Online Safety

Safeguarding Information For Parents Feb 2023

Letter to the community – Online safety 06.02.23

This letter contains important update regarding the use of snapchat.
We also recommend checking media content here at https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Safeguarding Information For Parents October 2022
Click here to read safeguarding information about online chat rooms.

Many of the pupils at Barley Lane School use social networking accounts, mobile apps and online games and many of them have age restrictions. We need to educate ourselves in order to keep our children safe when using devices online as they increasingly become part of their lives. The links listed below will give you some advice.

Please speak to the Designated Safeguarding Officer at school if you have ANY concerns regarding your child’s online activity or malicious content that could affect them. The Designated Safeguarding Officer at Barley Lane School is Mr Dave Jones, Headteacher. Our Deputy Safeguarding Officers are Mrs Vicki Sessions, Deputy Headteacher, Ms Helen Kidney, Safeguarding Officer and Mr Carl Moore, Behaviour & Operational Lead.

Please see the list below of the most popular social networking accounts, mobile apps and online game sites, the age restrictions of those sites, and a link to information about what the sites cover.

The terms and conditions for many of these accounts say that you have to be 13 or older. Anyone under the age limits who joins these networks is presenting themselves as older than they are and would be in breach of the terms and conditions. If you have allowed your child to join one of these networks you are also in breach of their terms and conditions, this means you are taking full responsibility for their account and everything they do with it. Unfortunately, some other people join these networks and pretend to be younger than they are specifically to gain access to children. This could put your child at significant risk.

If you are unsure about your child’s use of social sites and mobile apps or the computer generally, please use the ThinkUKnow website – https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/. Work through some of the activities with your child so they know about appropriate behaviour and how to stay safe. We also use and encourage access to these sites here at Barley Lane.

Other useful links

The sites below are helpful and have useful resources, should you have any concerns at all about social media sites or your child’s use of social media.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/. – Thinkuknow is the education programme from NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children both online and offline.
https://www.childnet.com/ Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/ – Child Exploitation and Online Protection
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/ – Online Safety
https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers – Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online
https://nationalonlinesafety.com/ Online Safety Education for the Whole School Community
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ Reviews for what your kids are into (before they get into it) Trusted ratings created with families in mind.