Online Safety
If you are worried about content you have seen or been sent online
Click CEOP to report it to the National Crime Agency
Working and studying online is an everyday part of a STAGS students' learning experience. It is our aim to ensure that all students know how to keep themselves and others safe both online and IRL.
Online safety is part of the statutory document Keeping Children Safe in Education. Like all parts of safeguarding, the responsibility for online safety is the responsibility of everyone working with children and young people. The DSL at STAGS Tess Lambert who oversees the Filtering and Monitoring for the school. The school uses RM Safetynet and Smoothwall as the filtering and monitoring systems that block any risks and track student engagement with any electronic device connected to the school network.
At STAGS we believe that education on Online Safety should be delivered to instil risk-reduction behaviours that are proactive and preventative. The risks outlined below are explicitly taught within the PSHE programme of study and revisited in greater depth at Post-16.
Outside of school students potentially are at risk to:
- Viewing inappropriate content for their age
- Extremism and online radicalisation
- Sexual Imagery and Harrassment
- Online Bullying
- Unknowingly participating in illegal behaviours e.g. gaming hacks
- Encouragement to gamble online
- Grooming
Supporting the wellbeing of children has never been more critical than it is right now. A child’s online activity, including what they view, who they interact with, and what they share can contribute to a deeply positive outcome, or pose a worrying threat to their wellbeing. It is therefore our critical mission to ensure that children get all the best experiences that technology can offer. Keeping up with all the latest online trends and apps can be very challenging. The following websites are recommended to help parents/carers remain up to date with the latest online safety risks their child may face.
Smoothwall Online Safety Hub - The Online Safety Hub is a brand new online resource with lots of expert advice and guidance to help you as a parent, manage your child's safety online. It includes information on the latest hot topics when it comes to keeping children safe, such as how to manage your child's screen time, understand the latest gaming platforms, what they mean for your child’s safety and lots more.
We are offering parents a free account for Qustodio which is an Online Safety Parent App. It allows parents to gain more visibility on what’s going on in your child’s online world, block dangerous content, introduce screen free schedules, receive alerts for inappropriate content, keep tabs on their location and more. Click here to read more information about A Whole-School approach to Digital Safeguarding and Wellbeing. Click here to access our Ambition Trust Online Safety Hub. To create your free account and to download the app click here.
ThinkUKnow Parents Section - run by CEOP and the National Crime Agency, this website is full of information to help children to get the most out of the internet
NSPCC Online Safety Guides for Parents - a number of accessible safety guides for parents/carers/children to guide children on being safe online
National Online Safety - their newsletter provides weekly updates and is also available as an app