Seven Mills

Primary School

Ambitious, Compassionate
& Empowered

E-Safety

The internet is an amazing place to communicate, learn, socialise and have fun, but it's important that parents and children at Seven Mills know how to stay safe online. If you have any concerns about your child's use of the internet, please speak to either:

  • Our computing lead: Matthew Tranter
  • A member of the safeguarding team: Tom Foster, Matthew Tranter, Amy Hughes, Jodie Taylor, Rashina Begum or Momothaj Begum. 

At Seven Mills, we are working towards the 360 Degree Safe Accredited Safer Online Mark. At the bottom of the page you can see the certificates we have achieved so far.  

E-safety sits at the heart of our computing curriculum. Each year, we teach a unit of work around e-safety in Autumn Term, then refresh the children's knowledge at the beginning of each half term. 

Our lessons cover:

  • Reporting concerns
  • Searching safely
  • Healthy use of technology
  • Protecting my identity
  • Cyber-bullying
  • Communicating with others online

Our curriculum content is based on the Education for a Connected World (2020) framework. 

In our e-safety lessons, we teach children about many common issues they may encounter online, such as:


Age Restrictions

Games and social media all have age-restrictions, and with good reason! Games and social media sites can contain violence, swearing, nudity and sexual content that is not appropriate for children. Please see the 'Action for Children' guide below, which shows when children are allowed to access different social media platforms. 

 

Age Restrictions for Social Media


Mean Behaviour

Children (and adults!) sometimes behave differently online to how they would in other social sitautions. Many young people experience online bullying at some point: it's much easier to say mean things through a screen than in person. If your child is joining in with or the victim of online bullying, please speak to a member of the safeguarding team. 

 Privacy Settings

Many of us enjoy sharing our lives with others on social media platforms such as instagram, facebook and youtube. However, parents and children must make sure that accounts are private, otherwise anyone can view content. Children under 13 should not be using social media, but if they are, have you considered the potential consequences of having strangers view their photos and videos, or of having lots of followers? 

 Stranger Danger

Anybody can create an account on social media, and they don't have to be honest about who they are. If your child talks to another person online, you can't be sure how old they are or what their intentions are. They may encourage your child to do inappropriate things, send them photos or meet them in real life. Make sure your child never reveals personal details about themselves online, such as their address, their school or their full name. 

 Online Influences

Children are heavily influenced by what they read and see online. Parents need to carefully monitor who their children see and follow online: some influencers online encourage children to take part in dangerous challenges, to harm themselves or others, join in with dares or develop unhealthy attitudes towards themselves. 

 Addiction

Spending too much time online can be detrimental to children's physical, social and emotional development. Parents should monitor the amount of time children spend online to ensure that this time does not interfere with socialising, exercise, sleep or opportunities for face-to-face communication. 

 

Further information

For further support with e-safety, please take a look at the following resources: 

  • NSPCC - contains guides on how to stay safe online
  • CEOP - a place to report e-safety concerns and find out more about how to keep safe online
  • ThinkUKnow - online resources and games to learn about e-safety
  • Education for a Connected World - a framework to equip children and young people for digital life