E-Safety

Halley House School recognises that internet, mobile and digital technologies provide a good opportunity for children and young people to learn, socialise and play, provided they are safe.

The digital world is an amazing place, but with few rules. It is vast and fast moving and young people’s future economic success may be partly dependent on their online skills and reputation. We are, therefore, committed to ensuring that all pupils, staff and LAB members will be able to use internet, mobile and digital technologies safely.

This is part of our safeguarding responsibility. Staff are aware that some pupils may require additional support or teaching, including reminders, prompts and further explanation to reinforce their knowledge and understanding of online safety issues. We are also committed to ensuring that all those who work with children and young people, including their parents/carers, are informed about the ever-changing risks so that they can take an active part in the safeguarding of our children.

Please click on the link to see how and where Staying Safe Online is taught and referenced across the curriculum Online Safety Progression in the SoW

 

As a school, we are signed up to the National Online Safety platform which supports staff and parents, to help us keep children safe online.

As a parent, you have the chance to create an account, watch short videos about a range of different online issues and earn certificates to show your engagement!

Some of the current videos include: Online bullying, Age inappropriate content, Online fraud, Introduction to online gaming and Mental health & well-being. They are updated throughout the year and also have help sheets about new trends that appear over time.

Sign up to the NOS using the following link and create an account. https://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/halley-house-school

PARENT INFORMATION:

In this section we will be adding new information every few weeks about how to keep your children as safe as possible while online at home.

This time (June 2022):

Instagram – New Parental Controls

Currently rolling out within the UK right now, Instagram have launched some new features which I’m sure many parents will welcome. These new features include:
  • The ability to see how time their child spends on Instagram.
  • Awareness of who their child is following and who is following their child.
  • Notification if/when their child reports someone and the type of report that was made.
  • The ability to set specific times when parents can limit their child’s screen time.
The features are enabled on ‘Family Centre’, where a parent can supervise their child’s account. Information about the new features can be found HERE. Information about Family Centre on the page isn’t obvious, it’s at the top of the page in small font.

How to Set Up Gaming Consoles to Prevent Impulse Purchases

You will be all too aware that it is too easy for children and young people to purchase virtual items in games and apps. There has been a lot of press coverage over the years about this and some of the amounts children are spending is eye-watering, so too is accidental purchasing where the game has used ‘nudge’ techniques to entice a purchase.Many devices have parental controls which can help to mitigate these purchases. A short article has been put together, which some parents will find useful, detailing how to set up parental controls on popular devices including the PS4, iPhone and Xbox One. As we approach the summer holidays, this would be a useful reminder to check how the parental settings you have at home are used to protect your children. The link is HERE.

YouTube Restrictions

The primary concern that I get from parents when talking to them about YouTube is in relation to content and the inability to have much control over what their children see. YouTube (Google) have been updating some of their features over the last year and I think these changes are very positive. To help you understand more about these features and how to use them I am sharing 5 short videos (from YouTube) that has been put together by Alan Mackenzie onto one page covering:

YouTube Kids

· Parent Allowlisting (this is a fantastic new feature).

· Selecting content based on the age of the child.

· How to approve what your children can watch.

· Limiting screen time.

Main YouTube (app/website)

· Supervised experience (the ability to set a filtering level based on the age of the child). Please have a look and share THIS page with anyone you think would find it useful.

The NCA’s CEOP Command is here to help children and young people. We are here to help you if you are a young person and you or your friend (up to age 18) has been forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity with anyone online, or in the real world. Visit our website www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/ for more information.

Visit our Safety Centre for advice and to report directly to CEOP, by clicking on the Click CEOP button.

Safer Internet Day 2022

In class, the children have been having additional lessons about staying safe when online, especially when playing games with people they may not have actually met.

We have been talking about how to be kind online and what to do if a situation makes us feel uncomfortable (we report it to an adult or click the CEOP button above).

Please watch the video below to find some useful conversation starters for staying safe online at home.