Keeping Safe ONLINE
Keeping safe online is becoming increasingly more important and at West Park Academy, we teach children about the benefits of using the Internet alongside the potential risks they could face. We are committed to improving E-Safety at West Park Academy and work along side different agencies and the Local Authority to ensure our practices are up to date.
Support for Parents
There are a range of websites which can provide help and support for you and your child.
The 'Think You Know' website from CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre) is an excellent starting place to find information for you and your child about keeping safe online.
Think You Know have also produced some handy videos and activity sheets linked to social media, you can view them on their website here https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/home-activity-worksheets/.
The NSPCC website is also an excellent resource, with a range of different pages for all aspects of online safety.
You can also check out our News page where up to date advice is shared on a regular basis. These articles are also shared on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Family Media Plan
One of the best ways to support your children when keeping safe online is to be open and honest about Internet use with your children. A useful tool to complete is a Family Media Plan. This allows your family to look at how modern media and technology can work best for you. By working together as a family you get to set the rules, to create the goals and aims around the use of all the devices within your home. You also get to set and agree the important times when everyone can stop, switch off and take a break from their screens and devices. Creating a Family Media Plan is also a great place to start those often difficult conversations with your family around the risks and dangers they face online and allows you to set simple rules that make you all a lot safer. You can find the resources here.
Social Media
The use of social media is constantly changing and it can be very difficult to keep up to date. Family Lives have produced a recent web page which offers information about the latest social media trends to support parents. The 'Internet Matters' website also has excellent up to date information on Social Media use.
Reporting E-Safety Issues
Throughout E-Safety lessons we remind children that they need to tell a trusted adult if they are worried about something online. Children can come direct to a staff member to report concerns and this is acted upon and tracked through our internal systems.
We also have the email inbox dwpconfide@westparkacademy.org.uk which can be used for anyone to report instances of cyber-bullying and E-Safety which is then followed up by staff at West Park Academy.
In addition, here are some documents, from a range of sources, which offer advice and guidance to parents on how to keep their children safe and secure when they are online at home.