St James’s wanted to enhance its eSafety provision and teach pupils how to stay safe online via practical experience of online communication, research and publishing.  The aim was to link PSCHE/SEAL activities and the eSafety content from the computing curriculum.  It was important for us to ensure progression across the key stages and reinforce consistent messages so that gradually eSafety would be embedded in the school curriculum and ultimately become the responsibility of all staff at the school.

 

What we did:

• Updated our e-safety and acceptable use policies
• Updated our school e-Safety rules. Foundation, KS1 and KS2 acceptable use policies are now displayed in the computer suite, in classrooms and on laptop trollies
• Offered guidance to staff on how to respond to eSafety incidents or disclosures.  This included cyberbullying and who to contact for support
• Implemented an (age-appropriate) eSafety curriculum which reinforced good practice for pupils
• Have regular communications on eSafety via school newsletters and School Communicator.  New parents receive our eSafety policy and sign an agreement.  We also invited guest speakers for our parents to talk on eSafety issues – this was positively received by parents
• Improved communications with pupils – via lessons and special assemblies to promote eSafety and to ensure pupils have a good understanding of how to report any concerns they might have.

The LGLF eSafety portal provides excellent free resources and guidance on the essential elements of eSafety. These range from management, learning and teaching through to communicating with parents and the school community.

LGfL resources that St James’s found most beneficial:

• School Policies & Agreements examples.Try eSafety Policy Generator (Kent Nov 2011) as a starting point in generating a policy to discuss with colleagues and governors.
• eSafety Education Resources offers excellent schemes of work and lesson plans. Ready to go online education tools and Scenario resource cards.
• Rules for responsible ICT use KS1 and KS2.
• Online eSafety survey facility
• Parental Advice – useful when preparing communications with parents.
• LGfL One Minute Guides – very good for checking school compliance:
  • eSafety and Ofsted​ – (Apr 2013)
    eSafety in the new Computing National Curriculum​ – (Sep 2013)
  • Cyberbullying – (May 2013)
  • Sexting (Oct 2013)
  • ​Photo and Video Permissions​ – (May 2013)