We wanted to take this opportunity to update you regarding e-safety. As you know, growing up in such a digital modern world, where things move at such a fast pace, it is vitally important we keep our children safe online. You hopefully will have received our Digital Parenting magazine last half term which outlines some key ways in which you can help keep your children safe online.

 

It has been brought to our attention that some pupils are using games, apps and online websites out of school which we do not deem to be safe to use. Last half term, during an e-safety assembly, pupils were reminded about PEGI ratings which outline the age games and videos are intended for. As ever, we would really appreciate your support in ensuring that children are not being exposed to game or video content which is not age appropriate or suitable.

 

One of the apps we would  like to make you aware of is TikTok (formerly known as musical.ly), which is an app that is open to the world, so mature content can (and does) appear in the stream. Tik Tok is rated 12+ on the Apple app store. However, there is no system in place to verify a user’s age, so anyone can download it. Because of the access to inappropriate content, and the use of popular music that may contain explicit language, this is not an app which is suitable for our children. If you are concerned that your child may have it, you can use the parental control settings on your child’s device(s) to prevent them from downloading the app (or indeed delete it should it already be installed). If your child has a phone, I would recommendthat regular weekly checks are set up to monitor usage.

 

I came across these five top tips for keeping safe online (taken from the NSPCC website) which I would like to share with you:

1. Set rules and agree boundaries as a family

2. Talk about online safety and get involved

3. Know who your children are talking to

4. Check content is age-appropriate

5. Use parental and privacy controls

These points are discussed in more detail on their website(https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/advice-and-info/online-safety-keep-child-safe.pdf) .

 

Thank you for your continued support on this matter, I know you will agree that it is vitally important that we keep our children safe online.