e-Safety and Digital Literacy
At Saint Joseph’s Junior School, we take a whole school approach to e-Safety involving staff, governors, parents and the pupils themselves. In today’s digital world, ensuring that our children are equipped to use technology in a safe and secure manner is essential.
In order to keep up with developing technologies, our e-Safety Policy is reviewed biannually to ensure that it is both relevant and rigorous. A copy of our e-Safety Policy can be accessed by clicking the link below:
e-Safety Policy
As a school, we reiterate the SMART Rules of e-Safety to pupils on a regular basis. The SMART Rules are:
S – Safe – Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information when you’re chatting or posting online. Personal information includes your email address, phone number and password.
M – Meeting – Meeting someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents’ or carers’ permission and even then only when they can be present. Remember online friends are still strangers even if you have been talking to them for a long time.
A – Accepting – Accepting emails, IM messages, or opening files, pictures or texts from people you don’t know or trust can lead to problems – they may contain viruses or nasty messages!
R – Reliable – Someone online might lie about who they are and information on the internet may not be true. Always check information with other websites, books or someone who knows. If you like chatting online it’s best to only chat to your real world friends and family.
T – Tell – Tell your parent, carer or a trusted adult if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried, or if you or someone you know is being bullied online.
More information on the SMART Rules, as well as informative child-friendly videos, can be found at: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/beingsmart/
e-Safety Assemblies are delivered to pupils at least once a half-term. When technology develops and new e-Safety issues arise, these are also addressed in whole school assemblies to ensure that our pupils are up to date with the latest e-Safety knowledge.
In addition to a dedicated e-Safety Day where pupils complete age appropriate tasks related to e-Safety, an e-Safety Scheme of Work is delivered to all pupils throughout the course of the year. Topics such as Cyberbullying, Safe Searching and Secure Websites, as well as many others, are covered in in-depth lessons where pupils are taught the skills of e-Safety in greater detail in an age appropriate manner.