We consider online safety (or ‘Internet Safety’ or ‘e-safety’ as it is sometimes called) is extremely important for all our students, as well as for our staff, parents and the community.

In school we employ a wide range of methods, tools and technologies to ensure that our students and staff remain safe when online.

We also recognise that people are now online in many different ways and times (e.g. through gaming consoles, watches, smartphones, TV’s, car  stereo systems, and even household appliances!), and so gone are the days of being able to protect children by ‘blocking’ unsafe or unsuitable content.

On this page you will find information and links which are applicable to everyone, not just students at Westbourne.

Acceptable Use of IT - Students

As part of our admissions process, every student who is offered a place at the academy is required to read and sign their agreement to comply with our Acceptable Use of IT equipment.

You can view a copy of this form here:

This document forms part of the wider Academy Policy relating to e-Safety which can be found on our Policies page here:

Academy Policies page

SHARP - Reporting System

SHARP is our confidential online reporting system, for anyone to use to report anything they feel unhappy about or to ask for advice.

You can access SHARP here – Access SHARP.

Anyone can access the reporting system from within the academy or from home, it is completely confidential. If you have a problem, need a hand, want advice or don’t know what to do – you can use our SHARP reporting system today. It could be a problem at school or at home, with your family or friends, or in the local community.

The system also includes various pages of advice and videos on all aspects of safety and wellbeing, including bullying, sexting, e-safety, posting photos/videos online, social media, SPAM etc.

Online Safety Tools

Westbourne Academy is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for students, staff and visitors, and we employ a number of different strategies and tools to help keep users safe.

The tools we use are there to protect students from the risks of online working, and include measures such as key word detection as well as various blocks and filters, to ensure that acceptable boundaries can be imposed.

Safeguarding our students and staff is critical and basic filtering is no longer sufficient. Simply blocking internet access closes off the opportunity to gain access to valuable learning resources, so we favour a ‘monitor and educate’ approach, in line with the UK government’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ statutory guidance.

Extremism

Messages of hate can take many forms, and extremist groups use them t/Students/Internet-Safety/ESS_Esafety_Factsheet.pdfo recruit young people.

We all want our students to live in a safe and loving environment, and we already know that they can be vulnerable to risks both inside and outside the home, in the physical and online world, and we are all taking steps to protect them, and to help them protect themselves.

Protecting young people from radicalisation and extremism is similar to protecting them from the other harms you may be more familiar with, such as drugs or online dangers.

For some great information to help you understand the issues and how to protect you/your child, we suggest you visit http://www.educateagainsthate.com/parents/

Internet Safety Tips

For many people growing up in the Digital world, the Internet feels like a safe place to be. It seems like second nature to log in and use the internet to browse, chat to friends, find homework, read about cool places to be and great things to do, but besides the millions of sites to visit and things you can do the Internet is also a place where it is really easy to waste time and it can even be dangerous. Some of the places that you visit on line might even be places where you could get into trouble.

When you use chat rooms please remember that some people want to use these places to find out things about you that you wouldn’t normally want to share with people you have never met before. Please be very careful about whom you share your private information with (your address, phone numbers and email address) as some people use this information to cause you harm.

When you use the internet try to remain as anonymous as possible. That means keeping all private information ‘private’. Remember that the Internet is not a private place even if it seems like one. Anything you place on the internet could be taken down and used against you or manipulated. Your photographs may not stay the way you remember them!

If anyone in a chat room ever asks you things that make you feel uncomfortable, then exit and tell a parent or other adult right away so they can report the incident.

If anyone ever bullies you online; like posting messages on the internet, creating a Facebook page about you or even sending you nasty emails then get help from a parent or trusted adult.

If you ever receive emails from people that you don’t know then think very carefully before you open them. Sometimes people can attach harmful programs to files that you download and these could damage your computer; they might even let people spy on you.

Don’t forget to let ICT help you too by investing in Spam filters, Firewalls and Anti Virus software. There are some free and/or reasonably cheap but effective products available now. If you want help or advice please contact the ICT Department.

Further online safety links and support

The Sharp System – Our in school support system for students who are worried about themselves, friends or family.

Childline – A national counselling service for children and young people up to their 19th birthday in the United Kingdom provided by the NSPCC. They deal with any issues which cause distress or concern.

NSPCC – Keeping children safe online. They offer a series of online safety guides helping to  empower parents as well as a range of resources for young people.

Thinkuknow – Part of CEOPs, this service helps young people 5 – 17 years to identify the risks they may face online and know where they can go for help.

CEOP – An agency that exists to help keep children and young people safe from sexual abuse and grooming online. They help thousands of children and young people every year who have been in a similar situations. You can use CEOP to report a crime.

Who is hosting this? – Another great free resource for parents and students that allows you to search millions of websites across the world to discover which web host a website uses.

Be Internet Legends – Created by Google in partnership with Parent Zone, this online resource for parents provides  lots of simple  tips, tricks and activities in a free handbook, to reinforce the importance of online safety at home.

Parent Zone – Experts in digital family life. They provide support and information to parents, children and schools, working globally to help families to navigate the internet safely and confidently. They work with parents, schools, governments and businesses to study, understand and address the impact of emerging technologies on young people.  Together with Parent Zone, Vodafone UK produce a regular ‘Digital Parenting’ magazine.

https://parentzone.org.uk/digital-parenting-online-safety-magazine-archive

http://vodafonedigitalparenting.co.uk/expert-advice/vr-infinity-beyond/

Safer Schools App

The online world can be a bit overwhelming at times but it is important students understand what they can do to keep themselves safer. The Safer Schools App aims to help with this. The App is designed to support and protect children by educating and empowering them both at school and at home. Through their student log-in, your children gain access to information that is relevant to them and, with the parent version, you will receive tips and advice on how to keep them safer online. The log-in for parents and carers is different than the one for students.

Please see below for details of student log-in instructions:

Safer Schools Letter WA Students DEC22

Any queries regarding the Safer Schools app should be sent to carol.clarke@attrust.org.uk