Keeping pupils safe online is very much a partnership between us in school and yourselves at home. Therefore we would like to share the rules with you so you can embed them at home as well. The internet is forever growing and changing, it is paramount that we educate our children to be safe and respectful when online.

In October 2022, Mersey Park Primary School was awarded the 360 Online Safety Award for the second time.

Below are some highlights from the report:

• Leadership of online safety is strong with a well-established team and supportive governors. All staff are aware of their shared responsibilities in terms of teaching children about online safety.
• Online Safety is embedded across the curriculum and there is good use of resources from Be Internet Legends, Barefoot Computing, and Jigsaw.
• Three years on from your previous assessment the review and application indicate that online safety is now more embedded across the school.

Click here to read the full report.

 

Click here to view our Digital Safety policy.

 

At the beginning of July our e-Safety Cadets invited all parents and carers to attend a workshop with themselves that focussed on the teaching of e-Safety and why it is important, screen time recommendations and showed some resources we use in school. If you missed the workshop here is the powerpoint presentation and handouts from the session:

 

 

Computing advice screen time

Computing Progression esafety highlighted

 

These are the eSafety posters we have up around the school, the first poster is in every classroom in Key Stage 2 and the second is in every classroom in Key Stage 1:

 

We take e-Safety very seriously.  You must make sure you are using it in a responsible way:

• Only talk to people you know
• Communicate in the same way you would in person
• Remember to follow guidelines given to you by adults
• Check the recommended age of any sites you are using

 

 

100 Days of Safeguarding – Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership New Guidance

The Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership has brought out a 100 Days of Safeguarding document. It contains lots of information to support parents in ensuring their children are using online devices safely for children aged 0 – 14+.

Here is the document for children of primary age: 100 Days Online Safety Advice

If you would like to read a different age band please view the whole document here: 100-Days-Online-Safety-Advice

 

Follow this link for the full age range advice and guidance on Cyberbullying: 100 Days Cyberbullying Advice

 

Safeguarding News

Wirral Safeguarding team would like to make you aware of a new app:

Previously known as Yellow, the Yubo app is extremely popular among teens. It mimics adult social media & dating apps like Tinder, it has been referred to by social media commentators as being a dating app for teens – as such there is scope for such a platform to be misused. They would like to make parents aware that there are an increasing number of cases where teens are going missing after arranging to meet someone via this app. Please be vigilant and make sure your children are keeping safe online.

There is further advice for parents on the Wirral Safeguarding website:

Online Safety – Guidance for Parents

 

A quick warning from Virtual College Safeguarding News:

Internet users are targeting the children’s animation Peppa Pig by twisting the storylines and producing unsafe content for the age group by hiding them under the guise of official episodes. Creators have designed the episodes to closely resemble the art of the TV show, with some legitimate clips of the show placed in between the harmful clips, so that it is difficult for parents or children to distinguish between episodes that are fake.

Some of the videos show Peppa Pig involved in knife attacks and abductions where the characters are taken by ‘gangster’ pigs, by being captured in a net and dragged into a forest while the characters are distressed. There are also other videos showing extremist behaviour and explicit images. Please be vigilent in monitoring what your children are doing and watching online.

If you would like to find out more about this concern this factsheet will give you further information and some useful links.

 

 

Help & Advice for Parents/Carers

 

Reporting Online Concerns – CEOP

The NCA’s CEOP Command is here to help children and young people. They are here to help if you are a young person and you or your friend (up to age 18) has been forced or tricked into taking part in activity which makes you uncomfortable with anyone online, or in the real world. They also have advice and links to support for other online problems young people might face, such as cyberbullying and hacking. Visit their Safety Centre for advice and to report directly to CEOP, by clicking on the Click CEOP button. 

Internet Watch Foundation

The Internet Watch Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that works towards the global elimination of child sexual abuse imagery online. They often bring out new up to date information to help support parents to support their children. Here is a link to their website and TALK checklist: Internet Watch Foundation

 

NSPCC Share Aware

Please click here for a parents’ guide to being Share Aware.

 

Helpful Booklets

Two helpful resources to support your children in their online use:

2Simple Parenting in a Digital World

Norton Internet Safety booklet for Parents

 

Virgin Media Online Safety

Follow this link to a wealth of information on Online Safety and some little quizzes to help get you started on how to support your children:

https://www.virginmedia.com/blog/online-safety/childrens-internet-safety-test/

 

Quick Tips For Parents

 

Momo Guidance

Momo is an online “game” that encourages young people to harm themselves and in some cases even take their own lives. If you need more information and guidance about this please click here.

 

Sexting (Youth Produced Sexual Imagery) 

Sexting is when someone shares sexual, naked or semi-naked images or videos of themselves or others, or sends sexually explicit messages.

They can be sent using mobiles, tablets, smartphones, laptops – any device that allows you to share media and messages.

The NSPCC provide a wealth of information for parents/carers to understand the risks of sexting so you can talk to your child about how to stay safe online and what to do if they ever feel scared or uncomfortable. For help and advice visit www.nspcc.org.uk/sexting

You could also take a look at either of these videos:

 

 

Live Streaming – Who is Sam?

The NSPCC have started a new campaign: Who is Sam? – to encourage parents to talk to their child about the behaviours that could put them at risk on live streaming platforms. The campaign features a short animation showing how offenders are able to build relationships with young people online.

 

Facing Online Challenges – BBC Own It website

The BBC has launched Own It, a website for 9 to 12 year olds, to help them maximise opportunities in the digital world as well as helping them to develop the confidence and resilience to tackle the everyday challenges they face online. Have a look at what is on the website by clicking on the link below:

BBC Own It

 

Consumers Base e-Safety Guide

If you’re unsure how you can safeguard your children from digital threats, this guide is for you. This guide identifies the many things that put children at risk and reveal what you can do as a parent:

consumersbase

 

Staying Safe Online

Internet Matters have a free tablet based app to help parents have conversations with their children about staying safe while online. The App is an interactive game, where parents and children work together to answer multiple choice questions on a number of topics, e.g. cyberbullying, privacy & identity, inappropriate content. The app has been developed to target parents with children aged 8-11. Each answers a number of questions in order to earn points towards a ‘tilting’ game which can be played together.  Download the tablet-only app for free from Appstore or Googleplay

 

 

If you would like more information about top tips to keep your child safe online, including the best free extensions for parental control, then please click here.

 

Tutorhunt have created a very informative set of pages to advise on a variety of Online Safety and Safeguarding issues. To find out more please follow this link: https://www.tutorhunt.com/safeguarding/

 

Advice can be trick to find on the Internet because there is so much out there, but this page from O2 has some really quick and easy guides: https://www.o2.co.uk/help/online-safety

 

Over the summer please remember how important it is for your children to have a balance of activities. Here are some top tips shared by National Online Safety to keep focussing on:

 

 

The National Online Safety website provides many leaflets entitled ‘What parents need to know about…’

Here is an example one about social media scams:

If you would like to look for any advice for specific apps please go to their website by clicking here. You may need to set up a free account but this will allow you access to a wide range of parental guidance.

Their most recent guides are for Rocket League and Pokemon Go. But this gallery contains the guides for a range of the most popular apps, games and technology currently used by Primary aged children:

 

 

Setting Up Devices for Children

Are you unsure about how to set up a device safely for children? Have a look at this helpful poster below:

 

Go Compare have created a really helpful guide to Broadband Parental Controls, you can access it here: https://www.gocompare.com/broadband/parental-controls/

 

Informative Videos 

Here are some useful videos for your children to watch at home, they will help children understand the importance of not sharing personal information/pictures online:

 

For all our pupils these videos might give some helpful advice:

 

Protecting your Child on the Internet Advice

The vpnMentor website has a very useful blog found here with lots of information about ‘Protecting your Child on the Internet’. It covers:

1. Mobile phones and apps
2. Streaming content and smart TVs
3. Gaming consoles and online games
4. Social media
5. Cyberbullying
6. Privacy and information security
7. Viewing inappropriate content online
8. Online predators

This means you can dip in and out of it easily depending on the nature of your concern or the advice you want at the time.

 

Website, App and Games Suitability

The NSPCC have recently contacted school to promote their new website which provides parents, teachers and other adults with information about websites, apps or games to see if it is suitable for your child to be using. All you have to do is go to https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ by clicking on the link, then enter the name of the website, app or game into the search engine at the top. You will be provided with a wealth of information from recent research and surveys. This ensures you are able to make informed decisions on whether your child should be using the website, app or game.

 

Online Gaming

The UK Safer Internet Centre has produced a very informative leaflet to support parents and carers with Online Gaming. The leaflet covers how and where to play, the risks associated with Online Gaming, some Top Tips, the SMART rules we recommend the children follow, FAQs and places to look for Support and Further Guidance: Online gaming an introduction for parents and carers 2017

 

New Technology

A good website to regularly view is Connect Safely which  provides an up to date forum of the safety implications associated with new technology. If you can keep up to speed on eSafety and technology then there is more chance your child will be following good practice.

 

Vodafone have produced a Digital Parenting Magazine which informs parents about the various technologies children are accessing today. There is information on:
Facebook settings,
XBox360 settings,
Blackberry controls,
Jargon busting

and many more ‘How to Guides’. Well worth a read!

 

You Tube Safety

Click here for a parent factsheet about your child’s safety when using YouTube (produced by The Key Support Services).

 

Cyberbullying

If you would like more information or advice on Cyberbullying please look at our Cyberbullying Advice page by clicking here

 

Privacy Settings

Here is a great resource with lots of guidance on privacy settings and advice on apps your children might be using:

How to Protect your Children on Their Smartphone

 

 

MPPS e-Safety and Cyberbullying Curiculum

We have a team of eSafety Cadets in school that work very hard with the staff to ensure all our children gain consistent, up to date information. To find out more about the Cadets please follow this link here.

 

During our eSafety week we ran a parents information session ‘Keeping Up With the Kids’. If you were unable to attend the meeting a copy of the slide show is available here: Keeping up with the Kids. We will run another eSafety week for parents in Summer term.

 

We regularly complete work on eSafety and Cyberbullying in school. By clicking on the link below you can see the whole of the eSafety and Cyberbullying curriculum that we teach here at Mersey Park:

MPPS eSafety & Cyberbullying overview

 

We regularly have One Day Creative in to share workshops with our children. This year they came to work with our children in Years 1 to 6 just before Safer Internet Day. They all found them very informative and can repeat the key messages they were given.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We follow the SMART rules for using the Internet. Recently every child completed a ‘Support Web’ identifying who the children could turn to if they get an ‘uh-oh’ feeling in their tummy. They also enjoyed acting out scenarios of what can happen on the Internet and how to deal with this.

 

Altru Creative Education came to visit Mersey Park. The company performed an E-safety play for Key Stage 2. It was an extremely informative play which taught us all about the risks of using the Internet and the dangers of online use. The play helped us to consider ways that we can make our own Internet use safer.

 

Help & Advice for Children

If you are looking for help and advice for your children or some activities they can complete to learn more then look at our e-Safety page under the Pupils tab or click here.