Keeping Our Students Safe Online: E-Safety at Springwell Lincolnshire
In today’s digital world, understanding how to stay safe online is a vital life skill. At Springwell Lincolnshire, the E-Safety of our students is a top priority. We are committed to creating a safe and supportive learning environment that extends to the online world, both within our academies and at home.
Our goal is to equip our students with the knowledge, skills, and resilience to navigate the online world confidently and responsibly. We integrate E-Safety education into our curriculum, fostering an open culture where students feel empowered to talk about their online lives and seek help when they need it.
Our Approach to E-Safety
In the Classroom:
- Integrated Curriculum: E-Safety is not a one-off lesson. We embed online safety topics across our curriculum, discussing issues like digital footprints, online reputation, privacy, and respectful online communication.
- Tackling Key Risks: We address the critical online risks that young people face, including cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, online grooming, and misinformation.
- Promoting Digital Citizenship: We focus on empowering our students to become responsible, respectful, and creative digital citizens who contribute positively to the online community.
- Secure Environment: All our academy IT systems are filtered and monitored to provide a safe online space for students to learn and explore.
Our Weekly E-Safety Theme: A Continuous Conversation:
At Springwell Lincolnshire, we are committed to embedding a strong culture of online safety. The digital world is constantly evolving, with new apps, games, and trends emerging all the time. To ensure our approach to e-safety is dynamic and relevant, we feature a “Weekly E-Safety Theme of the Week.”
Why a Weekly Focus?
- To Keep E-Safety Current: A weekly theme allows us to be responsive and provide timely advice on the real-world situations our students face online. We can address new trends or risks as they appear, keeping our guidance fresh and relevant.
- To Make Learning Manageable: Online safety is a vast and complex topic. By breaking it down into smaller, weekly themes—such as digital footprints, respectful communication, or spotting misinformation—we make it easier for students to learn, remember, and apply these vital skills.
- To Encourage Ongoing Dialogue: The theme of the week provides a regular opportunity for conversation. It acts as a consistent prompt for staff to discuss with students in the classroom and for parents and carers to bring up these important topics at home.
- To Build a Proactive Culture: Rather than only reacting to incidents, our weekly focus ensures that we are proactively and consistently building awareness. It reinforces the message that online safety is an essential part of everyday life and empowers our students to become confident and responsible digital citizens.
We encourage our entire community to engage with our weekly theme. By working together and having these regular conversations, we can help ensure every student at Springwell Lincolnshire has the skills and knowledge to navigate the online world safely and positively. This is shared with our parents & carers via Arbor.
Advice for Parents and Carers
Your support at home is crucial to keeping your child safe online. We encourage you to have regular, open conversations with your child about what they are doing online.
Top Tips for Parents:
- Talk Regularly: Ask your child about the apps, games, and websites they are using. Show an interest in their online world, just as you would their friends and hobbies.
- Set Up Parental Controls: Use the parental control and safety features available on your home broadband, mobile devices, and gaming consoles. These can help you filter content and manage screen time.
- Discuss Online Risks: Talk to your child about the risks of sharing personal information, speaking to strangers online, and the importance of thinking before they post.
- Know Who to Turn To: Make sure your child knows that if they see anything online that makes them feel worried, scared, or uncomfortable, they can talk to you or another trusted adult.
Reporting a Concern
If you have any concerns about your child’s online safety or the well-being of another student, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s academy directly. Our designated safeguarding leads are trained to handle these issues with sensitivity and confidence.
In an emergency, or if you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call the police on 999.
Useful E-Safety Resources
Here are some excellent resources for parents and students to learn more about staying safe online:
- NSPCC Net Aware: Provides a guide to the social networks, apps, and games your children use.
- UK Safer Internet Centre: Offers tips, advice, and resources to help children and young people stay safe online.
- Thinkuknow: The education programme from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP command, providing age-appropriate resources and advice.
- Childnet International: A non-profit organisation working to make the internet a great and safe place for children.
- Internet Matters: Provides age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls, and more.
Together, we can ensure that every student at Springwell Lincolnshire has a safe and positive experience online.