Online Safety
With children spending more time online, through social media platforms, gaming and more, it is important that we work together to keep our children safe. This page offers helpful advice and tips to support you and your children in getting the most out of life online, safely.
Always be careful when you are using the internet. It can help you to keep in touch with your friends and help your education – but it can also cause harm – to you and to others. Remember help is always available at school if you are having any problems online. Don’t be afraid to talk to your teacher or another adult at school.
Safer Internet Day 2025
Safer Internet Day 2025 will take place on the 11th of February 2025, with celebrations and learning based around the theme ‘Too good to be true? Keeping yourself and others safe from scams online‘
Safer Internet Day is the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety. Each year we cover an online issue or theme that speaks about the things young people are seeing and experiencing online. Created in consultation with young people across the UK, this year Safer Internet Day will be focusing on the issue of scams online and for young people, how to protect themselves and others, as well as what support is available to them.
This Safer Internet Day we will assess the real scale of this issue and allow young people to share their experiences and ideas on how to tackle the problem. We’ll build on the important work being done to raise awareness of issues such as online financial extortion and we’ll also consider the future of scams, answering questions such as:
- How is changing technology like generative AI going to impact the approach of scammers?
- What role can the government and internet industry take to tackle this threat?
- And what changes would young people like to see to help protect themselves moving forward?
As part of our role in the safety of children online, we need to show a united front. Below are some useful hints, tips and websites that will support keeping children safe at home:
Age/Content Suitability
If you are unsure about the suitability of a game, film, TV show, app etc. then you can use the following websites. They have a search function and then provide age-ratings and advice.
Common Sense Media
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Net Aware
If you or anyone you know is worried about Child Exploitation, Online Protection or anything related to Internet safety please click the link below which will take you to the CEOP reporting website:
Parental Controls
Parental controls help you to block or filter upsetting or inappropriate content, and control purchases within apps. You can install parental control software on your child’s and family’s phones or tablets, games consoles, laptops and your home internet.
Parental controls can help you to:
- Plan what time of day your child can go online and how long for.
- Create content filters to block apps that may have inappropriate content.
- Manage the content different family members can see.
For more information, visit https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/parental-controls
Here are a few websites to support Online Safety at home. They will help you to ensure the safety and well-being of your child when they are using the internet.
Hector's World: Hector's World is an easy to use resource which shows some of the key messages of online safety in a fun and interesting way. Learn with Hector as he stumbles upon various eSafety dilemmas.
Cyber Cafe: An easy to use resource which covers many of the online safety key messages within the cafe environment.
Know It All :This site has lots of useful online safety resources.
Vodaphone: The digital parenting magazine offers excellent advice.
Childnet International: Hints and Tips on staying safe.
Social Media advice: How to help your child learn to navigate social media safely and responsibly.