Online Safety - Key Information for Parents

Supporting your child to be safe online 

As a school, we recommend that children do not have access to their own phones before the age of 11 and even then this should be with careful monitoring by parents/carers. 

When using other online devices such as computers and iPads, we recommend that children are only using these in spaces where they are supervised and for limited amounts of time. 

Recommendations form the Childrens commissioner 

1. Don’t wait for the crisis.

2. Don’t mention it once and think that’s enough.

3. Don’t scare them with ‘the big talk’.

4. Don’t punish them before listening and understanding.

5. Don’t pretend these issues don’t exist and that your child is not involved.

6. Don’t leave your child unsupervised. You wouldn’t leave them alone in the park or the street, apply the same level of protection online. 

What should parents do if they discover their child has been accessing something unsafe online?

1.Remain calm and try to respond in a measured way – do they need all devices removed or do you need to increase supervision? How will they be able to rebuild your trust in them – can you work out a plan together?

2.School want to support families with this – please contact Mrs Vass or Mrs Acres who are the school’s safeguarding leads. 

3. If you have a concern about another child after speaking with your child, school should be contacted too.

4. Concerns about unkindness online should be brought to the attention of the class teacher.