Online Safety
Appropriate Filtering for Education
Schools are obligated to ensure appropriate filters and appropriate monitoring systems are in place. Children should not be able to access harmful or inappropriate material from the school or colleges IT system. At Bickershaw, we access the internet through our IT provider ABtec, which uses Sophos XG Firewall to filter content.
Appropriate Monitoring in Education
At Bickershaw we use Senso, which is designed with the UK Government Prevent duty, UK Safer Internet Centre, the UK Department for Education’s Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) guidance and with keyword and URL lists from the Internet Watch Foundation(IWF).
The Senso next generation cloud-based safeguarding module aids schools in fulfilling their legal duty of care around online safety and safeguarding.
Keeping Safe Links
The internet plays a huge part of children's lives. Whilst it opens many opportunities, it is also essential to protect your child from harm, and ensure they continue to be safe. Online safety is an increasingly important part of children learning to keep themselves safe. Your child needs to understand the potential risks by learning how to use computers, laptops, tablets and most importantly the internet in a safe manner. Whilst our curriculum offers opportunity to raise and tackle potential dangers, below is a series of links to websites which you can use with your child to promote their continued safety.
Childline - Telephone 08001111
A private and confidential service for children and young people. All ChildLine counsellors are trained staff and volunteers who all have experiences of listening and talking to children who are worried or have concerns.
CEOP - The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) work with child protection partners across the UK and overseas to identify the main threats to children. CEOP is a command of the National Crime Agency.
Useful resources and activities to promote keeping safe for children and their families, brought from the National Crime Agency CEOP command.
Knowitall - award winning resources for teachers and parents supplied by Childnet International, who work in partnership with others around the world to make the internet a great and safe place for children. Lots of activities to help equip children to deal with real risks.
Staysafe - test your internet safety knowledge with Hacker, listen to some stay safe songs and get tips from the Horrible Histories gang.
NSPCC - National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The UK's leading children's charity, specialising in child protection and is dedicated to the fight for every childhood. This is the only UK children's charity with statutory powers which means they can take action to safeguard children at risk of abuse.
Wigan Safeguarding Children's Board - Oversees all organisations in Wigan and Leigh that work with children and have a responsibility for safeguarding them. They have a legal duty to supervise the work of the child protection system, helping agencies to effectively work together, tackling any problems meeting priorities, and maintaining the principles and values.
Get safe online - The UK's leading source of unbiased, factual and easy to understand information about online safety. Advice on how to protect yourself, computers and mobile devices.
bullying - Support and confidential advice on dealing with bullying is available from Family Support Workers
Netaware - Here you can view the most popular sites, apps and games used by children that have so far been reviewed.
Childnet - Childnet International is a non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.
Advise about Snapmaps feature in Snapchat from Childnet.
Safe4summer.com - Advice on keeping safe during the Summer period.
Safe4autumn.com - Advice on keeping safe during the Autumn period.
UK Safer Internet Centre:
The European Commission appointed UK Safer Internet Centre is made up of three partners; Childnet International, the South West Grid for Learning and the Internet Watch Foundation. Together we raise awareness about internet safety, develop information materials and resources and organise high profile events such as Safer Internet Day.
Supporting Young People Online:
A free guide created by Childnet providing Information and advice for parents and carers on supporting young people online. The advice is also available in 12 additional languages including Arabic, Hindi, Polish, Spanish, Urdu and Welsh.
Keeping Under Fives Safe Online:
Children love using technology and are learning to navigate websites, online games and consoles, and touch screen technology like iPads and smartphones from a younger and younger age.
Family agreement:
Conversation starters and a template family agreement which can be used to discuss online safety with your family.
Online Gaming:
Childnet’s guide contains helpful advice and information on supporting children and young people playing games online.
Young People & Social Networking Sites:
Aims to help parents understand the positive and creative ways young people are using social networking spaces (e.g. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). It also points out the potential risks of using these sites and ways to minimise these risks.
YoungMinds Crisis Messenger - Text YM to 85258
The YoungMinds crisis messenger service provides free, 24/7 crisis support across the UK. Young People experiencing a mental health crisis and need support, can text YM to 85258.
