E-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe and Birkdale High School has extensive security measures in place to help safeguard students from potential dangers or unsuitable material.

E-Safety is taught to all students; explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online. This is done extensively in Year 7 Term 1 and reinforced throughout the years through PSHCE, careers talks, assemblies, and other curriculum areas. We can only be successful in keeping children safe online, however, if we also work with parents to ensure that the E-Safety message is consistent.

It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online. It is essential to be realistic, the internet and technological advancements are here to stay; banning them will not work – often it makes a child less likely to report a problem. Education around safe use is therefore essential.

Tips for Safe Online Use

Some tips for you to help keep your children safe online

• Consider locating your computer or mobile devices in a family area, where children’s online activity can be monitored or supervised.
• Talk to your child and ask them to show or even teach you how they use the internet and learn about websites.
• Make sure your child knows it’s important that they tell an adult (parent, form tutor, Head of Year) they trust if anything happens online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable.
• Remind children that they should use the same caution online as they would in the real world. Tell them they should never go to meet someone they have only spoken to online or give out personal information online.
• Install antivirus software and keep it up to date, secure your internet connection and use Parental Control functions for computers, mobile phones and games consoles to block unsuitable content or contact.
• Familiarise yourself with the age limits of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. There’s an age limit in place for a reason; if you decide to allow your children on to these sites, make sure you know how they can protect themselves while using these sites – for example knowing how to set appropriate privacy settings.
• If you or your child are in immediate danger call 999.

Download: Talking to your child about online sexual harassment: A guide for parents