E-Safety

E-Safety Information at Colebourne

At Colebourne we aim to prepare young people for the digital world that they are being immersed into every day. It is important that they are educated and given the tools that are needed for them to be more resilient online and allow them to become constructive and self-aware members of the online world. We deliver this through a robust computing curriculum that draws attention to online safety throughout their life at Colebourne.

To compliment this we also have termly focus days and activities to raise awareness of Online Safety within school, Parent Workshops to share knowledge and awareness with the parents in our school community and a comprehensive monitoring system within the school which logs all of the online activity in school and allows us to ensure the safety of children and staff. Finally, all staff complete a yearly training course focused on online safety and the dangers that the children may face so that they can share their knowledge and experience.

Here is some information that has been shared with parents in our most recent workshops to help keep your children safe online:

• Know what your children are doing online and who they are talking to. Ask them to teach you to use any applications you have never used. Keeping the computer in a family room means that you can share your child’s online experience – and that they are less likely to act inappropriately (i.e. via webcam).
  
  
• Help your children to understand that they should never give out personal details to online friends — personal information includes their messenger ID, email address, mobile number and any pictures of themselves, their family or friends. If your child publishes a picture or video online, anyone can change it or share it. Remind them that anyone may be looking at their images and one day a future employer could! If your child receives spam/junk email & texts, remind them never to believe them, reply to them or use them.
  
  
• It’s not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don’t know. They won’t know what they contain — it could be a virus, or worse — an inappropriate image or film. Help your child to understand that some people lie online and therefore it’s better to keep online mates online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust.
  
  
• Always keep communication open for a child to know that it’s never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable. Teach young people how to block someone online and how to report them if they feel uncomfortable.

Top E-Safety Tips!

• Help your children to understand that they should never give out personal details to online friends they do not know offline.
  
  
• Explain to your children what information about them is personal: i.e. email address, mobile number, school name, sports club, arrangements for meeting up with friends and any pictures or videos of themselves, their family or friends. Small pieces of information can easily be pieced together to form a comprehensive insight in to their lives and daily activities.
  
  
• Make your children aware that they need to think carefully about the information and pictures they post on their profiles. Inform them that once published online, anyone can change or share these images of them.
  
  
• It can be easy to forget that the internet is not a private space, and as result sometimes young people engage in risky behaviour online. Advise your children not to post any pictures, videos or information on their profiles, or in chat rooms, that they would not want a parent or carer to see.
  
  
• If your child receives spam or junk email and texts, remind them never to believe their contents, reply to them or use them.
  
  
• It’s not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don’t know. They won’t know what they contain—it could be a virus, or worse – an inappropriate image or film.
  
  
• Help your child to understand that some people lie online and that therefore it’s better to keep online mates online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust.
  
  
• Always keep communication open for a child to know that it’s never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable.