Online Safety Guidance

At Prince of Wales Primary School, we believe that keeping our pupils safe online is just as important as keeping them safe in school. As part of our commitment to safeguarding and in line with the statutory guidance from Keeping Children Safe in Education, we teach our pupils about how to use the internet safely and responsibly throughout their time with us.
We know that the internet can be a wonderful place to learn, explore, and connect, but it can also have risks and harmful content. That’s why we help our pupils understand how to stay safe, make good choices, and know what to do if they feel unsure or worried online.
This section is designed to support parents and carers by sharing helpful advice and guidance. By working together, we can ensure that pupils are confident and safe users of technology both at school and at home. It is important for parents and carers to be aware of popular apps, websites, and games that children use, and to talk openly with their children about safe and respectful online behaviour.

Parents and carers can help their children to:

Think carefully about what they see and share online
Understand how some online content is designed to influence them
Know what behaviour is kind and acceptable online
Recognise potential risks and how to avoid them
Feel confident to ask for help and know how to report concerns, including through CEOP’s Thinkuknow website (https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/professionals/resources/)

Together, we can help our pupils grow as safe, responsible, and confident learners in a digital world.

Stay safe online by remembering the SMART rules:

Be Safe – keep your personal information safe and secret. Think carefully before you share a photo of yourself or your friends.
Don’t Meet Up – never arrange to meet an online friend because it can be dangerous. No matter how well you think you know people, they might be pretending.
Accepting Emails Can Be Dangerous – if you receive junk mail (called spam) or messages that make you feel uncomfortable, tell an adult that you trust and delete them. Don’t reply to them.
Reliable – the internet is full of friendly people and amazing information. However, sometimes people might say or write things which are untrue, so you should always think carefully before trusting what you see or hear.
Tell Someone – most of the time that you are online, you will have lots of fun. However, if you see anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or worried, make sure that you tell an adult that you trust.

The links below are websites which are helpful to learn about using the internet safely:

Think U Know

Grid Club

CBBC Stay Safe

Kid Smart

Useful Information

The sheer number of apps, websites and online resources available can be a frightening thought when keeping our children safe.

The following websites and guides provide clear and powerful information about how you as parents and carers can be part of our school community culture to support and safeguard our children:

The NSPCC has a very informative Safeguarding section with numerous guides dealing with a range of issues. You can access their advice here.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) provides a wealth of information for parents and carers to help keep children safe online. You can access their resources via this link.
Parentzone provide support in helping to create a safer digital world. You can access their resources via this link.
The UK Safer Internet Centre provides a range of resources for primary and secondary students in addition to support for parents and carers. You can access their resources via this link.
Internet Matters provides comprehensive information to help keep children safe online. You can access their resources via this link.
National Online Safety provide excellent guides and training courses for parents, carers and students to help raise awareness of digital means. Their guides are updated weekly on our website which can be accessed here.
Childnet provide resources to help make the internet a safe place for children which can be accessed here.
Educate against Hate is a website which gives resources and advice on how to keep children safe from extremism and radicalisation. Their resources can be accessed here.

Resources and Help Lines

Childline – 0800 1111
NSPCC Helpline – 0808 800 5000