E Safety

The internet is always changing, and being able to keep up to date with your children’s use of technology can be a challenge, especially when your children may have better technical skills than you do.  The internet and online technologies are an important part of children’s lives at home and school, providing great opportunities for learning, communicating, playing and creating, however children and young people still need support and guidance to ensure they manage their online time positively and safely.

The main areas of risk are;

Conduct – children and young people need to be aware of the impact their online behaviour can have on themselves and others

Content – children and young people need to understand how to avoid or report online content that may be hurtful or harmful

Contact – not everyone is truthful online and children/young people need to learn the importance of setting and reviewing privacy settings.

Keep your child safe when using SnapChat

Snapchat have introduced a new feature, the Snap Map. This feature allows users to see where in the country their Snapchat contacts are as well as seeing location based photos and videos. Users can zoom into the map to see the exact location of their friends.

It is important to be careful about who our students share their location with as it can allow people to build up a picture of where they live, go to school and how they spend their time.
Therefore, please ensure your child’s settings allow them to be safe.

Please click this link which provides details of:

• How to access Snap Maps
• Who can see your location
• Changing settings
• Top Tips to stay safe

Useful links

We have provided links to the following site for further help and guidance.

NSPCC - Helpful advice and tools you can use to help keep your child safe whenever and wherever they go online. (https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/)

NSPCC Net aware – A guide to social networks. (https://www.net-aware.org.uk/)

ThinkUKnow/Parents – Help and advice from the National Crime Agency, and how to report concerns. (https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/)

ThinkUKnow/Social Media – How to report concerns to most of the major social media networks including Instagram, You Tube and Ask.fm.  (https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_13/help/Contact-social-sites/)

UK Safer Internet Centre – A parent’s guide to technology. (http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-and-resources/parents-and-carers/parents-guide-to-technology)

Kidscape Cyberbullying – Help and advice if your child has been bullied through social media, phones or other technologies.  (https://www.kidscape.org.uk/advice/advice-for-parents-and-carers/)

Childnet – Advice on how to start a conversation with your child on a range of esafety topics. (http://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers)

Google Safety Centre – A useful guide for parent with help about some of the online tools you can use to keep your family safe online.  (https://www.google.co.uk/safetycenter/families/start/basics/)

Phone Brain – Advice about teens and mobile phones plus links to advice centres for many of the UK major phone networks.  (https://www.google.co.uk/safetycenter/families/start/basics/)

A further source of information is the Oldham Local Safeguarding Children Board http://www.oldham.gov.uk/lscb/ - please visit here to find out what support services are available.