What we teach in school

At Windhill21 we take online safety very seriously.  All children from Year 1 to Year 6 receive bespoke online safety lessons throughout the school year and online safety is specifically promoted during Safer Internet Day/week. Children are shown how to spot potential online ‘dangers’ and how they should respond to these.  All pupils are reminded of online safety during their lessons involving ICT equipment and we hold special online safety assemblies throughout the year.

We are now using the Project Evolve scheme to teach Online Safety in school. To see a breakdown of the lessons by topic and year group click here. 

We use the SMART acronym as a reminder for children on how to stay safe online:

S – SAFE.  Keep your personal information safe. When chatting or posting online don't give away things like your full name, password or home address. Remember personal information can be seen in images and videos you share too. Keep them safe to keep yourself safe.

M – MEET. Meeting up with someone you only know online, even a friend of a friend, can be dangerous as this person is still a stranger. If someone you only know online ever asks you to meet up, for personal information or for photos/videos of you then tell an adult straight away and report them.

A – ACCEPTING. Think carefully before you click on or open something online (e.g. links, adverts, friend requests, photos) as you never know where they may lead to or they may contain viruses. Do not accept something if you are unsure of who the person is or what they’ve sent you.

R – RELIABLE.  You cannot trust everything you see online as some things can be out of date, inaccurate or not entirely true. To find reliable information compare at least three different websites, check in books and talk to someone about what you have found.

T – TELL. Tell a trusted adult if something or someone ever makes you feel upset, worried or confused. This could be if you or someone you know is being bullied online. There are lots of people who will be able to help you like your teachers, parents, carers or contact Childline – 0800 11 11 or www.childline.org.uk

We have certain rules and expectations that not only support the school’s ethos and curriculum but also the safety of our pupils.  We offer annual workshops for our parents and carers, run by outside providers.  Our last workshop was run by the 2 Johns https://esafetytraining.org/.

The IT suite PC's have a piece of software called 'Big Red Button' we advise the children that if they see anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, then to click the button.  This then covers the whole screen with an image and advises them to tell a teacher.  If you would like to install this on your home computer, then you can download the installer file here.

Useful Resources

National Online Safety has lots of resources to help parents in the minefield of online safety.  We share their #WakeUpWednesday information sheets in our newsletters and on our social media sites.  Click below to see some past information sheets and check out our socials for regular updates.

Monitoring and Filtering

By default, illegal websites are blocked by our filtering service, based on input from the Internet Watch Foundation, the Home Office, the Counter Terrorist list and security intelligence, including radicalisation content. We also have a monitoring system to enable staff to be alerted without the need to be watching every device, all the time. We are constantly amending and evolving our practices, to keep on top of the ever evolving technologies available.

Please see our policies and documents section for the most up-to-date version of our online safety policy and online safety rules.

Here is the latest online safety newsletter from Hertfordshire Grid for Learning.

If you are ever concerned about online safety, please do not hesitate to contact the school for advice.

Links to useful organisation websites 

Essex Police Help & Advice about parental controls and app settings - https://www.essex.police.uk/police-forces/essex-police/areas/essex-police/au/about-us/sort-your-settings/

UK Safer Internet Centre - http://saferinternet.org/

NSPCC Share Aware

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency (CEOP) - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Parent Zone - https://www.parents.parentzone.org.uk/

Vodafone Internet safety for parents - http://www.vodafone.com/content/parents.html

UK safer Internet centre - http://www.saferinternet.org.uk

Southwest grid for learning checklists for social media use - 
 https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/checklists/

Childline (including tips from young people and peer support) - https://www.childline.org.uk/Explore/OnlineSafety/Pages/staying-safe-online.aspx

Internet Watch Foundation - can help remove content from websites - https://www.iwf.org.uk/

Childline report remove - https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/report-remove/

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