E-Safety

e-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at Regina Coeli Catholic School.

We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. E-Safety incidents are recorded and managed in accordance with our e-safety policy.  All pupils are taught e-safety explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.

The London Grid for Learning offer a wide range of online resources to support parents in teaching their children about online safety and keeping them safe online. Click here to access the London Grid for Learning Online-Safety Resource Centre.

CEOP's Thinkuknow is a National Crime Agency organisation and also has a number of resources available to schools, parents and children to support children's understand of how to keep safe online. Click here to access the Thinkuknow website. 

Useful Online Safety Resources

www.childnet.com- Visit the ‘Know It All’ Section for an interactive guide about online safety

www.getsafeonline.org - Free up-to-date Security advice

www.parentinfo.org - Supported by CEOP

www.cybermentors.org.uk - Online support for children

www.childline.org.uk - Online support for children

www.internetmatters.org - Explains how to set up parental controls on most devices and game consoles.

www.commonsensemedia.org - A bit like TripAdvisor for apps & games, including age restrictions.

Top Tips for Parents & Carers

• Discuss as a family how the internet will be used in your house. Consider what should be kept private online (personal information, photos etc.) and decide rules for making and meeting online friends. Make sure you know what your child is doing online much like you would offline.
• Talk to your child and ask them to show or even teach you how they use the internet, learn which websites or tools they like to use and why. Learning together can often open opportunities to discuss safe behaviour with your child.
• Always ensure your child knows how to block or report people online who send nasty or inappropriate messages or content. Encourage your child not to retaliate or reply.
• Make sure your child knows to tell an adult they trust if they see something online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable.
• It’s essential to be realistic - banning the internet or technology will not work and it often makes a child less likely to report a problem. Education around safe use is essential.
• Only allow your chidlren to play online games that are age appropriate. Check the PEGI rating of the game. Remember, the average age of an online gamer is 38 years old! 
• Do not allow your child to have internet enabled devices in their bedrooms until they reach an age and maturity to keep themselves safe.
• Remember that Children are accessing the internet via their phone, tablet, iPod, Kindle, X-Box, Nintendo, PlayStation etc. Without parental controls on these devices, children can access whatever they want on the internet.
• Locate your computer in a supervised family area. Always supervise the use of webcams and applications which allow voice or video chat.
• Install antivirus software, secure your internet connection and use parental control functions on your home broadband for computers, mobile phones and games consoles to block unsuitable content. 
• Remember that parental control tools are not always 100% effective and sometimes unsuitable content can get past them, so don’t rely on them alone to protect your child.
• The Communication Act 2003 makes it an offence to send anything on the Internet that is offensive, indecent, threatening or false and the reason for sending it is to cause the other person annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety. Remember the age of criminal responsibility in England is 10 years old.