Online Safety
Our aim is to bring the best out of every pupil that attends Milton CE Primary School
Keeping children safe online at Milton C of E Primary School
At Milton CE Primary School, safeguarding is one of the most important responsibilities we hold, which also means safeguarding our students in the online world. As you know, children now use the internet for multiple activities including learning, creativity and collaboration, but with that, there are also potential risks we need to guard against.
The Department for Education states that schools and colleges have a statutory duty to keep children safe both on and offline and that we should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring is in place in our school. [Insert School Name] work with the specialist safeguarding and security provider Schools Broadband, who provide us with the tools we need to keep your children safe and ensure that any potential safeguarding concerns are identified and addressed promptly.
Below is a short summary of the tools we deploy.
Online Filtering
We have an age-appropriate web filtering service to help prevent access to online content that is illegal, inappropriate or potentially harmful. In practice, this means the filter blocks known unsafe websites and content, including content that is unsuitable for children and prevents accidental exposure to harmful material while pupils are researching or browsing for learning.
Online Monitoring
The DfE makes a clear distinction between filtering and monitoring: whereas filtering is preventative and helps stop pupils reaching harmful content in the first place, monitoring is reactive and involves real-time alerts to help our teachers spot concerning activity so that we can respond appropriately and call in our specialist safeguarding staff if necessary. Our monitoring solution is also able to capture and assess risks even when a device is offline, ensuring no gaps in our monitoring.
Safeguarding Concerns
If we receive an alert that suggests a pupil may be at risk, our staff follow the school’s safeguarding procedures and involve our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), as needed. This is part of the school’s wider safeguarding responsibilities, which include recognising that children can be harmed online as well as offline.
Protecting your children at home
Try to talk regularly about online life, set age-appropriate boundaries, and use parental controls where possible. If you need further help and advice you might find some of the links below useful:
- Government advice and a hub of parent resources: Support for parents and carers to keep children safe online(GOV.UK)
- Practical “getting started” guidance: Kids Online Safety campaign (GOV.UK)
- Help with parental controls, apps, devices and screen time: Internet Matters
- Guidance and conversation starters for families: NSPCC online safety
- Support and advice for parents/carers: UK Safer Internet Centre
- If you’re worried about exploitation/grooming: Thinkuknow (NCA-CEOP)
If you ever have concerns about something that has happened online, please contact Mr. Nathan Clark, Headteacher and DSL. We would always rather know and help early.
