Online Safety/E-safeguarding

At St Francis Xavier, we place great value on the use of new technologies in enhancing learning. The education of pupils in online safety is therefore an essential part of our school’s eSafeguarding provision. Children need the help and support of the school and their parents/carers to recognise and avoid online safety risks and to build their resilience.

Sophos, makers of our anti-virus software, have published a guide aimed at parents to help them keep their children and themselves safe from all kinds of online threats such as phishing and viruses.

This looks to be a useful guide and can help some of the questions we sometimes get asked by parents in school – the information in here is also of use for any adult who uses the internet in any way, particularly those who may be less internet savvy!

ThinkUKnow (CEOP) have written a comprehensive article for parents and carers regarding gaming including chatting, risks, tips etc. You can view the full article here:

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/gaming 

     The safer internet site (click on image to left) shares a mass of information about how to keep young people safe online. 

Net-aware.org.uk has a guide to the most recent apps and their uses. Each app is explained and judged according to its sign up, privacy and reporting systems. 

healthychildren.org provides a tool to talk about appropriate screen time with your family.

Kidsmart website

BBC Internet Safety website                                                      Childnet.com

www.internetmatters.org                                                           Online Safety NSPCC 

CBBC's 'Lifebabble' is a site for 6-12 year olds covering subjects such as online bullying, mental health, body image etc.

Keeping Safe 

It is important that parents have appropriate protections in place via their broadband provider and the following links may be of use:

• support for parents and carers to keep children safe online, which outlines resources to help keep children safe from different risks online and where to go to find support and advice
• guidance on staying safe online which includes information on security and privacy settings
• Thinkuknow provides advice from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on staying safe online
• Parent info is a collaboration between Parentzone and the NCA providing support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations
• Childnet offers a toolkit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support
• Internet matters provides age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, and a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world
• London Grid for Learning has support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online, including tips to keep primary aged children safe online
• Net-aware has support for parents and carers from the NSPCC, including a guide to social networks, apps and games
• Let’s Talk About It has advice for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation
• UK Safer Internet Centre has tips, advice, guides and other resources to help keep children safe online, including parental controls offered by home internet providers and safety tools on social networks and other online services

Social Media

Please click on the images for more information about Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok and safety tips for their use. Use is restricted/advised for 12+/13+.