Online Safety at Orchard Meadow 

At Orchard Meadow, we take e-safety extremely seriously. We believe that it is the right of all students, parents and staff to feel safe and secure when using technology.

Please click here to read our Online Safety Policy, which holds detailed information about how we ensure our pupils remain safe when using technology and online.

We teach our pupils to use the internet and other technologies safely, and we show them how to behave in an appropriate manner. This is delivered through our Computing curriculum, assemblies and special weeks and through the PSHCE curriculum. 

It is important to encourage a healthy lifestyle with regard to the use of technology, and teach children about the risks of exposure to inappropriate content or too much time in front of a screen. 

If a pupil feels uncomfortable or if they feel scared about anything online they can report it on CEOP.

E-safety is a key part of the computing as well as wider curriculum. See all of the linked curriculum activities and stand alone events:

We are contantly working hard to increase awareness amongst our pupils of the dangers of the internet and online safety, sometimes also known as e-safety, is an area that is constantly evolving and as such we hope that this page provides useful information for parents and carers.

• https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
• https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
• https://www.childnet.com/
• https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

What age can my child start social networking?

Click the link below to a vital resource to help you guide your child to use the internet and social networking safely. 

• https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/what-age-can-my-child-start-social-networking/

Apps: age ratings

All apps that allow social interaction have the potential for abuse.   There is a minimum age requirement in the sign-up agreements, and it is important that parents are aware of this, as it indicates the level of protections offered. You will see below that they all start at secondary school age. Typically, if the minimum age is 18, there are no protections offered by the service to prevent inappropriate communication, and no parental controls.  Apps with a minimum age of 13 generally have some way of reporting and or blocking inappropriate content along with some parental controls.

All apps have a PEGI rating.  This is equivalent to the age rating of a film, set at 12, 16 and 18.  It is illegal to sell rated items to children below the age rating in the UK.

Snapchat and Location Sharing

Snapchat has recently added location sharing to the app.  This gives pinpoint locations of users when switched on, with obvious implications for safety.   We strongly recommend that parents and students take the time to look at how their location is shared in Snapchat and other apps (eg Facebook).

Please see this blogpost for more details about controlling who can see your location settings in snapchat.

http://www.childnet.com/blog/introducing-snap-maps-the-new-location-sharing-feature-in-snapchat?utm_content=buffere2c35&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

We are aware that there are groups of people using social media groups to encourage dangerous behaviour in children (sometimes described as ‘Blue Whale’).

Click on the image below to download a free NSPCC leaflet on e-safety and supporting your child to stay safe online:

Learning about online safety at home (ThinkUKnow)

ThinkUKnow have created a page to support parents and young people online. The site includes home activity packs with simple 15 minute activities support children's understanding of online safety at a time.

There is also parent support information for primary and secondary age groups.

The resources can be found here: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/Support-tools/home-activity-worksheets