Online Safety

The requirement to ensure that children and young people can use the internet and related communications technologies appropriately and safely is addressed as part of the wider duty of care to which all who work in schools are bound. Our school online safety policy helps to ensure safe and appropriate use. The development and implementation of such a strategy involves all the stakeholders from the headteacher and governors to the senior leaders and classroom teachers, support staff, parents, members of the community and the pupils themselves. 

However, the use of these new technologies can put young people at risk within and outside the school. Some of the dangers they may face include: 

  • Access to illegal, harmful or inappropriate images or other content 
  • Unauthorised access to/loss of/sharing of personal information 
  • The risk of being subject to grooming by those with whom they make contact on the internet. 
  • The sharing/distribution of personal images without an individual’s consent or knowledge 
  • Inappropriate communication/contact with others, including strangers. 
  • Cyber-bullying 
  • Access to unsuitable video/internet games 
  • An inability to evaluate the quality, accuracy and relevance of information on the internet 
  • Illegal downloading of music or video files 
  • The potential for excessive use which may impact on the social and emotional development and learning of the young person. 

Many of these risks reflect situations in the off-line world and our online safety policy is used in conjunction with other school policies (eg behaviour, anti-bullying and child protection policies). 

As with all other risks, it is impossible to eliminate those risks completely. It is therefore essential, through good educational provision to build pupils’ resilience to the risks to which they may be exposed, so that they have the confidence and skills to face and deal with these risks. 

The school has provided the necessary safeguards to help ensure that we have done everything that could reasonably be expected of us to manage and reduce these risks. Our online safety policy explains how we intend to do this, while also addressing wider educational issues in order to help young people (and their parents/carers) to be responsible users and stay safe while using the internet and other communications technologies for educational, personal and recreational use. 

 

Our Online Safety Team

Kath Osborne - DSL and Online Safety Lead

Our DSL and Online Safety Lead takes responsibility for Online Safety in school and ensures that appropriate filtering and monitoring arrangements are in place.

Clare Lo - Online Safety link Governor

The Governing Board has overall responsibility for monitoring the Online Safety policy and holding the headteacher to account for its implementation.

The governing board also ensures the school has appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place on school devices and school networks and will regularly review their effectiveness.

Karen Gibbons - Computing Lead

Our Computing Lead oversees the teaching and learning of Online Safety in school.

Riaz Mansurali – IT Technician

Our IT technician puts in place appropriate level of security protection procedures such as filtering and monitoring systems on school devices and school networks, which are reviewed and updated at least annually.

Hollinswood Primary School & Nursery takes seriously its duties to assist parents and help them with online safeguarding resources. 

We also acknowledge the importance of passing on important information about keeping safe online to families, which we do regularly through letters, emails or posts on Class Dojo.  In addition, we send parents and carers links to an Online Safety Newsletter each month, which you will find below. 

Online Safety Newsletter 

For further information and support in online safety the following websites below are available for all staff and parents to view. The sites are for all age groups, parents and carers. which will form the basis and assist with e safety education, support and policy in our school. 

  • South West Grid for Learning (https://swgfl.org.uk/) - A not-for-profit charitable trust, providing a wide range of products, services and solutions designed specifically for education. 
  • Think you Know (https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/) - Advice for children and parents on safer internet use 
  • Parents Protect (https://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/) - An information and resources website which aims to raise awareness about child sexual abuse, answer questions and give adults the information, advice, support and facts, they need to help protect children. 
  • Lucy Faithfull (https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/) - UK-wide child protection charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse. 
  • Stop it Now (https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/) - A child sexual abuse prevention campaign and Helpline. It is run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, the only UK-wide child protection charity dedicated solely to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused. 
  • Parent Info (http://parentinfo.org/) - Expert information to help children and young people stay safe online. 
  • “Facebook Checklist” produced by the UK Safer Internet Centre 
  • Advice on setting up parental control from Internet Matters 
  • Advice for parents and carers: UK Safer Internet Centre 
  • A guide to apps, games and social media sites: Net Aware 

Internet filtering and monitoring is managed by our network service provider, Telford and Wrekin Council. Please see below for our monitoring and filtering arrangements in school: 

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