Basically; teaching your children how to stay safe when using the internet.

 As part of our ICT and PSE curriculums, it is necessary for us to teach your children about e-safety.  E-Safety is taught throughout our scheme of work and reviewed at the beginning of each term.  Last week I taught e-safety lessons to children in Year’s 3-6. The outcomes of these lessons might surprise you…

 How many of you have a phone that can text or access the internet?  How many of you have access to the internet at home?  What is social media?  How many of you have an account?  Do your parents look know all of your passwords and check your account?

 How many of you have a phone that can text or access the internet? 80%  How many of you have access to the internet at home? 95%  What is social media? All children knew what social media is or had heard about it. Social media is a place where we can be social. We can make friends, share pictures/videos, chat and meet other people. Some social media sites have the tools to set up profiles about yourself. They were able to identify a range of sites including; Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Whats App.  How many of you have an account? Year 3- Approx 65%, Year 4- Approx 75%, Year 5- Approx 85% Year 6- Approx 95%. The older they were, the more likely they were to have a social media account. Some very young children have social media accounts- including some children in Year 2 (approx 7 years old).  Do your parents look know all of your passwords and check your account? Across Year 3-6- approximately half of the pupils in each class said that their parents knew all of their passwords and checked their accounts regularly.

Using the internet safely Talk to your parents Never give out your password Don't give out your contact details Don't download any software without permission Respect people's privacy Use a child safe web browser Respect copyright Use the internet safely and responsibly

 It is very important to remember that your children are NOT old enough to have a social media account. If they have an account, they have had to lie about their age.  Despite this, we are aware that many of our pupils are very busy on a range of social media sites and if you have given them permission to use it, we want them to know how to use it safely.  If you are letting them stay on these accounts, it is your responsibility;  to know your child's passwords  to check their pages regularly  check their friends and the information that they are giving out- not everyone is who they say they are!  check their messages  check who they are speaking to and what they are saying  to ensure that their accounts are set to private  to report any concerns that you may have to the site administrators or the police.  Failure to do these things can result in you getting into trouble with the police or social services for failure to protect your child adequately.

 If you don’t feel confident about using social media, you should make it your business to find out more before letting your child use it.  If you would like any support, please come in and speak to me.

 It is very important to remember that video games use the same certification as movie films.  If the game says 18- it is not appropriate for your child to play on.  Some children have told us that they are playing on Call of Duty, Assassins Creed and Grand Theft Auto.  Games on X-Box Live and PS4 give children access to group chat rooms. These chat rooms are full of people also playing that they do not know.  From here they can send and receive private messages.  There is also a web browser facility on these consoles which allows free access to the internet and unsuitable sites with no age restriction.

Staying safe on social media /chatrooms Talk to your parents if you feel unsafe Use a Nick Name Don't give out your contact details Never agree to meet up in real life with another person Stay in a public chatroom Don’t send your photo to anyone Don’t open attachments from people you don’t know

Cyber bullying is being unkind to someone over text, , social media or group messages. Cyber bullying is as unacceptable as face to face bullying and should not be tolerated. As children are not allowed to use any of the above messaging systems in school, it is your responsibility to know what messages are being sent or received by your child at home and deal with any issues appropriately. We have made children aware that all conversation histories can be retraced if required. You can report cyber bullying and online abuse to site administrators or to the police via CEOP. If any instances of cyber bullying occur that may impact on your child's learning, we would appreciate it if you would inform us so that we can monitor the situation in school and potentially help to deal with the issue.

Dealing with Cyber bullying Don't give out your contact details Contact the website Tell someone – don’t suffer in silent Don’t send your photo to anyone Don’t respond back

 Always tell an adult; your parent or teacher if you feel unsafe online.  Report your concerns to the site administrators.  CEOP- report your problem to CEOP

 CEOP is a police organisation which was set up to protect children from harm online. If you feel that your child is or has been in serious danger from somebody online, you can click the CEOP button (located on most social media websites) or visit their website and this will be reported to a team of dedicated police officers.

 now.co.uk now.co.uk Please reinforce todays messages at home.