Villa Real Road, Consett, Co Durham DH8 6BH | [email protected] | 01207 503651
ONLINE SAFETY
The internet is a great place to see more, learn more and have lots of fun, however, it can also be dangerous if it is not used responsibly.
On this page we offer useful information, tips, tricks and links to help keep you and your children safe.
Click on the images to view our online safety infographic and a flowchart showing the response by the School to an online safety incident of concern from a parent or carer.
Why not try some online activities to keep parents and carers updated on the latest online risks that effect your child.
Click here to download our online safety newsletters.
Click on the images to download full size PDF documents.
USEFUL INFORMATION
New Parent Online Safety Presentation for Schools
The London Grid for Learning (LGfL) has released a new online resource aimed at helping schools to support parents around online safety.
Visit https://lgfl.net/safeguarding/parent-online-safety to access it.
CEOP Issue 'Sextortion' Alert - Guidance for Parents/Carers
Globally there has been a large increase in reports of children and young people being victims of financially motivated sexual extortion, often referred to in the media as ‘sextortion’.
The National Crime Agency has issued an alert to education settings across the UK, in response to this threat. The alert provides an overview of what financially motivated sexual extortion may look like, guidance on how to support victims, as well as preventative education materials, including a letter for parents and carers. You can view the letter here or by clicking on the image.
YUBO App
We have received information that children can access inappropriate information through a new app called YUBO.
Click the image to download a guide to ensure settings will keep your child safe.
Please also remember that YUBO is a 13+ app.
Safer Internet Day 2024
The UK Safer Internet Centre has created a new advice page to support parents and carers ahead of Safer Internet Day on 06 February 2024. It addresses online safety concerns around: online games; new devices; and the content children engage with online.
Find out more: Safer Internet Day 2024: free advice for parents and carers
National Crime Agency’s CEOP Education Programme provides information for the children’s workforce and parents and carers on protecting children and young people from online child sexual abuse.
Childline/IWF Report Remove is a free tool that allows children to report nude or sexual images and/or videos of themselves that they think might have been shared online.
Facebook Checklist
Twitter (now X) Checklist
TikTok Checklist
Click on the image to download a full size document
CEOP Publish 4-7s Website
What’s new?
Featuring characters and messages from the CEOP Education Jessie & Friends resource, the 4-7s website helps children to develop the skills and knowledge they need to stay safer when spending time online.
Designed for children to visit with their parents, carers or other supervising adults, users complete ‘badges’ where they help the characters, Jessie, Tia and Mo, to identify when to ‘Tell a Grown Up’ (TAG) in different situations online.
Each badge asks a series of questions, aimed at helping children to recognise worrying or frightening situations online. Answering each question correctly earns a star. When children have answered all the questions in a badge and collected three stars, they will get a certificate to download or print and colour in.
What does the website cover?
The four badges children can play are:
Watching Videos
Sharing Pictures (6-7 year olds only)
Online Gaming (6-7 year olds only)
Chatting Online (6-7 year olds only)
The four topics were selected based on feedback from professionals who indicated that education and information on these topics would be most valuable and relevant for the age range.
The content of the website is tailored to the user based on their initial age selection, ensuring that the badges and videos they encounter are all age appropriate, in line with the existing guidance for the Jessie & Friends episodes.
The Jessie & Friends animations are also embedded on the website and there is a ‘Worried about something?’ area containing advice for 4-7 year olds on what they can do if they are worried about something that has happened online.
How the website can be used
The website is designed for 4-7 year olds to use at home alongside their parent or carer.
The website can also be used as a learning tool in education settings alongside a teacher or other responsible member of staff.
Click the link below or click on the image to access the website.
Scary Videos Online Safety Concern
It has been brought to our attention that, nationally, some scary videos are “trending” and have traumatised some children. The risks of children accidentally seeing these videos can be reduced by ensuring devices have appropriate parental controls set up. The https://www.internetmatters.org/ website provides excellent advice on how to do this.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, it is important that your child can talk to a trusted adult if something scary has happened so that they are reassured.
The video from CEOP at https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/jessie-and-friends-videos/, which we have used at school, works well with younger children and may be useful to reinforce key messages. If you have concerns then please talk to Jill Bowe, Sam Dawson, Natalie Fitzpatrick or Alex Morris.
Click on each image to download a full size document
#LookCloser Flyer
10 Apps that teens are using that parents need to know
Fortnite: Battle Royale Guide
Social media guidance
Keeping under 5s safe online
Parenting in a digital world
Scam Advice - Money Mules
Scam Advice - Money Mules
Scam Text Message Advice
What parents and carers need to know about Omegle
Useful websites for parents flyer
What parents and carers need to know about Money Muling
What parents and carers need to know about Instagram
What parents and carers need to know about Rumble
What parents and carers need to know about Amino
What parents and carers need to know about OMETV
National Crime Agency Cyber Choices flyers
CEOP Activity Sheets: Advice and Information for Parents
Parenting in a digital world - Purple Mash
Online Safety Guidance for Parents
ONLINE SAFETY UPDATES & USEFUL LINKS
The misuse of technology that some primary-aged children have experienced includes bullying, fraud and child abuse. We now need parents to take an active role in keeping their children safe in the online world, just as they would in real life.
The best way of protecting your children is to talk with them about how they use technology, find out about the apps, websites and games they use and make sure they can share any worries they have with you. Both the net-aware and internetmatters.org websites are full of helpful advice.
As a school we take online safety very seriously and children are taught about keeping safe throughout their time in school, so they develop the skills and resilience needed to keep themselves safe online. We should remember that they are still children, they will make mistakes and they will need your support not only to stay safe but to grow and flourish both online and offline.
Below we have listed some useful websites to help support your child staying safe. Please take some time to talk to your children and find out more on the websites below. Parents and carers are also welcome to discuss issues and get support from the school – we will help.
PARENTZONE
If your child has come across inappropriate or illegal
content online, find out where to report it below.
BIG RED BUTTON
This is a small e-safety program that when you click it covers the screen up, the intention being that if a pupil sees something unsavoury, they can hide it whilst they get a teacher or trusted adult to deal with it. It is free to download by clicking here.
