E-Safety

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Safer Internet Day 2023

Safer Internet Day (SID) 2023 took place on the Tuesday 14th February 2023

Children at Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School use the Internet on a regular basis as part of their creative learning. In school, we have regular 'Online Safety' activities to remind children of the importance of keeping themselves safe online.

At home, sometimes children can be given unsupervised access to the Internet. This potentially allows them to access all kinds of content (both good and bad) and bring them virtually into their homes.

Here are some tips and useful links to help you keep your children safe online:

  • Keep your computer in a shared area - Talk to your child about what they are doing online and, if possible, set up your computer in a shared area at home so that you can all share in the wonderful sites that are available online.

  • Treat your password like a tooth brush- Talk to your child and make sure they do not share their password with anyone.

Internet Safety is taught regularly, both in individual computing lessons and across the school in assemblies. Children are taught how to keep their personal information safe, and to be critical of the things they see online. They are shown what to do if anything they see online upsets them and who they should report this to. Internet content accessed in school is filtered by our internet service provider to help safeguard the children from accessing unsuitable content.
 
There are a number of search engines that are designed specifically for children and we currently use www.kidrex.org which can also be used at home.  We know that parents are concerned that their children are protected and safe when using the Internet, whether in school or at home and it is important that we work together to prepare our children for life in the digital world.
 
Kid Rex is a safe search engine designed for children and their parents. It is powered by Google Custom Search and Google Safe Search and offers similar features to a Google search but with filters for child friendly results.
 
Of course, no search engine filtering is 100% accurate. There is no substitute for adult monitoring of the use of devices, especially when children are doing searches (in particular IMAGE searches). This, along with a shared understanding between children and adults about responsible online behaviour and internet safety is crucial. Both Kid Rex and Common Sense Media address these topics and provide parent guidelines to help you support your child as they engage in using technology.
 
Please click here to view Parent App Advice.

Some links to more information:

  • Lee and Kim CEOP Video- this video encourages children to be mindful when using the internet.
  • Think U Know - containing internet safety advice for those aged from 5 to 16, along with parents and teachers.  This site is produced by CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre).
  • Vodafone Parents - Vodafone have lots of fantastic practical advice for parents. You can also read their 'Digital Parenting' magazine.
  • Kidsmart - An award-winning internet safety programme for children.
  • Know IT All -lots of useful advice for keeping yourselves and your children safe on the Internet.
  • Bullying UK - information and advice about bullying for children, parents and schools.
  • Childline - Childline is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK.
  • CEOP- CEOP works with child protection partners across the UK to identify the main threats to children and coordinates activity against these threats to bring offenders to justice.
  • UK Safer Internet Centre-The UK Safer Internet Centre delivers a wide range of activity to promote the safe and responsible use of technology.
  • Internet Matters-information and advice to support you and your child when using the internet. 
  • Childnet-helps to make the internet a great and safe place for children.
  • eSense Families-A wide-ranging collection of e-safety links and resources for parents, put together by Somerset Children and Learner Services. The page includes onward links to useful guidance for parents regarding the legal aspects of under-age children using social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Scroll down the page to find more links if the picture menu at the top of the page doesn't work in your browser.
  • Staying Safe Online (Google)-Quick tips and how-tos from Google that explain what you can do to stay safe and secure on the web.
  • Safer Internet Day-Safer Internet Day (SID) is organised by Insafe in February of each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.
  • Parent Protect- Advice, information on how to protect children from sexual abuse, what to do if sexual abuse has or is taking place, where to get help.  Child sexual abuse Helpline
  • Share Aware- Share Aware encourages families to talk about socialising safely online.
  • Parent Info- Parent info examines the very modern phenomenon of social media 'sharenting'.
  • Digizen-A website designed to strengthen awareness and understanding of what digital citizenship is. It encourages users of technology to be and become responsible DIGItal citiZENS.
  • Platform Guides- Here you will find the most up to guides for social media, apps and platforms
  • Social Media- Parents can learn how to stay safe when on social media

Please click here to download our Online Safety Policy