Learning
Online-Safety
Internet Safety is an integral part of teaching and learning at St Thomas of Canterbury School. From Foundation Stage to Year 6 children regularly receive lessons in online-safety as well as termly assemblies. Online-safety is embedded in our school life.
Each year we provide training for our parents and carers to support them to keep their children safe online. You can watch this presentation here: Making SPACE for Me – Online Safety Presentation Final
Our Children have regular access to the internet as part of their learning and our curriculum teaches and encourages responsible online behaviour ensuring children are allowed to enhance their learning safely through the use of technology. The children are all required to sign our cyber safety contracts.
In School
In school we use a filtering system which prevents children from accessing inappropriate sites, we also have a system that identifies any inappropriate searches or use.. Our computing curriculum ensures children are progressively taught how to keep themselves safe online.
At Home
Today’s society means that children will sometimes be given unsupervised access to the internet. Potentially, this will allow them access to all kinds of material both appropriate and inappropriate. Click on the links below to find some hints and tips to help you keep your child safe online. Families can use the CEOP Safety Centre (www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre) where they can report abuse and exploitation direct to CEOP.
Social Media
Many of the sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and SnapChat have a minimum age limit of 13, so children from St Thomas’ should not be using them. However, in reality, we are aware that some of our children do access these sites. More information is available at http://www.net-aware.org.uk This site will allow you to make informed decisions about whether you feel social media sites are appropriate for your child or not.
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre work to protect our children online. They have a reporting button for children and parents to use if necessary. It is important that we all know how to report something online; our KS2 children have been made aware of this button.
Useful Links
You can read more on this vital area of safeguarding and find more useful websites on our full Safeguarding page