ONLINE SAFETY

At Haslington Primary Academy and Nursery, we believe it is essential for online safety guidance to be given to the children on a regular and meaningful basis. Online safety is embedded within our curriculum and staff reinforce online safety messages across many curriculum areas.

The breadth of issues taught within online safety can be categorised into four areas of risk:

  • content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content
  • contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users
  • conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm
  • commerce – risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams

The children are given help and support to recognise and avoid online safety risks and build their resilience. Our academy-wide approach to online safety safeguards children from potentially harmful and inappropriate material online.

Online Safety at Haslington Primary Academy and Nursery:

  • A planned online safety curriculum is provided as part of the Computing (Digital Literacy), RSHE and other curriculum areas, and is regularly revisited. We use ‘Education for a Connected World’ to inform our programme of study.
  • Key online safety messages are reinforced as part of a planned programme of assemblies, workshops and displays.
  • Children are taught in all lessons to be critically aware of the materials or content they access on-line and be guided to validate the accuracy of information.
  • Children are taught to acknowledge the source of information used and to respect copyright when using material accessed on the internet.
  • Children are supported by the academy ‘Digital Leader’ programme, which involves gifted and talented children in computing from KS1 and KS2 assisting with the teaching of the curriculum, use and upkeep of mobile technologies and delivering online safety campaigns, which promote positive online use to support their peer groups.
  • Children are supported in building resilience to radicalisation by providing a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping them to understand how they can influence and participate in decision-making.
  • Children understand the need for a Children’s Acceptable Use Agreement and are encouraged to adopt safe and responsible use both within and outside the academy.
  • Children are made aware of where to seek advice or help if they experience problems when using the internet and related technologies; i.e. parents/ carers, teacher/ trusted staff member, or an organisation such as Childline/CEOP report abuse button.
  • In lessons, where internet use is pre-planned, children are guided to sites checked as suitable for their use and processes are in place for dealing with any unsuitable material that is found in internet searches.
  • Where children are allowed to freely search the internet, staff are vigilant in monitoring the content of the websites the children visit.
  • Children are alerted to the danger of using web cams as an extension of a chat room. Although this will be highly unlikely at the Academy, children need to know the risks involved when using web cams at home.
  • Children access the Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots website/app as part of their weekly homework. Usernames and passwords are used to log in to this site. Once logged in, children are able to play games against their classmates or other anonymised users. There is no way of interacting verbally or via text with others through this website/app.
  • The CPOMs app/website is used during remote learning, or when children are absent from school and need to access learning virtually. Children log in using a username and password. Their class teacher or teaching assistant sets tasks which are then marked and commented on through the feedback function.

For children with additional needs or vulnerable groups, the academy staff are aware that some children may require additional teaching including reminders, prompts and further explanation to reinforce their existing knowledge and understanding of online safety issues.

Where a child has poor social understanding, careful consideration is given to group interactions when raising awareness of online safety. Internet activities are planned and well managed for these children.

Filtering and Monitoring

We ensure that the infrastructure and network is as safe and secure as is reasonably possible.

Academy technical systems are managed in ways that ensure that the academy meets recommended technical requirements.

  • All users have clearly defined access rights to academy technical systems and devices.
  • All users (at KS2 and above) will be provided with a username and a secure password and keep an up to date record of users and their usernames.
  • Users are responsible for the security of their username and password
  • Internet access is filtered for all users. Illegal content (e.g. child sexual abuse images) is filtered by our filtering provider by actively employing the Internet Watch Foundation CAIC list. Content lists are regularly updated and internet use is logged and regularly monitored.
  • Internet filtering and monitoring ensures that children are safe from terrorist and extremist material when accessing the internet.
  • The academy has provided enhanced/differentiated user-level filtering.
  • Academy staff regularly monitor and record the activity of users on the school technical systems and users are made aware of this in the acceptable use agreement.
  • Appropriate security measures are in place using anti-virus to protect the servers, firewalls, routers, wireless systems, work stations, mobile devices, etc. from accidental or malicious attempts, which might threaten the security of the school systems and data. These are tested regularly. The academy infrastructure and individual devices are protected by up to date virus software.

Security

We also have ESET antivirus across all PC’s – MULTILAYERED ENDPOINT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY

ESET Endpoint Security provides strong malware and exploit prevention and can detect malware before, during and after execution. Now it also features anti-password guessing technology.

ESET Server Security provides lightweight multilayered server protection, to ensure business continuity.

  • Block targeted attacks
  • Prevent data breaches
  • Stop fileless attacks
  • Detect advanced persistent threats

REMOTE MANAGEMENT CONSOLE ESET PROTECT is a cloud-based or on-prem, multifunctional remote network security management tool for ESET business security products across all operating systems. It enables one-click security deployment and the cloud console gives you network visibility without the need to buy or maintain additional hardware, reducing total cost of ownership.

  • Seamless setup and deployment
  • Cloud deployment does not require additional hardware or software
  • Single point of network security management
  • Saves time with automated tasks
  • Management Console

Filtering

Our hosted web filtering solution provides schools with one of the most comprehensive sets of education specific filters available. Subscribing to the Internet Watch Foundation URL and the Home Office Terrorism Block List, we more than ensure your school’s Prevent Duty Compliance when it comes to online safety. Out of the box proactive alerts and reports on suspicious searches allow you to intervene where necessary to protect your most vulnerable students. And because our unique cloud-hosted filtering platform requires no upfront equipment or maintenance costs, you will make extra savings there too.

Supports DfE compliance. Developed specifically for education, we filter billions of categorised URLs, including the Internet Watch Foundation lists and the Home Office Terrorism block list. As such, our filters fully meet school Prevent Duty and DfE regulatory requirements. Automated filtering updates, protect students from harmful content almost as quickly as it is created.

Please view the attachment and link below to find out more;

Web Filtering Information Sheet

Useful Links

https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

Advice About Apps For Parents

TEXTING APPS

Kik Messenger is an app that lets kids text for free. It’s fast and has no message limits, character limits, or fees if you only use the basic features. Because it’s an app, the texts won’t show up on your kid’s phone’s messaging service, and you’re not charged for them (beyond standard data rates).

What parents need to know

  • Stranger danger is an issue. Kik allows communication with strangers who share their Kik usernames to find people to chat with. The app allegedly has been used in high-profile crimes, including the murder of a 13-year-old girl and a child-pornography case. There’s also a Kik community blog where users can submit photos of themselves and screenshots of messages (sometimes displaying users’ full names) to contests.
  • It’s loaded with ads and in-app-purchases. Kik specializes in “promoted chats” — basically, conversations between brands and users. It also offers specially designed apps (accessible only through the main app), many of which offer products for sale.

ooVoo is a free video, voice, and messaging app. Users can have group chats with up to 12 people for free — and it’s common for kids to log on after school and keep it open while doing homework. Maybe they’re using it for group study sessions?

What parents need to know

  • You can only chat with approved friends. Users can only communicate with those on their approved contact lists, which can help ease parents’ safety concerns.
  • It can be distracting. Because the service makes video-chatting so affordable and accessible, it also can be addicting. A conversation with your kids about multitasking may be in order.

WhatsApp lets users send text messages, audio messages, videos, and photos to one or many people with no message limits or fees.

What parents need to know

  • It’s for users 16 and over. Lots of younger teens seem to be using the app, but this age minimum has been set by WhatsApp.
  • It can be pushy. After you sign up, it automatically connects you to all the people in your address book who also are using WhatsApp. It also encourages you to add friends who haven’t signed up yet.

MICRO-BLOGGING APPS AND SITES

Instagram lets users snap, edit, and share photos and 15-second videos, either publicly or with a private network of followers. It unites the most popular features of social media sites: sharing, seeing, and commenting on photos. It also lets you apply fun filters and effects to your photos, making them look high-quality and artistic.

What parents need to know

  • Teens are on the lookout for “likes.” Similar to the way they use Facebook, teens may measure the “success” of their photos — even their self-worth — by the number of likes or comments they receive. Posting a photo or video can be problematic if teens are posting to validate their popularity.
  • Public photos are the default. Photos and videos shared on Instagram are public unless privacy settings are adjusted. Hashtags and location information can make photos even more visible to communities beyond a teen’s followers if his or her account is public.
  • Private messaging is now an option. Instagram Direct allows users to send “private messages” to up to 15 mutual friends. These pictures don’t show up on their public feeds. Although there’s nothing wrong with group chats, kids may be more likely to share inappropriate stuff with their inner circles.

Tumblr is like a cross between a blog and Twitter: It’s a streaming scrapbook of text, photos, and/or videos and audio clips. Users create and follow short blogs, or “tumblogs,” that can be seen by anyone online (if made public). Many teens have tumblogs for personal use: sharing photos, videos, musings, and things they find funny with their friends.

What parents need to know

  • Porn is easy to find. This online hangout is hip and creative but sometimes raunchy. Pornographic images and videos and depictions of violence, self-harm, drug use, and offensive language are easily searchable.
  • Privacy can be guarded but only through an awkward workaround. The first profile a member creates is public and viewable by anyone on the Internet. Members who desire full privacy have to create a second profile, which they’re able to password-protect.
  • Posts are often copied and shared. Reblogging on Tumblr is similar to re-tweeting: A post is reblogged from one tumblog to another. Many teens like — and, in fact, want — their posts reblogged. But do you really want your kids’ words and photos on someone else’s page?

Twitter is a microblogging tool that allows users to post brief, 140-character messages — called “tweets” — and follow other users’ activities. It’s not only for adults; teens like using it to share tidbits and keep up with news and celebrities.

What parents need to know

Vine is a social media app that lets users post and watch looping six-second video clips. This Twitter-owned service has developed a unique community of people who post videos that are often creative, funny, and sometimes thought-provoking. Teens usually use Vine to create and share silly videos of themselves and/or their friends and families.

What parents need to know

  • It’s full of inappropriate videos. In three minutes of random searching, we came across a clip full of full-frontal male nudity, a woman in a fishnet shirt with her breasts exposed, and people blowing marijuana smoke into each other’s mouths.
  • There are significant privacy concerns. The videos you post, the accounts you follow, and the comments you make on videos all are public by default. But you can adjust your settings to protect your posts; only followers will see them, and you have to approve new followers.

Parents can be star performers (without their knowledge). If your teens film you being goofy or silly, you may want to talk about whether they plan to share it.

LIVE-STREAMING VIDEO APPS

YouNow: Broadcast, Chat, and Watch Live Video is an app that lets kids stream and watch live broadcasts. As they watch, they can comment or buy gold bars to give to other users. Ultimately, the goal is to get lots of viewers, start trending, and grow your fan base. Note that there are other apps like this that are less popular with teens such as Periscope, but Facebook has just included live-streaming as a feature, so expect to see more and more personal broadcasting.

What parents need to know

  • Kids might make poor decisions to gain popularity. Because it’s live video, kids can do or say anything and can respond to requests from viewers — in real time. Though there seems to be moderation around iffy content (kids complain about having accounts suspended “for nothing”), there’s plenty of swearing and occasional sharing of personal information with anonymous viewers. In general, it mimics the real-life potential for kids to do things they normally wouldn’t do in pursuit of approval but in a much more public way.
  • Teens can share personal information, sometimes by accident. Teens often broadcast from their bedrooms, which often have personal information visible, and they sometimes will share a phone number or an email address with viewers, not knowing who’s really watching.
  • It’s creepy. Teens even broadcast themselves sleeping, which illustrates the urge to share all aspects of life publicly and share even intimate moments with strangers.

SELF-DESTRUCTING/SECRET APPS

Burn Note is a messaging app that erases messages after a set period of time. Unlike many other apps of this sort, it limits itself to text messages; users cannot send pictures or video. That may reduce issues such as sexting — but words can hurt, too.

What parents need to know

  • It allows kids to communicate covertly. To discourage copying and taking screenshots, a spotlight-like system that recipients direct with a finger (or the mouse) only reveals a portion of the message at a time.
  • It may encourage risky sharing. The company claims that its “Multi-Device Deletion” system can delete a message from anywhere: the device it was sent from, the device it was sent to, and its own servers. But it’s wise to be sceptical of this claim.
  • You don’t have to have the app to receive a Burn Note. Unlike other apps — for example, Snapchat — users can send a Burn Note to anyone, not only others who have the program.

Snapchat is a messaging app that lets users put a time limit on the pictures and videos they send before they disappear. Most teens use the app to share goofy or embarrassing photos without the risk of them going public. However, there are lots of opportunities to use it in other ways.

What parents need to know

  • It’s a myth that Snapchats go away forever. Data is data: Whenever an image is sent, it never truly goes away. (For example, the person on the receiving end can take a screenshot of the image before it disappears.) Snapchats can even be recovered. After a major hack in December 2013 and a settlement with the FTC, Snapchat has clarified its privacy policy, but teens should stay wary.
  • It can make sexting seem OK. The seemingly risk-free messaging might encourage users to share pictures containing sexy images.

Whisper is a social “confessional” app that allows users to post whatever’s on their minds, paired with an image. With all the emotions running through teens, anonymous outlets give them the freedom to share their feelings without fear of judgment.

What parents need to know

  • Whispers are often sexual in nature. Some users use the app to try to hook up with people nearby, while others post “confessions” of desire. Lots of eye-catching, nearly nude pics accompany these shared secrets.
  • Content can be dark. People normally don’t confess sunshine and rainbows; common Whisper topics include insecurity, depression, substance abuse, and various lies told to employers and teachers.
  • Although it’s anonymous to start, it may not stay that way. The app encourages users to exchange personal information in the “Meet Up” section.

Yik Yak is a free social-networking app that lets users post brief, Twitter-like comments to the 500 geographically nearest Yik Yak users. Kids can find out opinions, secrets, rumours, and more. Plus, they’ll get the bonus thrill of knowing all these have come from a 1.5-mile radius (maybe even from the kids at the desks in front of them!).

What parents need to know

  • It reveals your location. By default, your exact location is shown unless you toggle location-sharing off. Each time you open the app, GPS updates your location.
  • It’s a mixed bag of trouble. This app has it all: cyberbullying, explicit sexual content, unintended location-sharing, and exposure to explicit information about drugs and alcohol.
  • Some schools have banned access. Some teens have used the app to threaten others, causing school lockdowns and more. Its gossipy and sometimes cruel nature can be toxic to a high school environment, so administrators are cracking down.

CHATTING, MEETING, DATING APPS AND SITES

MeetMe: Chat and Meet New People — the name says it all. Although not marketed as a dating app, MeetMe does have a “Match” feature whereby users can “secretly admire” others, and its large user base means fast-paced communication and guaranteed attention.

What parents need to know

  • It’s an open network. Users can chat with whomever’s online, as well as search locally, opening the door to potential trouble.
  • Lots of details are required. First and last name, age, and ZIP code are requested at registration, or you can log in using a Facebook account. The app also asks permission to use location services on your teens’ mobile devices, meaning they can find the closest matches wherever they go.

Omegle is a chat site (and app) that puts two strangers together in their choice of a text chat or a video chat room. Being anonymous can be very attractive to teens, and Omegle provides a no-fuss opportunity to make connections. Its “interest boxes” also let users filter potential chat partners by shared interests.

What parents need to know

  • Users get paired up with strangers. That’s the whole premise of the app. And there’s no registration required.
  • This is not an app for kids and teens. Omegle is filled with people searching for sexual chat. Some prefer to do so live. Others offer links to porn sites.
  • Language is a big issue. Since the chats are anonymous, they’re often much more explicit than those with an identifiable user might be.

Skout is a flirting app that allows users to sign up as teens or adults. They’re then placed in the appropriate peer group, where they can post to a feed, comment on others’ posts, add pictures, and chat. They’ll get notifications when other users near their geographic area join, and they can search other areas by cashing in points. They receive notifications when someone “checks” them out but must pay points to see who it is.

What parents need to know

  • Skout is actually OK for teens if used appropriately. If your teens are going to use a dating app, Skout is probably the safest choice, if only because it has a teens-only section that seems to be moderated reasonably well.
  • There’s no age verification. This makes it easy for a teen to say she’s older than 18 and an adult to say she’s younger.

Tinder is a photo and messaging dating app for browsing pictures of potential matches within a certain-mile radius of the user’s location. It’s very popular with 20-somethings as a way to meet new people for casual or long-term relationships.

What parents need to know

  • It’s all about swipes. You swipe right to “like” a photo or left to “pass.” If a person whose photo you “liked” swipes “like” on your photo, too, the app allows you to message each other. Meeting up (and possibly hooking up) is pretty much the goal.
  • It’s location-based. Geolocation means it’s possible for teens to meet up with nearby people, which can be very dangerous.

The bottom line for most of these tools? If teens are using them respectfully, appropriately, and with a little parental guidance, they should be fine. Take inventory of your kids’ apps and review the best practices.

Parental Controls

Parental Controls for Android

Parental Controls for iPhone

Apple Guided Access

Snapchat

Squid Game

Where to find help …

Thinkuknow

The National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command is the UK’s national law enforcement agency committed to tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, both online and off. CEOP’s Education programme is called Thinkuknow www.thinkuknow.co.uk

On the Thinkuknow website the focus for 11-13s is on broad internet safety advice and the introduction of advice about abusive or exploitative relationships, whilst the 14+ site focuses on more adult issues such as relationships and how the internet affects them. The 14+ site also introduces topics to reflect the vulnerabilities of young people who suffer abuse and exploitation: online dating, pornography and some of the specific vulnerabilities of LGBT young people. Furthermore, the sites also provide advice on how to respond if young people are worried about a friend.

Zipit

ChildLine also has a free app called Zipit for young people. The app has handy tips to help young people if they are feeling uncomfortable when someone’s trying to get them to send naked images. Zipit helps young people take control of the situation with killer comebacks to flirty chat. Find out how to download the app on the ChildLine website https://www.childline.org.uk/play/getinvolved/pages/sexting-zipit-app.aspx

Files to Download

Online Safety Policy