Online Safety | Courtwood Primary School

Online safety continues to be an important part of learning at Courtwood. With more pupils than ever gaining access to technology, and at an ever-earlier age, we want to work in partnership with our families and community to ensure children are using it in a safe, positive and responsible manner.

Technology can provide new learning opportunities but can also provide opportunities for pupils to access material they should not, or be treated by others inappropriately.

Our curriculum has a clear focus on online safety and shows pupils how to protect themselves from harm, particularly concerning cyber-bullying and dealing with strangers online.

At Courtwood we understand a range of factors keep children safe online:

Policy– We have a clear and rigorous online safety policy, which has clear procedures used by the whole school.
Staff– Our staff receive training on up-to-date training on online- safety.
Curriculum– Our online safety curriculum is age-appropriate, relevant and engages pupils’ interest.

All breaches of online safety must be reported immediately to either the class teacher, the head teacher or the school office [email protected].

Any illegal online activity must be reported to the police at ceop (the national crime agency’s child protection command) www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre

The world our children are growing up in is becoming more and more digital. Among other things, technology has been shown to improve problem solving and language skills and it can stimulate creativity and social interaction but we also need to be aware of the risks involved. We want to help our children and their families to make positive contributions online whilst developing strategies for keeping safe and being aware of their behaviour online. We have a wealth of resources from internetmatters.org to help you to ensure your child can navigate their online world safely.

Online Safety Tips for 0-5 years

Online Safety Tips for 6-10 years

If you child is experiencing any online safety problems we would ask that they report them to their teacher or a member of support staff. All issues will be reported to the Headteacher or Computing Coordinator.

Before they’ve even learnt to read, most children can navigate through devices to play games and watch cartoons. By the time they reach the age of 8, over one in three children own their own smartphone and 55% have their own tablet. Take a look at the online safety tips in our Parent’s Guide to Discovering Digital at Primary School here.

Covid-19

To help families adjusting to a “new normal” following the measures taken to stop the spread of coronavirus, internetmatters.org have created a dedicated space to provide expert advice, resources and tools to make the best use of tech.

Fortnite

Fortnite is an online game, where players Vs players (PVP) in combat. This is a free game. Users play against people of different ages from across the world, and can talk and interact with each other as they play through the in-game chat feature.

Fortnite has a PEGI rating of 12, PEGI have said this is due to the following: ‘frequent scenes of mild violence. It is not suitable for persons under 12 years of age’.

You have to create an account using a password and verified email address.
You are not asked your age in order to create an account.
You play against players of different ages from across the world.
You cannot turn the in game chats off or choose who you play against.
Fortnite does feature violence when players are in combat with each other.

Roblox

Roblox is a gaming platform where you can create your own games or play games that other users have made. There is also the option to chat to other players, but this can be disabled.

The PEGI’s rating is 12+ for the following: ‘Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence’.

Children can communicate and play with adults on the platform as there are no age limit restrictions.
All games are multiplayer and include a written chat feature, which is visible to players within each individual game.
Users can make and receive friend requests during gameplay and this means that they can chat to each other outside of the game.
Because content is user-generated it can mean that some games might not be appropriate for young children e.g. whilst the graphics are not very life like, some of the games feature weapons and blood.
By creating games, users can earn Robux, the in-game currency. You can also buy Robux in the game. Players can spend money on items, such as membership to the Builders Club.
The game shows links to other apps, such as Granny (see below), which are not appropriate for children.

Granny

Parents need to know that Granny is a free-to-play indie horror game with grotesque art, blood, and jump scares that are too intense for young children.

PGEI’s rating is 12+ for the following: ‘Frequent/Intense Horror/Fear Themes, Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence’.

Granny can be accessed through the Roblox app as well as an app download.

Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto is an open world crime game that follows the story of different criminals. In terms of mature content, Grand Theft Auto packs in adult material from the very beginning.

In the UK and Europe, PEGI rates Grand Theft Auto V 18+ for “extreme violence; multiple, motiveless killing; violence towards defenceless people; and strong language”.

This is a game is wholly inappropriate for children. It is aimed squarely at adults, and as such, it tries to be as extreme, and at times shocking as it can be

4th September 2018 – Surrey Police published this information to make parents aware of apps their children may be using:

Keeping Children Safe online

The NSPCC has advice on how to keep your children safe online:

For further information, please visit:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/