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Digital Safety

At Park Vale Academy, we work to provide high quality guidance for students and their families in relation to the dangers of the online digital world. We also provide guidance and support to help stay safe and avoid these risks and dangers.

In this section, you will find some links to high quality websites and resources to help you at home, as well as information and fact sheets that we have sources to help you read and discuss. Please take some time to look at these websites and resources, we really do feel that they can help keep you and your child safer online.

Additional resources to support parents and carers to keep their children safe online:

  • Thinkuknow – provides advice from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on staying safe online
  • Parent info – is a collaboration between Parentzone and the NCA providing support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations
  • Childnet – offers a toolkit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support
  • Internet matters – provides age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, and a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world
  • London Grid for Learning – has support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online, including tips to keep primary aged children safe online
  • Educate.Against.Hate – It has advice for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation
  • UK Safer Internet Centre – has tips, advice, guides and other resources to help keep children safe online, including parental controls offered by home internet providers and safety tools on social networks and other online services
  • NSPCC – has advice on setting up parental controls, tips on how to talk to children about online safety, including the risk of sharing and receiving nude images and how to support children if they have seen something online that has upset them

Parent workshops are provided to share information with parents about protecting their children online.

E-Safety in School

As part of the ICT curriculum, students in Key Stage 3 learn about what information should not be shared in a public domain. As well as this, students are educated about Internet etiquette and guidelines that should be adhered to on social networking sites. PSHE is also a key area where students are educated about E-Safety as the local police community support officer leads a presentation on E-safety, the dangers associated with Internet browsing and the consequences of inappropriate behaviour online. Key Stage 4 students also lead whole school assemblies on E-Safety and recognise the importance of privacy settings to ensure important information cannot be accessed by unknown individuals. 

Creative Commons

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity with the world. Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximize digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.

For more information, please click here to access the Creative Commons website

Social Networking

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and X, continue to grow in terms of its popularity especially with children, some as young as 7 or 8 years old.  Please click on the links below which aim to provide support regarding a range of key topics in relation to social networking.

Laws about online behaviour [PDF]

Top E-Safety Tips For Parents [PDF]

Leaflet giving advice about the safe use of Social Networking sites [PDF]

Facebook Checklist to promote online safety [PDF]

Privacy settings on Social Networking sites [PDF]

Video chats and webcams [PDF]

Top Tips

Parents and Carers

  1. Ensure the computer is kept in an area of the house, where it is easier to monitor what young people are accessing online.
  2. Make the most of Internet filtering software and use your web browser’s controls to enable security on different websites.
  3. Inform children not to share their personal information online.
  4. Create a “code of conduct” policy where young people are involved in creating rules which must be abided by when using the Internet at home.
  5. Be online together! Browsing the Internet with your child and being involved in their ‘online world’ will promote online safety.

Parent Guides:

Students

  1. Do not post any personal information online including your phone number, address, passwords or your school.
  2. SPEAK UP! If you viewed something online that made you anxious, unsafe or uncomfortable, please speak to an adult that you trust.
  3. If you do not know someone, why are they your “online friend” or “follower”?
  4. Privacy settings should always be kept to a maximum. Use the search engines on social networking websites to find out how to do this.
  5. Think carefully when “posting” or “sharing” a photo online. Remember, once a photo is posted online, people will be able to share or download the photo.

#Ditto – An online magazine by E-Safety Advisor.com. Click here for the latest edition.

Websites and Phone Numbers

Phone Numbers

  • Childline – 0800 1111
  • StopitNow – 0800 1000900
  • NSPCC – 0800 136 663