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Safety Including Online

You can find lots of helpful information in our Online Safety Guides 

Online Safety - Think Before You Send...

Following on from Safer Internet Day, we have been discussing what is acceptable to post online and the things we need to think about before doing so.  We know people may behave differently online than they do in person. The audience is invisible so many feel protected by their screens- think 'keyboard warriors'. Sadly, this means that sometimes people will misuse social media platforms like WhatsApp to shame and bully others. Posting online is instant, public and more often than not, permanent. Once you post, you lose control of what happens to it - it only takes one friend to share it on their own profiles for it to be completely out of your hands..

The digital world is the real world with real consequences. We are encouraging children to ask themselves the following before hitting send!

March 2023

WhatsApp Pupil View

WhatsApp is a free, multi-platform messaging app that lets users make video and voice calls, send text messages and share their status with other users. In an ever evolving digital world, we know that children are joining the world of online much younger and using it for longer. At Almond Hill, we are noticing an increase in problems arising between children on WhatsApp. Last year, we did a survey to gauge the use of WhatsApp across the year groups and the impact this has on children. You can hear an overview of these results in the video below and the detailed results follow. 
September 2022

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Tools to Support Families

Is My Child at Risk of Exploitation?

Important Contacts:

Police - tel: 999 or 101
Police care about the safety of children and young people. If you think your child is immediate danger then call 999, or you can report concerns by dialling 101. 

Barnardo's - tel: 0208 5508 822 - www.barnados.org.uk
Barnardo's provides a range of services to children, young people, and families across the UK. Services address problems including sexual exploitation, substance misuse and homelessness. 

NSPCC - Child Protection Helpline - tel: 0808 800 5000
You can ring NSPCC Helpdesk to report concerns and get advice if you are concerned your child is being exploited. They are available 24 hours a day.

FRANK - tel: 0800 776 600 - www.talktofrank.com
A free service providing advice to people of all ages about drugs: can provide information about local support services. 

Crimestoppers - 0800 555 111 - crimestoppers-uk.org
Crimestoppers guarantees anonymity to all callers and website users. If you are concerned a young person is being sexually exploited, call or visit their website to provide information. 

PACE - Parents against Child Exploitation - tel: 01132 405 226
Offers a national support team who can talk to you about immediate concerns, helps you to assess the level of danger your child is in and signpost you to agencies in your area. They take calls during office hours.

Think You Know - www.thinkuknow.co.uk
CEOP (Child Protection Online Protection) provide information about helping your children to stay safe online. You can report online concerns to them.

Missing People Charity - tel: 116 000 - www.missingpeople.org.uk
Missing People is the only charity in the UK which specialises in, and is dedicated to, bringing missing children and adults back together with their families. 

Parents Protect - tel: 0808 1000 900 - www.parents.co.uk
Information and resources which aim to raise awareness about child sexual abuse, answer questions and give adults the information, advice, support and facts they need to help protect children. 

Signposting for Children and Young People

CEOP helps any child or young person under the age of 18 who is being pressured, forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity of any kind. This can be something that has taken place either online or in ‘the real world’, or both. The CEOP Safety Centre has clear information and advice on what can be reported to CEOP, the reporting process and what will happen if you do decide to make a report. You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre and make a report directly to CEOP by clicking the Click CEOP button.

If you are experiencing online bullying or something else online has worried you please speak to an adult you trust, or you can talk to Childline at any time on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.

Sign posting for adult stakeholders

CEOP is a command of the National Crime Agency and is dedicated to tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and young people. CEOP helps children and young people under the age of 18 who have been forced or manipulated into taking part, or are being pressured to take part, in sexual activity of any kind. This can be both online and offline. The CEOP Safety Centre offers information and advice for children and young people, parents and carers and professionals.

You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre and make a report directly to CEOP by clicking the Click CEOP button.

Online bullying or other online concerns should not be reported to CEOP and children and young people should be directed to speak to an adult they trust, and/or referred to Childline, if they would like to speak to someone about how they are feeling. 

Advice for Parents and Carers

Children use the internet in different ways depending on their age, here are some checklists for parents that give you top tips on how to help them stay safe. www.internetmatters.org/advice

Please use this address for a wide range of support and advice for parents or carers who would like to know more about keeping their children safe on the internet: www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers

Please may I remind all parents that responsible use of the internet and other forms of technology is best achieved through close monitoring of children’s use by parents.  There is a wide range of information on our school website regarding safety and we are always willing to speak to parents individually should they need some specific support.

Online Gaming and Live Streaming Apps

We spend a lot of time teaching children about online safety and appropriate use of the technology they have access to so they learn to use it safely.  However, it is vital that carers and parents monitor use so you can ensure your child communicates properly and you are able to report any inappropriate responses.  

We appreciate that the online gaming world changes and is updating frequently. We receive links to guide you to information that may support you to keep your child safe online. Please see the links below.

Please use this website for good advice on protecting your child online: www.kidscape.org.uk/advice

Many popular games include online message features. Certain games allow others to message you whether people are 'online friends' or just strangers. Roblox is a social platform for games that is currently very popular.  There are games that allow strangers to message the players.  Please be aware of this if your son/daughter is playing as some messages could contain inappropriate content.

Follow the link below for a 'Guide to Live Streaming Apps'. We would encourage all parents to look at this as it gives some useful information about which streaming apps are available, how they work and how to keep children safer online.

www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe

How to Set up Parental Controls

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/

This guide will help you set up parental controls to provide your child with a safer online environment. Parental controls can help to protect your child from seeing something that they shouldn’t - although it is important to emphasise that no system is effective all of the time so it is important to engage with your child and talk to them about their online life regularly.

Information to Support Parents
 
What Have We Been Doing in School?

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  • The Almond Hill Online Safety Group

    Published 06/03/24

    The Almond Hill Online Safety Group completed their work with Letchmore Infants School this week.  With great care, the Year 2 Devices Usage Online Survey results were analysed and prepared.  We were delighted to talk the Year 2s about being careful with the types of things that they were watching (content), how they speak to each other online (contact), screentime (conduct) and even that videos they watch might be trying to get them to buy or ask for things (commerce). We would like to thank Letchmore School for having us and all the lovely children that participated in the survey.   

    Read More
  • Year 5 - Love Your Heart

    Published 05/03/24

    Year 5 had a brilliant workshop on Thursday called Love your Heart. The children learnt about how to put people into the recovery position, how to carry out CPR and about how a defibrillator works. The children were very engaged and learnt a lot. 

    Read More
  • Safer Internet Day

    Published 13/02/24

    The children have thoroughly enjoyed completing all sorts of activities promoting Safer Internet Day this year.  We have designed our own influencers who make a positive impact on the world, investigated how programmers use persuasion in their programming to make children play video games and watch content for longer,  discussed AI and the potential impacts on the world as we know it and much more!  We have also discussed how technology can change our moods and what to do when we come across content that makes us feel uncomfortable in any way.

    Please ask your children about the activities, check any settings on their devices and keep monitoring their activity.  It's a jungle out there!

    #SaferInternet Day! Join us and @UK_SIC

    to www.saferinternetday.org.uk

    Read More
  • NSPCC Assemblies

    Published 24/09/23

    Children in year 5 and 6 took part in NSPCC workshops over the last 2 weeks. The children have been learning about how to keep themselves safe.

    The NSPCC has also developed an adapted version of their assembly for parents/carers to use at home with their children. This can be found here: www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/safety With the help of celebrities, the film focuses on how a child can get support if they have any worries or concerns.

    To complement the assembly, there are some resources that can be used to enable further discussion whilst doing activities with your children. These are hosted on the NSPCC website www.nspcc.org.uk/activities.

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  • Safer Internet Day

    Published 07/02/23

    On Tuesday 7th February, we joined schools and youth organisations across the UK in celebrating Safer Internet Day 2023.  Safer Internet Day is a global campaign to promote the safe and responsible use of technology, which calls on children and young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers and more, to help to create a better internet. 

    Using the internet safely and positively is a key message that we promote in school and celebrating Safer Internet Day is a great opportunity for us to re-emphasise the online safety messages we deliver throughout the year.  We would be delighted if you could join us in celebrating the day by continuing the conversation at home. To help you with this, the UK Safer Internet Centre have created some free activities and information for parents and carers which are available at: https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2023/parents-and-carers

    Whether you have 5 minutes to start a conversation or hours to spare, there are top tips, quizzes and films which you can use at home with your child. This is particularly pertinent as in the last few weeks, I have had several parents contact me about unkind and inappropriate contact via social media and technological devices. As a school, it is our responsibility to educate the children about safe and responsible use of technology but ultimately, we do not have the power to enforce this at home. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is that parents remain in control of the technology their children are using. Apart from the fact that misuse can seriously affect the wellbeing of your children both inside and outside of school, an increasing amount of teaching time is being spent dealing with issues that start outside of school and end up affecting the children’s ability to learn in school.

    Read More
  • Dogs Trust Visit

    Published 28/11/22

    The Dog's Trust visited Almond Hill this week! The week started with an Assembly about general dog safety to the whole school and what to do if you see dogs out in your everyday life. This was then followed up with a special visit to each classroom where children had the chance to ask questions and gain further understanding about dog safety. Some of our favourite facts were 'Did you know that raisins and grapes are poisonous for dogs?' and 'Dogs liked to be stroked on their backs and not have hands in front of their faces'. Children acted out how to get into safe positions if unfriendly dogs approached them and had a go at mimicking the noise level dogs hear by cupping their ears and making a loud noise. It has been a fantastic week of learning new things so thank you Mrs Burgess for organising and The Dog's Trust for all their hard work at our school this week.

    November 2022

    ‘It was such a pleasure to visit your school, I was made to feel so welcome, and the pupils were so lovely to teach, so engaged and asked such interesting questions.’
    Dogs Trust

     

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  • Rail Safety Assemblies

    Published 24/10/22

    A Network Rail Community Safety Manager visited us on Tuesday to deliver rail safety sessions in an assembly. The Stevenage area is one of their hotspot locations for child and young person incidents, such as trespassing and children learnt how to keep themselves safe near the tracks.

    "It was really important to hear how we could save someone's life" Year 4

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  • A Visit From The Police

    Published 19/06/22

    Children in year 5 and 6 were lucky to have a visit from local police officers to talk about online safety. They spoke about online risks, rules to stay safe online and age appropriate content. They also explained what children should do if they come across something they are not happy with and who to speak to. Children engaged really well and were very forthcoming in sharing with police the games and social media platforms they're using which they're not old enough for yet! A big thank you to Herts Police for taking the time to visit.
    June 2022

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