media – turning isolation into collective strength. We want to give children back what truly matters: time to play, space to grow, freedom to be.
See here for details and to sign the Parent Pact, a way to band together with other parents in Belmont to agree to delay getting your child a smartphone until at least 14, and social media until 16. It’s all about strength in numbers – if your child knows that other kids in their class won’t be getting a smartphone for a few years either, the peer pressure instantly dissolves. It takes 30 seconds to sign the Parent Pact, and the more who do, the quicker you'll change the social norm:
https://www.smartphonefreechildhood.org/parent-pact
The following websites offer resources and advice for children and parents:
NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)
CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection)
Apex Legends: Everything a parent needs to know
Common Sense Media has been at the forefront when it comes to understanding media's potential to shape cultural values, expand access to learning, and tackle tricky topics for kids and families. Their growing catalog of ratings and reviews continues to evolve to meet this changing landscape, and to cover new dimensions that today's parents and caregivers are seeking.
Today their library features more than 40,000 reviews across movies, TV shows, games, books, apps, and podcasts as well as ratings and curations of movies with authentic and diverse characters.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/big-kids
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/tweens
Parent Guidance:
As part of our safeguarding approach we led a workshop for parents on internet themes we had identified as being a concern for our families. This included using YouTube, Roblox, TikTok and gaming platforms. See below the presentation including guidance links on how to set up parental controls and much more:
Useful Websites:
ThinkUKnow - useful section for parents and carers
Bullying UK - section on cyber-bullying
KidScape - an organisation with advice on preventing bullying and child abuse
Vodafone Digital Parenting - information for parents about e-safety issues
Parenting, Media, and Everything In Between | Common Sense Media Explanations about ratings and content on all games and films
Advice on Parental Control Tools:
Childnet International - includes practical guides for setting up controls
ThinkUKnow - advice about internet service providers and parental controls
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