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School Blog Online Safety

School Blog

Online Safety

By the Online Safety Team

Safer Internet Day - Tuesday 6th February

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Tuesday, 6 February 2024

As part of Safer Internet Day, the children in year 3  become digital detectives, exploring the exciting world of Artificial Intelligence and learning how to stay safe online.

We started by watching Safer Internet Day 2024 Live Lesson, focusing on the fascinating world 
of AI Technology and how to stay safe online.
The lesson kicked off by introducing AI, explaining what it is, and where we might already be using it in our day to day lives. It also addessed some commonly thought myths about AI and children tested their knowledge by sorting the AI facts from the AI fiction.  

We investigated a type of AI called machine learning – to see how AI works. This is a specific type of Artificial Intelligence where an AI system learns to carry out a task by using large amounts of training data. 

We also  explored the risks of AI technology online, including deepfake photos and fake news. Finally we summarised everything we had learnt in the lesson before creating a poster  with our top tip for staying safe online in an AI world.  

Ask your child for their top tip!

TALKING ASD & ADHD FREE workshops - TECH USE- PARENT & CARER SUPPORT

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Tuesday, 6 February 2024

Are you concerned about the amount of time your child spends online?

Are you having frequent arguments about getting off devices?

Do you worry that your child with ASD or ADHD is more vulnerable than neurotypical children?

 

IF ANY OF THIS APPLIES TO YOU, FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR A FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP!

Talking ASD and ADHD: Tech Use (630). For parents/carers in Herts. Registration, Wed 28 Feb 2024 at 19:30 | Eventbrite

Safer Internet Day - Tuesday 6th February

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Tuesday, 6 February 2024

Inspiring change? Making a difference, managing influence and navigating change online.  

Today was Safer Internet Day and we joined schools all over the country to champion youth voice and engage in conversations about how we can all work together to make the internet a great and safe place. 

Mr Staples kicked it off on Monday with a whole school assembly which was then followed today by a variety of learning activities across the school to support their Digital Literacy skills, including learning about AI and how to continue to be Safe Digital Citizens. Read our year blogs!  

Ask your child about what they did in class and share their learning. This is a great opportunity to focus on online safety with your child, whatever their age. We have created a list of resources, including the link to the Cbeebies Live lesson that was shared in classes today. These will help you to talk about these issues and ideas with your child, no matter how much time you have and, in an age,-appropriate way. 

Be Internet Legends - A Program to Teach Children Internet Safety (beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com) This includes the game Interland which teaches the children how to make the right choices through playing a game. 

Screen free activities

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Tuesday, 19 December 2023

Of course the best way to stay safe online at Christmas,  is also to stay offline!  Time away from our screens not just keeps us away from negative feelings, (which can come from playing games, looking at social media and group chats )but it also gives us a chance to build relationships, get more active, concentrate better and have a positive impact on our mental health and sleep patterns.

So step away from the phone, laptop, gaming centre and TV and look at our list of activities that you and your family can enjoy together.  The list below offers many ideas to get you started but we're sure you can find plenty more that suit your family's interests.  Don't forget to share these with the Internet Safety team. Let's work together to inspire our children to balance their freetime and feel better for it!

  • Have a dance party
  • Build an indoor fort
  • Read a book
  • Make slime
  • Make cookies
  • Have a picnic
  • Do a Science experiment
  • Have a Nerf battle
  • Make an art show
  • Colour some rocks and leave them out for people to find
  • Make and fly a kite
  • Go for a walk
  • Reorganise your bedroom
  • Play a ball game
  • Draw with chalk
  • Make a puppet show with sock puppets
  • Write a letter
  • Keep a diary
  • Play a card game
  • Make your own board game, then play it
  • Look at old photos with friends and family
  • Do a puzzle

 

 

Top tips for staying safe online at Christmas

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Tuesday, 19 December 2023

 

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year, excitable children and time to relax with family and friends. And of course, there are new toys to play with.

With a huge increase in sales of devices (around 13 million people receive smartphones for Christmas each year) it is important to ensure that you and your children are safe when playing with new kit. To help, we’ve set out a few top tips to help keep your household safe online over the holidays.

The Tech:

Learn your way around

Most devices have controls to ensure that kids can’t access content you don’t want them to. Make sure your “in-app” purchases are disabled to avoid a nightmare surprise in the new year.

Tablets

Tablets are really popular with younger children, and the market has several which are geared towards child friendly content. When it comes to using them, start slowly; only download games and apps you have checked out carefully (sites such as www.net-aware.org.uk, or www.commonsensemedia.org provide useful advice!) and steer them towards age targeted content such as www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbeebies/features/iplayer-kids or YouTube Kids.

Mobile devices

If you have older children, and are thinking about getting them a new phone for Christmas, this can pose its own challenges:

The old online safety message about having your home computer in a communal place becomes defunct, because phones are literally mobile computers and have the power of most traditional desktop PCs.

Set boundaries

Our advice is to set some ground rules, and ensure they understand them. For example:

Screen Time

Agree a time limit or number of games beforehand, to avoid repeated disagreements around how long they can spend online.

Sleep comes first

It is advisable that the phone stays out of the bedroom to avoid those night time interruptions.

Ask for access 

If you’re genuinely concerned about them, ask them to allow you access to the phone.

Monitoring vs having a conversation

It is possible to install software onto devices that monitors online activity, alerts you to inappropriate behaviour, and can block access to certain content. This type of software is becoming increasingly popular, but while this might sound tempting, it does pose a number of issues around your child’s right to privacy & could have an impact upon your relationship with them. SWGfL published this blog earlier this year, which covers the subject in some detail and raises some interesting points.

SWGfL also covered this in its Parenting in a Digital Age series earlier this year, in this blog.

Consider setting parental controls on your Wi-Fi – you can block access to inappropriate or adult content, and set time limits which may help rein in those excessive Minecraft sessions. The UK Safer Internet Centre has advice on this here.

Gaming

Finally a word about games. This year there are so many exciting  games and consoles around, there is a good chance you might have one in your house. Whether a DS, Nintendo Switch or PS4, there is something for everyone, and every age.

Consider whether your child is mature enough to join an online community, and whether the games they are playing are appropriate. For more advice on this visit www.pegi.info or www.askaboutgames.com. Our blog from earlier this year, ‘The real cost of online gaming’ also gives an insight into the type of things to be aware of when it comes to gaming.

Finally, make sure you enjoy your tech together, it’s the perfect time of year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whatsapp - What every parent needs to know

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Monday, 25 September 2023

New Year

By Jo Marlow, in Online Safety - Monday, 11 September 2023

Welcome back to a new school year! 

As summer comes to an end and the dark nights draw in, it’s a good time to think about our children’s internet safety.

Throughout the year, we will be working alongside you to ensure that our children are safe and happy online.  We will regularly blog hfl safety online newsletters, as well as useful guides to help you to keep on top of your child’s internet safety and help them to make positive choices online.

As in past years, there will also be a national safer internet day in February to raise awareness of ‘a safer and better internet for all, and especially for children and young people’.  

To find out more about Safer Internet Day, follow the link of the website below and SAVE THE DATE now!

Summer Term newsletter for Parents and carers

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Thursday, 29 June 2023

As the end of term approaches, and for some the end of Fairlands, it is important to think about how we can prepare our children for keeping safe online, both over the holidays and to prepare them for the next academic year.

Attached is the latest Parent and Carers newsletter from hfl, which includes tips, guidance and also some links that can help you to help our children.

Dont't foget that https://parentzone.org.uk/ is another source of guidance for parents and carers when faced with internet safety issues in the home.

Year 6 will also be taking part in an online assembly on Thursday 6th July 2023, which will particularly help them in their transition to secondary school.  Parents are also invited to sign up.  Look out for information on how to do this, over the next week. 

 

 

Whatsapp - What every parent needs to know

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Sunday, 26 March 2023

WhatsApp

You’re probably well aware of WhatsApp and its huge user-base. The app has become a go-to for a convenient and easy way to keep in touch on an individual basis as well as in groups.

But are there any possible risks, and how safe is it for children? Here's everything you need to know

 

(Parent Zone)

What is OMEGLE?

By Mrs Marlow, in Online Safety - Thursday, 9 March 2023

 

WHAT PARENTS AND CARERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OMEGLE

 

Recently we have noticed a lot of conversations about the website ‘Omegle’, and we know parents and carers may have also heard about Omegle in the news recently.

 

We want to help you to support your child with ‘living life online’.  The best way to do this is to keep an open and honest dialogue about their online interests by ‘checking in’ with your child’s online activity regularly.

 

You can find out more about ‘Omegle’ and some safety tips by looking at https://www.childnet.com/blog/what-is-omegle-key-things-parents-and-carers-need-to-know/

And by reading the attached poster.

 

As usual, if you have any concerns regarding your child’s safety online, please don’t hesitate to speak to your child’s class teacher.