E-Safety
What does E-safety mean?
E-safety is a term which means not only the internet but other ways in which young people communicate using electronic media, e.g. mobile phones. It means ensuring that children and young people are protected from harm and supported to achieve the maximum benefit from new and developing technologies without risk to themselves or others.
We cannot stress enough how important it is that parents are aware of what is available to see online on a day-to-day basis. This is often material that they have stumbled across accidentally or that others, gaming with them, are sharing in group play. Our aim is to show you some of the things that are happening, even on age appropriate games, with the intention that working together we can do the very best to keep all of our children safe.
As a parent or carer, the best tool to support your child in leading a happy and safe life online is open conversation.
At Mildmay Primary School we highly recommend that parents follow The 2 John's for all the latest e-safety information.
The 2 John's are two former police officers who now work extensively across Essex with a wide range of school's and young people.
We have always found their advice to be excellent. We will seek to invite them back to school annually to speak with children staff and parents.
Twitter: @JohnsThe2
Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/The2johns/
It is of vital importance to protect children from the online sphere whilst in schools.
The reality though, is that the majority of dangers posed by internet access occur in the home; out of the range of school filtering software, mandated software bans and other measures that can be taken in educational establishments.
The Internet Watch Foundation, has released a checklist to help mitigate the risks at home from the internet.
This checklist covers all things related to child protection online at home. The eighteen page document, contains a wealth of information and ideas on how to reduce potential vulnerabilities once your children have left the school premises.
To get hold of this guidance please follow the link below:
The TALK acronym breaks these steps into four main areas that gives you some practical ways to help your child reduce their risk and use the internet more safely. The key is to start now: whether your child has been using the internet independently for a while, or are about to get their first mobile phone, it is not too late to take these steps.
Top 10 Guides in Online Safety for Primary Schools
Social Media Advice - Keeping your Children Safe Online
Gaming information
Nintendo Switch Parental Controls
Parental controls don’t eliminate risk completely. Like you would with any piece of tech, ensuring your child can recognise and respond to challenges is the best way of helping them flourish while they’re gaming.
However, parental controls can be a useful tool for families who are looking to prevent accidental spending or stop their child from being able to access inappropriate content.
For the Switch, all you have to do is to create a parent/guardian account on your child’s console and download Nintendo’s parental controls app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Some of the main features of this app include:
Time limits:
Research from the Oxford Internet Institute suggests that what children do on screens is more important than the amount of time they spend – but that doesn’t mean you can’t choose to set limits.
Through the app, you can set up daily quotas for your child. When their time is almost up, they will receive a notification which encourages them to finish what they’re doing. You can also enable a feature called ‘Suspend software’ which will automatically quit the game and turn the console off when the time is up.
Minecraft
Minecraft is a game that lets you build and create a virtual world using building blocks. Other activities include using the multiplayer function to explore the worlds created by other users and to combat, chat and play with them. Minecraft has a PEG age rating of 7+
Roblox
Roblox is a free to play 3D online multiplayer game which can be played on most devices. Players create an Avatar (a digital representation of themselves) and can play a vast number of mini-games with other players. Many of the games have been created by other Roblox users. Players can chat to each other while playing any of the games, and you have the ability to add people to a 'Friend' list. The game is currently available on X-Box One, Windows 10, Apple devices and android devices