The school uses a range of resources to teach all our students – from Pre-Prep through to Sixth Form – about online safety. This page will inform you about what we do and how you as parents and carers can further assist your daughter.
The school has an extensive e-safety policy, which covers all aspects of keeping children safe online, including:
- Who is responsible for each area of e-safety
- The details of our Online Safety Group
- Teaching staff responsibilities
- Students responsibilities
- Parents’ and Carers’ role in e-safety
- Governor Oversight
- Our technical infrastructure including equipment, filtering and monitoring
- Mobile device policy including student devices such as mobile phones
- Digital image and video policies
- Data Protection
- Social Media Polices
- How The Maynard School will deal with unsuitable / inappropriate activities.
- Student and Staff Acceptable Use Agreements
The e-safety policy is available to download from the Parent Portal, or on request from the School Office.
Keeping Children Safe in Education
To ensure students are kept safe online, in the school environment, the school uses Securly to monitor and filter online content. More information can be found here – www.smoothwall.com.
The school will ask students to work online using various applications. Homework will be set on epraise and the full Microsoft Office Suite is available for students.
Teachers will only communicate with students through The Maynard School’s systems such as email, Microsoft Teams and epraise. All of the applications our students have access to can be found here: https://www.maynard.co.uk/QuickLinks/student.html
The school has fully reviewed all of its online safety procedures this year with the creation of the new e-safety policy, an improved e-safety curriculum for students, certified training for staff and a full ‘South West Grid For Learning’ 360 review.
However, keeping children safe online does not end at the school gate. Children are almost universally connected by their plethora of devices; smart-phones, iPads, smart TVs and game-consoles.
Online Parenting
All children of school age are digital natives, internet services have been available all their lives. The converse situation is true for parents, many of us would not have had a computer at home and perhaps only had a single computer at school during our early years. It can seem that children at times have a head-start and know more than we do – but parents tend to be well equipped when it comes to the internet and the connected environment. The internet actually offers many more opportunities than threats, however we still need to ensure that the children in our care are not exposed to inappropriate content, post things that could cause them issues or indeed have contact with individuals that could cause them harm.
Something that is often overlooked is screen time which can classed as a form of neglect. Many children today, irrespective of age, are spending around 17 hours per week on devices. There is a proven correlation between screen time and the adverse impact on cognition, memory and happiness and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have offered guidance that children should spend no more than two hours on screens per day.
The availability of devices has also increased with 80% of under 8s having regular access to a device. The range of apps and technology can seem overwhelming to parents and carers and we hope the resources below will demystify the jargon and explain the online environment.
- Online Myths
- How to take positive action
- Practical Resources
- How to control your broadband connection
- Device control software
- Making YouTube child-friendly
- Facebook for Parents
- How to get help
- Vodaphone Digital Safety magazine
- Apps Parents Should be aware of!
Online Myths
There are a number of Myths around e-safety and we have produced the top 10 below.
- Digital natives know it all: Only 36 per cent of 9-16-year-olds say it is very true that they know more about the internet than their parents. This myth obscures children’s needs to develop digital skills
- Everyone is creating their own content: The study showed that only one in five children had recently used a file-sharing site or created an avatar, half that number wrote a blog. Most children use the internet for ready-made content
- Under 13s can’t use social networking sites: Although many sites (including Facebook) say that users must be aged at least 13, the survey shows that age limits don’t work – 38 per cent of 9-12-year-olds have a social networking profile. Some argue age limits should be scrapped to allow greater honesty and protective action
- Bullies are baddies: The study shows that 60 per cent who bully (online or offline) have themselves been bullied. Bullies and victims are often the same people
- People you meet on the internet are strangers: Most online contacts are people children know face-to-face. Nine per cent met offline people they’d first contacted online – most didn’t go alone and only one per cent had a bad experience
- Offline risks migrate online: This is not necessarily true. While children who lead risky offline lives are more likely to expose themselves to danger online, it cannot be assumed that those who are low-risk offline are protected while online
- Putting the PC in the living room will help: Children find it so easy to go online at a friend’s house or on a smartphone that this advice is out of date. Parents are better advised to talk to their children about their internet habits or join them in some online activity
- Teaching digital skills reduces online risk: Actually the more digital skills a child has, the more risks they are likely to encounter as they broaden their online experience. What more skills can do is reduce the potential harm that risks can bring
- Children can get around safety software: In fact, fewer than one in three 11-16 year-olds say they can change filter preferences. And most say their parents’ actions to limit their internet activity is helpful.
How to take positive action
In order to ensure children are kept safe online some positive action needs to be taken. This quick review should help you take a significant step to protect your children online.
Think about your own circumstances
- How many devices
- Phones
- Computers
- Smart TVs
- Tablets
- What online services do your family use
- YouTube
- Spotify
- Minecraft
- SnapChat
- What internet protection software / hardware do you use?
- What does your digital footprint look like?
- What if you had a problem?
- Are you a positive digital role model?
- Have you got a family agreement?
www.childnet.com/resources/family-agreement
Practical resources
Control your broadband
Some of the big internet providers in the UK – BT, Sky and Virgin Media – provide their customers with free parental controls which can be activated at any time. They have come together to produce these helpful video guides to help you to download and set-up the controls offered by your provider
BT
SKY
Virgin Media
Device control software
Qustodio – https://www.qustodio.com/en/
Designed to supervise, manage and protect your child’s device use on the go. There are free and subscription-based programs available. This is a cross-platform software which works on IOS, Apple, Android, windows and Mac.
Kaspersky Security – https://www.kaspersky.co.uk/total-security
Kaspersky Total Security helps protect your family when they surf, shop, socialise or stream. Plus, extra privacy protection securely stores their passwords & key documents, protects files & precious memories and helps safeguard kids from digital dangers.
Making YouTube child-friendly
YouTube has child-friendly filters as some of its content may not be appropriate for children. We have included a link to a video to show you how to set this up at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtQat5HNYrI#action=share
Where to get help
Sometimes you may need further help with getting support for issues online. The Maynard School has added the Whisper system to its website to allow anyone staff, parents and pupils to report an online issue. You can access the system here – https://swgflwhisper.org.uk/report/MAY2
Students can choose to report issues anonymously or not. The data provided will be seen by the e-safety office and Designated Safeguarding Lead only.
These resources are also available for additional help:
Childnet – https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers
Essential advise – https://www.childnet.com/ufiles/Supporting-Young-People-Online.pdf
UKsafer internet Centre – https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers
CEOP – https://www.childnet.com/resources
Apps Parents Should be aware of!
- Audio Manager
It’s nothing to do with managing music and has everything to do with hiding inappropriate images.
- Calulator%
Works in the same way as Audio manager but dressed up as a calculator
- Vaulty
Spies on parents and hides images and videos
- SnapChat
Allows self-destructing images but these can be screen grabbed
- Burn note
Similar to snap chat but the text message disappears and can be used for cyber bullying
- Line
Mobile hub for chatting, video, photos but here is also a hidden chat feature
- Omegle
Allows opportunity to chat with strangers
- Tinder
Hooking-up and dating and allows users to rate each other
- Blendr
Allows people to meet through a GPS location
- KIK Messenger
Works like SnapChat but users can communicate anonymously
- YIK YAK
Twitter meets Reddit but users talk to their closest users
- Ask Fm
An anonymous Q&A site
- Doki Doki (Literature Club)
This game markets itself as a happy, colourful school dating game packed with childlike characters. It is easy to download, doesn’t require any parental checks and has gained a cult following among young people and gamers. However, it quickly takes a sinister twist generally involving depictions of self-harm, suicide and violence. This game has been singled out as being particularly disturbing to children because of the way it blurs the lines between the game’s fictitious story and real life – known as “breaking the fourth wall”.
