E-Safety – Cowley Academy

PASTORAL

Internet Safety

Follow the E-safety rules to stay safe

Report any inappropriate behaviour online immediately to a member of staff.
Make sure that your passwords and login details are kept confidential and change your password regularly – and keep a record!
Abide by the safety filtering in place and ensure that you only access appropriate information.
Show respect for all computer hardware. Any damage you cause to school equipment will be charged to you.
Personal mobile phones are not to be used in any school buildings; no pictures or videoing on the school site and no abusive personal messaging. Permission must be sought for any essential contact with parents.

Online bullying tips for young people

Sometimes people are mean online and spoil our fun. It can make us sad, unhappy and anxious to go online. Here are some tips to help you manage it.

Don’t respond: Try not to reply, no matter what they say. It gives them an excuse to carry on.
Save a copy: Take a screenshot to show someone what is happening and keep it as evidence.
Report: Tell the app or game so they can do something about it.
Block: Block them so they can’t contact you or play online with you.
Talk: Tell someone what is happening. It will make you feel better and there are people who can help you.

Parent tips for simple rules for home

It can be a minefield trying to manage our children online so here we have provided some straightforward things which you can put in place to help you keep them a little safer at home.

No tech in bedrooms (or tech with door open)
Keeping technology from behind closed doors reduces the likelihood they will search for inappropriate content.
Watch and learn about apps together
Learn about the apps and games they are interested in to better understand how it can be used positively but also to under the risks and how they manage them.
Periodically check what they are watching
YouTube and Netflix will show you what has been recently watched. Social media can be a little more difficult to check but encourage them to show you themselves.
Discuss together and agree boundaries
Keep talking about the good and the bad of being online, and explain why rules are necessary sometimes so they understand it’s about their safety not spoiling their fun.

Parental controls can be used to restrict access to inappropriate content and can help you manage their safety online at home. Guides are available from www.internetmatters.org or the useful links below to set up controls to filter content, limit screen time, restrict access to apps and manage who they can contact.