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Compared to the main site you were just on, the under 12s site:

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25 Fun and Free Family Activities for Summer

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Read our top 25 free, fun and imaginative summer activities to do at home or outside. Our creative summer family activities will keep your children entertained and happy all day long.

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Access information and resources for parents and carers on keeping your child safer online including conversation starters and video guides.

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Starting secondary school - BBC Parents’ Toolkit - BBC Bitesize

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Advice for parents who have a child starting secondary school this year, with tips on the emotional and practical sides of the transition.

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A Young Carer is someone under 18 looking after someone by providing large amounts and regular care that continues over time

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Dan Seigel’s hand model of the brain explained (animated for kids)

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Support for Parents from Action For Children

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How do I use a sleep diary with my child? - Support for Parents from Action For Children

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It's common for children to have disturbed sleep from time to time. If you're worried, a sleep diary can help you understand what's causing difficulties.

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Huge thanks to our corporate partner, Furniture Village, who has helped us to launch a brand new National Sleep Helpline to ensure that everyone has access to high quality, evidence-based advice regardless of age, ethnicity, background or income.
"We've always believed that sleep is equally as important as diet and exercise yet we know the UK is really struggling to sleep, particularly with the ongoing effects of the pandemic" says Charlie Harrison, Furniture Village Commercial Director. "From my work as a doctor, I know how great the need for a National Sleep Helpline is. It will make a huge difference to so many people." Dr Ranj, Furniture Village Sleep and Wellness Advisor
Working together to improve the nation's sleep.

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National Sleep Helpline - The Sleep Charity

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Who do I talk to if I can't sleep? The National Sleep Helpline can help with your sleep problems, 7pm-9pm, Sunday to Thursday, 03303 530 541.

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EasyPeasy | For Parents & Carers | Download the App Today

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Discover parenting tips and activities personalised for you and your 0-5-year-old from our community of families, practitioners and early years experts.

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Advice-about-childrens-bladders-and-bowels-–-from-birth-to-potty-training-to-school.pdf

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Almost all children can learn to be clean and dry. Children with special needs including delayed development and physical disabilities may take a little longer and need more support. However, the process you need to follow is the same.

This can feel like a big challenge, but it's important not to put off potty training for too long. The longer your child wears a nappy, the harder it may be to introduce a new place for them to wee and poo.

Watch our handy video below for an introduction and read on below for more information and tips on this page to support children with additional needs and sensory issues.

How to potty train your child with additional needs?

We recommend breaking potty training into stages and tailor your approach on their abilities.

Our 3 step Let's Go Potty approach has been developed to suit all children and abilities. This includes children with autism, ADHD, developmental delay, cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome.
Read our advice sheets Advice for children with constipation, Advice for children with daytime bladder problems, Advice for children with night time wetting, Advice about children's bladders and bowels - from birth, to potty training, to school and Advice about bladders, bowels and toileting for children with additional needs for more information, including downloadable PDFs of the advice sheets.
Potty training with autism

There is no evidence that suggests autism causes delayed potty training. However, autistic children may be more likely to struggle to learn potty training skills due to sensory problems or learning disabilities.

They may also be more likely to suffer from constipation. If your child is autistic, research suggests that starting learning in infancy and avoiding constipation is the best way to avoid problems in the future. Get more information about supporting autistic children who have constipation.

One of the hardest things for many autistic children to cope with is a sudden change in routine or habit. This is why the more you can do before you stop using nappies the better, to help make this transition as gentle as possible for them.

Our Let's Go Potty approach has been designed to help your child make this transition whatever their needs are.

Potty training and delayed speech

Non-verbal and neurodivergent children can't always communicate their thoughts and feelings. This means you can't rely on their signals to tell you when they're ready to potty train.

You may need to take more responsibility for knowing how often your child goes for a wee or poo and using this to help direct them.

Here's what we recommend doing to help your child learn this skill:

Complete a bladder/bowel assessment chart so you can see how often they are doing a wee or poo. (Make sure any underlying constipation is treated.)

Base your potty or toilet routine based on this information. Take them at set times according to what the chart tells you.

If they wet themselves at another time, take them to the toilet as quickly as possible and try to get them there so some of the wee goes into the toilet. Ignore the wetting and positively reinforce that the wee has gone into the toilet and continue the rest of the toileting routine.

Use verbal and visual clues. Introduce simple books on the subject consistently using the signs, sounds or words that your child can use. Reinforce verbal clues with a visual clue - use photos, drawings, pictures, images and social stories when preparing them to use the potty. Using these images to create visual schedules will make it easy for your child to follow the new routine and make it more predictable.

Using sign language for common toileting words and phrases can also reinforce learning.

Potty training children with Down syndrome

We are delighted to be partnering with Down Syndrome UK and Positive about Down syndrome to share their fantastic #Pants4school Step by Step Programme. Enabling children with Down Syndrome to be toilet ready for school and reach their full potential.

Download the programme today! (opens in new browser).

Tips for children with additional needs

Your child may take longer to learn each stage, so consider your expectations and don't rush the learning.

Focus on one stage at a time. For example, teach them that poo goes down the toilet by flushing it away together.

Be as consistent as possible. The more consistent you are, the easier it will be for your child to learn.

It's important that your child feels relaxed, comfortable and secure about using the toilet or potty. Make sure the space is accessible to your child. An Occupational Therapist (OT) can help with practical adaptations.

Think about your child's sensory needs and how these relate to using the bathroom. Adjusting the sensory input can make a difference for many children to help them to learn toileting skills.

If you start with the toilet you should use a footstool to help your child feel confident and safe. This will also help your child get into the best position for doing wees and poos, with their feet supported and knees above hips.

Help your child learn the physical skills needed by breaking them down into smaller steps and allowing your child to do the last step independently. For example, help them push their trousers down most of the way, then have them push the last bit down themselves. Same when pulling them up again.

Encourage independence as soon as you see it developing, phasing out support once your child shows competence.

Use stories, visual charts, props and games to teach your child what to do and how to do it. Make your own learning aid by taking photos of your bathroom, drawing pictures of the steps, or by searching on the Internet for visual routines. A standard routine could be: 1.Undress 2. Underwear down 3. Sit 4. Do wee/poo, 5. Wipe, 6. Pull up underwear, 7. Pull up trousers/dress, 8. Flush toilet, 9. Wash hands.

Give your child positive encouragement and praise for the efforts they are making, not just the result. This can help to keep them motivated and willing to move to the next step.

FAQs

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Potty training children with additional needs - ERIC

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Information on potty training for children with additional needs and sensory issues including delayed development, ASD and physical disabilities who may take a little longer to become toilet trained.

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Advice and support for your child’s development

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Family Bereavement: How to support children through grief and loss

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Losing a loved one is incredibly hard, especially for children. In this article, we share advice and guidance from our experts to help you support child through the journey of grief and loss.

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Supporting your child as a young carer | NSPCC

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If your child helps care for someone in your family, they may be a young carer. This guide explains what that means and how you can support their wellbeing.

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Small Shoulders: When childhood carries more than it should

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Copy of Webinar poster - supporting emotions PDF

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Copy of Webinar poster - supporting ND child PDF

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Copy of Webinar poster - supporting MH&W PDF

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The Potty Training Guide - Starting Reception

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Potty training is an important milestone in your child’s development. We understand that all children develop at their own pace, but research shows it’s best for your child’s bowel and bladder health to stop using nappies, including reusable nappies, pull ups and training pants, between 18 and 30 months.

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Fight Flight Freeze – A Guide to Anxiety for Kids

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A family agreement is a great way to start a conversation with your whole family about how you all use the internet and discuss together how to behave in a positive way when online at home, at school or at a friend's house.

The agreement involves generating promises, these are positive statements about how your family want to look after each other online and how you should treat others online.

Our family agreement advice provides a list of things to consider when creating your agreement and some examples of how the agreement could look. Our family agreement template provides a framework that will help families set clear expectations for positive and safe internet use. Here are our tips for starting yours!

Key things to remember

Who is involved with making the promises?

It's important to involve all members of the family as much as possible when developing your family agreement. Children as young as three can help you make the promises and talk about why your family needs them.

As children get older, they can take a bigger part in deciding what the promises should be, as well helping decide what the consequences for breaking them should be. Pre-teens and teenagers will find it particularly useful to be involved in this process, because it gives them the chance to take responsibility for their own behaviour. Discussing issues around the internet can be a great way to bring out young people's ideas about how to stay safe and use the internet responsibly.

Involving your child in creating both the family agreement and the consequences for breaking it will help them to understand and accept the agreement as part of your family's time online.

What should we include in the promises?

Begin the agreement by discussing how the whole family uses the internet. This will help you know which areas to focus on when writing the promises. These areas could be anything from online gaming or the amount of time spent online.

Start writing the promises for important areas which directly impact the safety of your family; who they talk to online, sharing of personal information and other issues that are important to you and your family. You might also want to develop promises about respecting others online, signing up to accounts, searching for content or clicking on links.

Every family's agreement will be different. Your agreement should always take into account your family's beliefs, values and situation as well as your child's maturity and needs.

All good family agreements will have one thing in common; that they are specific and easy to understand. Although the promises you make can come in different shapes and sizes you may wish to have specific 'dos and don'ts' promises; ground rules which apply everywhere and to everyone or even situation promises which can change dependent on the device, app or person.

When to start making the promises?

You can start making simple promises as soon as your child has the language skills to understand them. It can also be beneficial to begin your family agreement as your child starts using the internet as this can be part of teaching them what you expect.

Young children will need support and reminders to follow the promises, because they may be likely to forget or ignore them. This is especially important with safety promises like 'I won't meet up with anyone I only know online' or 'I won't tell anyone online my personal information, eg school name and addresses'.

Some children with special needs might also need help to understand and remember the family agreement.

The agreement will change as your children develop and your family's situation changes. As children get older, for example, promises about privacy might become more important.

Revise your agreement from time to time to bring the most important promises into the forefront of everyone's mind. This can be a great time to now involve older children and teenagers in making any changes to the agreement.

Setting up a family agreement is great but it is important to back this up. This means that when you decide on a promise, you also need to decide what will happen if it is broken. Talking about the consequences as a family can ensure that everyone understands and agrees to them. If children agree to the consequences of something in advance, they're much more likely to keep a level head when it's time for you to follow through.

When a promise is broken, you might choose simply to remind your child of it and give them another chance, especially with younger children.

If a promise has been broken more than once then it might be worth rewording it within the agreement to make sure it's clear or considering whether it is realistic for your family. Perhaps approaching it in a different way will ensure that it can be followed, for example changing 'I promise to never sign up to new accounts' to 'I promise to ask before I sign up to a new account and only do so with an adult's help'.

It is also important to praise children and young people for the positive choices they make online and for following the family agreement.

Whilst issues can feel like they are specific to one app they are often occurring across multiple platforms. A child talking to people they don't know through a game could also happen on a social networking site or online forum. We would recommend trying to keep your family agreement to risks rather than specific apps as this will help you set clear boundaries or guidelines for all of their internet use.

It is important to keep an open dialogue with young people about their experiences online, both positive and negative. Treat everyone in the family as an expert in their own right and share your knowledge together to help keep your family safe online. This will put you in the best position to support your family online and offer support if things go wrong.

Remember it might feel like children know more about technology but you know more about life and most importantly about how to keep them safe.

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Putting the Family Agreement into practice | Childnet

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A family agreement is a great way to start a conversation with your whole family about how you all use the internet and discuss together how to behave in a positive way when online at home, at school or at a friend's house.

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There is lots of advice on this website, including how to set up your profiles on various social media sites

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What is Social Media?

Social media is an online platform that allows users to connect with others online . Depending on what platform you use, social media can allow you to communicate and share information with others with the intention to update or engage a specific audience. This can often include sharing videos, images, status updates or posts with a group of followers that can sometimes cover a global scale.

Users are able to engage with social media content through a number of different ways, usually through liking, sharing, following or commenting. Social media houses communities that cover a global array of users, topics and interests. As well as engaging with people we know, social media has extended to give celebrities, businesses and influencers a platform to connect with their audience.

A lot of the time, social media is a positive place where users support and voice admiration towards others. Despite this, it can also house toxic and harmful behaviours which can be directed towards specific individuals or groups with the intention to harass or cause upset (often known as 'trolling').

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Designed and Developed by Will Earp, South West Grid for Learning Trust Ltd

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Find everything you need to know about how to promote online safety on social media for young people using our latest guidance, resources and tools.

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Inspire Rehab and Psychology
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Parenting Children - Resources & Articles for Parents

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To support you in parenting your little ones, we have provided wisdom grounded in science in the form of judgment-free, in-depth articles. Read here.

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Who are Somerset's Mental Health Support Team?

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Connect NHS - Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire

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Coping Cards – Breathing and Grounding - Connect NHS

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When you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, coping cards can be really helpful. These cards offer simple techniques, like deep breathing or grounding exercises, that can help you calm down and feel more in control. Download Resource

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Your care and support can make a huge impact in the life of a young child. Sesame Street is here to provide you with resources to help bring joyful moments.

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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How-to: 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return - Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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This how-to video breaks down serve and return into 5 simple steps and features adults and young children doing each step together.

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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How-to: 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return - Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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This how-to video breaks down serve and return into 5 simple steps and features adults and young children doing each step together.

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Emotional Coaching Parent Webinar 1: Emotional regulation

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If you are worried about your child or teenager using the internet, this guide provides tips and advice for talking to your child about their use of social media and the internet.

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Guide Menu for Social media

The internet offers huge opportunities. From a young age, children have the chance to learn, research, play games, have fun and connect with family who may not live nearby. But it's important to help them to use the online world in a way that's safe and positive for their mental health.

That's why it's good to have regular conversations about the internet and social media from a young age - it should be as ordinary as talking about the weather, the dog, or something you've watched on TV.

You don't need to pry or quiz your child about every website they've seen, but checking in with them for a minute or two can make a huge difference.

Take a look at our tips below for having positive conversations with your child about social media.

Although most social media platforms are officially 13+, most children sign up to at least one when they're much younger. It's better that you encourage them to be open with you, rather than thinking they need to keep it a secret from you. And be aware that if they accept your follow/friend request on a social media account, it's very possible they have another one that they're not sharing with you.

Remind your child that every social media platform has privacy settings, and show them how to use them.

Talk to your child about the sort of information they want to keep private.

Make sure your child understands how to report or block things that aren't appropriate.

Help your child to understand that they shouldn't feel the need to be available all the time on social media. It's okay to take a break, and you don't need to take part in every conversation.

Setting realistic boundaries

The boundaries you set for internet use will depend on your child's age. It's like teaching your child to cross the road: you'll make sure they hold your hand when they're very young, but as they grow older you want them to assess the risks and stay safe more independently.

Whatever their age, it's a good idea to sit down together with your child to agree some rules about how much time they spend online. For example, you might want to agree that they shouldn't go online just before bed or use any devices at night, because this can affect their sleep. You can often set timers on devices to limit internet use - but try to help your child manage this for themselves as well.

You can also set up parental controls to stop your child from accessing harmful content online, but your child may well learn how to get round these. That's why it's important to make sure your child is able to make good decisions for themselves.

Talking to your child about gaming

It is worth checking the ratings on the games your child is playing. If your child wants to buy a game that looks like it's extremely violent or too old for them, then trust your judgement if you don't feel it's appropriate.

We have more information and advice to help you and your family create a healthy culture around gaming, and to help you support your child if they're struggling.

Cyberbullying

Bullying isn't okay, whether it happens at school, at home or on the internet. If your child is receiving nasty messages, or people are posting unwanted things about them, or they feel harassed, they should do something about it.

Encourage them to talk to you. Even if it seems like a small thing, it can really help to talk things through with you about what to do.

Make sure they understand how to block and report the people involved, and to use the privacy settings to limit what people can see on their profiles.

Help them understand that they are responsible for what they post. They should remember to think about what effect their posts might have on others, and that they probably shouldn't say anything online that they wouldn't say in person. That means not writing nasty things about people you know - but it also means not posting abuse to celebrities, who are real people too.

Spotting and acting on the warning signs

You know your child well, and may well recognise it if something is wrong. It's important to act on the warning signs. If you start to feel concerned:

Talk to your child openly.

Listen to what they have to say.

Don't rush to judgement.

Make sure they know you'll always be there for them.

Where to get further support

Useful helplines and websites

While we take care to ensure that the organisations we signpost to provide high quality information and advice, we cannot take responsibility for any specific pieces of advice they may offer. We encourage parents and carers to always explore the website of a linked service or organisation to understand who they are and what support they offer before engaging with them.

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Our library is filled with family-friendly videos on all different topics, igniting your kids' inner creativity and playfulness. It's everything from their favorite shows and music to learning how to build a model volcano (or make slime ;-), and everything in between.

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It’s Safer Internet Day, so here’s a guide to sharing pictures of children safely online.

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Each of these collections have been mapped to the Education for a Connected World framework set out by the UK Council for Internet Safety. Pages contain downloadable teacher resource documents with lesson ideas, discussion points and potential homework activities.

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Join in with Mummy Penguin's song and follow the adventures of Smartie the Penguin as he learns how to be safe on the internet.

We provide two versions of the story each for EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2.

The first version of story covers the following themes:

1. Pop ups and in app purchasing

2. Inappropriate websites for older children

3. Cyberbullying

The second version of the story covers the following themes:

1. Upsetting images

2. Unreliable information

3. Talking to strangers online

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Online Safety Leaflets & resources - Internet Matters

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Online Safety Leaflets & Resources | Download and share our free leaflets and resources to help parents support children as they navigate the online world.

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The National Crime Agency's CEOP Education team aim to help protect children and young people from online child sexual abuse.

We do this through our education programme, providing training, resources and information to professionals working with children, young people and their families.

I am:

Respecting me, you, us: building healthy relationships and creating positive cultures is a CEOP Education resource for 12 -14 year olds developed in association with clinical psychologist, Dr. Elly Hanson.

Under 18 and worried about online sexual abuse?
To report, click to visit the CEOP Safety Centre.

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The CEOP Education programme from the National Crime Agency's CEOP Education team aims to protect children and young people aged 4-18 from online child sexual abuse.

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Pokemon Go – Gaming gone mobile - UK Safer Internet Centre

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Online Safety Tips, Advice and Resources

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What is e-safety for schools?

Online safety should form a fundamental part of schools' and colleges' safeguarding and child protection measures. By taking a whole school approach to online safety, you can help make sure all staff, governors, volunteers and parents know how they can help keep children safe online.

Government guidance for schools across the UK highlights the importance of safeguarding children and young people online.
> Read the key safeguarding legislation and guidance for schools in the UK
What you should do

Schools have a dual responsibility when it comes to online safety: to ensure the school's online procedures keep children and young people safe, and to teach them about online safety, in and outside of school.

Your school should foster an open environment in which children and young people are encouraged to ask any questions and participate in an ongoing conversation about the benefits and risks of the online world.

Our information and resources will help you to:

create e-safety policies and procedures that will help you mitigate risk and respond to concerns

ensure teachers have the knowledge to teach students about e-safety

provide advice on using social media

support and include parents and carers by sharing helpful advice and resources

review and update your e-safety provision on an ongoing basis.

E-safety training

Take our elearning course on online safety and learn about how children and young people use existing technology, the risks involved and how to protect them from harmful content online in your context.

Includes modules on cyberbullying, radicalisation and extremism, grooming and more.
Find out more about what you'll learn

Policies and procedures

Policies and procedures

All schools and colleges should have robust e-safety policies and procedures that set out how to safeguard against and respond to online safety incidents. These must be understood and followed by all staff, volunteers, children and visitors.

Writing e-safety policies and procedures

Your online safety policies and procedures must follow the legislation and guidance for child protection in schools across the UK and for online safety.

They should apply to all devices with the capacity to connect to the internet and transfer data. This includes internet-connected toys, tablets, smart TVs and watches, phones, laptops and computers.

The Prevent duty

Schools in England, Wales and Scotland should also follow the Prevent duty's statutory guidance regarding online safety and radicalisation (Home Office, 2023).
> Read more about radicalisation and the Prevent duty
Templates for an online safety policy statement and acceptable use policy

Our online safety policy statement template will help you create an e-safety policy that staff, students and parents and carers should follow. This applies to all online platforms, including social media and online games.

The online safety agreement template can be used to set rules for how children should appropriately use the internet.
> Download the templates
Responding to e-safety concerns

Follow your online safety policies and procedures and your organisational child protection procedures. Organisations that work with children and families must have safeguarding policies and procedures in place.
> Follow our guidance on how to respond to online abuse > Read our guidance on safeguarding roles and responsibilities in schools > Find out more about responding to sexting and sharing nudes > Learn how you can support young people to use Report Remove to report nude images shared online
Ongoing review

Technology and the online environment are constantly changing. Online safety policies and procedures should be regularly reviewed and updated as part of your overarching safeguarding measures.

A whole school approach to reviewing these arrangements, including students, staff, volunteers and parents is good practice. Updated policies should be shared with and understood by all staff, children, and parents and carers, highlighting what has changed.

Resources you can use to help

Our free self-assessment tool helps schools develop and update their safeguarding policies and procedures and meet statutory and recommended safeguarding practices.

Our online safety elearning course, developed in association with the child protection unit of the National Crime Agency, CEOP, provides information and resources to help you assess and improve your school's approach to online safety.

You can also read our learning from case reviews briefing on online harm and abuse to find out how you can improve online safety.

IT safety and data protection

IT safety and data protection

Schools must have strong IT infrastructure and data protection practices. Make sure your school:

uses a firewall and robust antivirus software

uses a recognised internet service provider

uses an encrypted and password protected WiFi network

actively monitors and filters any inappropriate websites or content

manages data in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provides advice on data protection for organisations across the UK (ICO, n.d.), whilst the Department for Education (DfE) provides further, specific guidance for schools in England (DfE, 2023a).

Filtering and monitoring

Putting in place effective filtering and monitoring systems are a way schools can help safeguard children from harmful online material and provide a safe environment for learning. Filtering restricts access to online content, while monitoring allows user activity to be reviewed.

The UK Safer Internet Centre provides guidance for education settings across the UK about online filtering and monitoring (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2023).

In England, the Department for Education's (DfE's) filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges provides further detail about the systems schools should have in place, including:

a filtering system that blocks internet access to inappropriate and harmful content. The system should not excessively restrict the day-to-day needs of the school or stop students learning how to recognise risk themselves

an effective monitoring strategy that allows incidents to be quickly recognised and recorded

clearly identified roles and responsibilities for staff and third parties. This should include assigning a member of the senior leadership team and a governor to be responsible for ensuring the standards are met

regular reviews (at least annually) of the filtering and monitoring provision to check that systems are working as expected

(DfE, 2023b).

The DfE statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) (DfE, 2023c) makes it clear that:

all staff should receive training on the expectations, applicable roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring

the designated safeguarding lead should take lead responsibility for understanding the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place

information on school child protection policies should include information on appropriate filtering and monitoring on school devices and school networks.

> Read our CASPAR briefing on the KCSIE guidance
In Northern Ireland, the online safety strategy and action plan (Department of Health, 2021) states that the Education Authority (EA), via C2K, provide the infrastructure to support the use of ICT in schools, including a tiered filtering system.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government's national action plan for internet safety for children and young people states that schools are expected to use filtering as a means of restricting access to harmful content (Scottish Government, 2017).

In Wales, the Welsh Government's web filtering standards provide advice on the types of websites that should, and should not, be available to pupils (Welsh Government, 2021a).

Online consent forms

If you decide to use online consent forms to record consent for children to take part in activities, these should be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Parents and carers should be informed of how this information will be stored and used.

Things to consider include:

how you will verify that forms have been signed by the right person

how you will keep the forms secure

how authorised staff will access and check the forms as necessary

whether all parents and carers will have access to an online system.

> See an example of a consent form

Teaching online safety

Teaching online safety

Alongside ensuring your e-safety arrangements are robust, it's essential that schools and colleges teach children and young people about staying safe online - both in and outside of school.

Teachers should have ongoing conversations with children about the benefits and dangers of the internet and create an open environment for children and young people to ask questions and raise any concerns.

Teaching online safety should not be restricted to IT and computing lessons. Embedding key messages about staying safe online throughout the curriculum helps ensure that children of all ages are taught online safety skills.

Teaching resources

We've developed a range of engaging and age appropriate teaching resources to help teachers deliver e-safety lessons and create an ongoing conversation with children and young people about online safety.

We developed a school pack about online bullying for 11-16-year-olds with the Anti-Bullying Alliance and Diana Award. The resources can be adapted for use in lessons, assemblies or in school councils and focus on what children and young people can do if they witness cyberbullying.

A set of lesson plans, films and activities are available through It's Not OK for children and young people aged 11 and over. These reinforce the importance of building and maintaining positive relationships and how to recognise and respond to inappropriate behaviour. They cover topics including online safety, grooming and sexting.

Our Talk Relationships service supports secondary schools to deliver inclusive sex and relationships education. Alongside elearning courses and a dedicated helpline, it includes age-appropriate lesson plans on a range of relevant topics, including: safer online friendships and relationships, sharing of nudes and pornography

Teaching children and young people with special educational needs, additional needs and disabilities

Children and young people with special educational needs, additional needs and disabilities may require different teaching methods to learn about online safety, such as:

tailored teaching materials, including visual, verbal and multi-media resources

more detailed explanation of complex issues

continuous reminders and reinforcement of e-safety messages

a slower, smaller-step approach to building online resilience

(Assiter, Avery and The Education People, 2018a).
> Use our Love Life resources to talk to young people with learning disabilities about online safety and other topics
External speakers

You may want to make use of external expertise to supplement and reinforce your school's online safety education.

Visitors with the right expertise can provide online safety information to children and young people, staff, volunteers and parents and carers.

When used as part of a well-planned, broad and balanced curriculum, this can make a significant contribution towards children's, staff and parents' online safety awareness.

Use visitors to enhance your approach to online safety, rather than deliver it in full. External expertise can help revisit and build on learning as part of a whole school approach to online safety. Visits should be part of longer term planning rather than only used for 'one-off' sessions in response to online safety incidents.

(UK Council for Child Internet Safety, 2022).
> Read the UK Council for Child Internet Safety guidance on using external expertise to enhance online safety education > Find out what safeguarding measures you need to take when you have school visitors
Talking to children and young people about online abuse

We've created resources that will help you talk to children about online safety topics. They can help you respond to disclosures, difficult conversations that may arise and any online safety incidents, discoveries, allegations and concerns.

Our poster and animation provide tips to help you ensure children always feel listened to. Both are available in English and Welsh.

Find out how to prepare and have a conversation with children and young people you work or volunteer with about difficult, upsetting or sensitive topics.

Get advice on what to do if you need to help a young person who has received or sent an explicit image, video or message.

Our elearning course on online safety will help you ensure that staff and volunteers are aware of the risks that children and young people can be exposed to online and know how to respond appropriately.

Our elearning course will help professionals to respond to incidents of nude image sharing or sexting.

Guidance

In England, the Department for Education (DfE) has published non-statutory guidance on teaching online safety in school (DfE, 2023d).

The DfE has also published non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges on harmful online challenges and online hoaxes (DfE, 2021).

The Scottish Government has produced Guidance on developing policies to promote the safe and responsible use of mobile technology in schools and on Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology (Scottish Government, 2013; Scottish Government, 2016).

The Welsh Government has online safety resources for schools (Welsh Government, 2021b).

The UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) provides a range of guidance and resources about online safety, including guidance for education settings on sharing nudes and semi nudes (UKCIS, 2020).

Childline

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice, direct them to Childline.

Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about online and mobile safety on the Childline website.

You can also download or order Childline posters and wallet cards.

Social media

Social media and social networking plays an important role in many young people's lives - it's how they keep in touch and communicate with friends, family and schoolmates.

Personal mobile devices mean that children and young people can be active on social media anywhere and at any time. This can provide new opportunities for children and young people to learn and express themselves. But it can also present risks, including:

These issues should be tackled in the classroom and as part of an open, ongoing conversation about online safety, so children can learn about how to stay safe on social media.
> For advice on how to keep children safe online, including on social media - take our online safety elearning course
Social media in schools

Some schools use social media to engage children in in the classroom, celebrate student's work, or circulate news, activities and events to parents and carers.

Schools should always consider the safety implications when using social media with children and young people.

Schools should receive the consent of parents or carers and the child before posting any identifiable information or images of children and young people on social media.

Social media accounts used for educational purposes should be authorised and supervised by the school, filtered for suitable content and use appropriate privacy and security controls.

Concerns about social media content involving pupils, such as cyberbullying, self-harm, abuse or exploitation, should be raised in accordance with your school's child protection procedures.

> Read more about responding to online abuse > See more about social media and online communities > Find out more about photography and image sharing guidance
Can teachers follow students on social media?

Teachers shouldn't use their personal accounts to communicate with or follow pupils and students on social media. This should be included in your online behaviour policy and staff code of conduct.

Including social media in your staff code of conduct

Your code of conduct for staff and volunteers should include clear statements that staff should:

not engage or communicate with children or children's families via personal or non-school-authorised accounts

be aware of their digital footprint - the information about a person that exists on the internet as a result of their online activity

only use authorised school accounts to send school communications

use staff accounts for professional purposes only, including email, website and social media accounts

take steps to avoid being found by children on social media, by selecting strict privacy settings, using a different display name and choosing an appropriate display picture

not use social media in a way that would breach other school policies.

Useful resources

Our podcast episode on enhancing online safety for children includes advice on digital footprints and personal and professional boundaries.

Download our template behaviour code for adults working with children to help create a policy that includes rules on using social media.

See more guidance for schools on how to prevent cyberbullying and teach children about it in lessons.

Read about what to do if a young person tells you they've been involved in sharing nudes, how to write policies and procedures around this and where to report or share your concerns.

Find out more about keeping children safe on social media and in online communities, including how to assess and mitigate risk on online platforms, writing policies and procedures and how to recognise and respond to concerns

Read about the steps you need to take when taking, sharing or storing images or films of children. Includes information on livestreaming and using video conferencing software.

The Government also has guidance on how you can recognise and respond to online radicalisation via social media (Department for Education (DfE) and Home Office, 2015).

Supporting parents and carers

Supporting parents and carers

Online safety can be daunting for parents and carers, as they may have concerns about their understanding of the topic and their knowledge of latest developments. Schools should remind parents that e-safety is more about their parenting and communication skills than technology.

Parents and carers should understand that it isn't enough to protect children from online harms by simply banning sites or installing firewalls and filters.

Encourage parents and carers to maintain an open and ongoing discussion about online safety at home/as a family/with their children.

(Assiter, Avery and The Education People, 2018b).

You can involve parents and carers by:

sharing resources, news activities and events via social media, newsletters, handouts and email

circulating new and updated e-safety policies and procedures

organising and inviting parents to online safety sessions, potentially using external visitors

showing parents the learning resources you use in the classroom.

More advice about online safety and how to keep children safe online can be found on the NSPCC website. This includes information on social media, online gaming, parental controls, sharing nudes, livestreaming, harmful content and online reporting.
> See our online safety advice for parents and carers on the NSPCC website
The UK Safer Internet Centre has guidance for parents and carers on online safety over the summer holidays (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2018).

References

References

Assiter, A., Avery, R. and The Education People (2018a), Online safety for learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) (PDF). Kent: Kent County Council.

Assiter, A., Avery, R. and The Education People (2018b), Engaging families in online safety: guidance for educational settings (PDF). Kent: Kent County Council.

Department for Education (DfE) and Home Office (2015) The use of social media for online radicalisation. [Accessed 15/07/2021].

Department for Education (2021) Harmful online challenges and online hoaxes. [Accessed 15/07/2021].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023a) Data protection in schools. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023b) Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges: filtering and monitoring standards for schools. [Accessed 19/06/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023c) Keeping children safe in education: statutory guidance for schools and colleges. [Accessed 29/08/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023d) Teaching online safety in school. [Accessed 18/04/2023].

Department of Health (2021) Online safety strategy and action plan. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Home Office (2023) Revised Prevent duty guidance. [Accessed 02/01/2024].

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (n.d.) UK GDPR guidance and resources. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Scottish Government (2013) Safe and responsible use of mobile technology in schools: guidance. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Scottish Government (2017) Internet safety for children and young people: national action plan. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

UK Council for Child Internet Safety (2018) Using external visitors to support online safety (PDF). [London]: UK Council for Child Internet safety].

UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) (2020) Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people. [London].

UK Safer Internet Centre (2018), Guidance for parents and carers on online safety over the summer holidays. [Accessed 15/07/2021].

UK Safer Internet Centre (2023) Appropriate filtering and monitoring: guide for education settings and filtering providers. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Welsh Government (2021a) Education digital standards: web filtering. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Welsh Government (2021b) Keeping safe online. [Accessed 25/07/2023].

What is e-safety for schools?

Online safety should form a fundamental part of schools' and colleges' safeguarding and child protection measures. By taking a whole school approach to online safety, you can help make sure all staff, governors, volunteers and parents know how they can help keep children safe online.

Government guidance for schools across the UK highlights the importance of safeguarding children and young people online.
> Read the key safeguarding legislation and guidance for schools in the UK
What you should do

Schools have a dual responsibility when it comes to online safety: to ensure the school's online procedures keep children and young people safe, and to teach them about online safety, in and outside of school.

Your school should foster an open environment in which children and young people are encouraged to ask any questions and participate in an ongoing conversation about the benefits and risks of the online world.

Our information and resources will help you to:

create e-safety policies and procedures that will help you mitigate risk and respond to concerns

ensure teachers have the knowledge to teach students about e-safety

provide advice on using social media

support and include parents and carers by sharing helpful advice and resources

review and update your e-safety provision on an ongoing basis.

E-safety training

Take our elearning course on online safety and learn about how children and young people use existing technology, the risks involved and how to protect them from harmful content online in your context.

Includes modules on cyberbullying, radicalisation and extremism, grooming and more.
Find out more about what you'll learn

Policies and procedures

Policies and procedures

All schools and colleges should have robust e-safety policies and procedures that set out how to safeguard against and respond to online safety incidents. These must be understood and followed by all staff, volunteers, children and visitors.

Writing e-safety policies and procedures

Your online safety policies and procedures must follow the legislation and guidance for child protection in schools across the UK and for online safety.

They should apply to all devices with the capacity to connect to the internet and transfer data. This includes internet-connected toys, tablets, smart TVs and watches, phones, laptops and computers.

The Prevent duty

Schools in England, Wales and Scotland should also follow the Prevent duty's statutory guidance regarding online safety and radicalisation (Home Office, 2023).
> Read more about radicalisation and the Prevent duty
Templates for an online safety policy statement and acceptable use policy

Our online safety policy statement template will help you create an e-safety policy that staff, students and parents and carers should follow. This applies to all online platforms, including social media and online games.

The online safety agreement template can be used to set rules for how children should appropriately use the internet.
> Download the templates
Responding to e-safety concerns

Follow your online safety policies and procedures and your organisational child protection procedures. Organisations that work with children and families must have safeguarding policies and procedures in place.
> Follow our guidance on how to respond to online abuse > Read our guidance on safeguarding roles and responsibilities in schools > Find out more about responding to sexting and sharing nudes > Learn how you can support young people to use Report Remove to report nude images shared online
Ongoing review

Technology and the online environment are constantly changing. Online safety policies and procedures should be regularly reviewed and updated as part of your overarching safeguarding measures.

A whole school approach to reviewing these arrangements, including students, staff, volunteers and parents is good practice. Updated policies should be shared with and understood by all staff, children, and parents and carers, highlighting what has changed.

Resources you can use to help

Our free self-assessment tool helps schools develop and update their safeguarding policies and procedures and meet statutory and recommended safeguarding practices.

Our online safety elearning course, developed in association with the child protection unit of the National Crime Agency, CEOP, provides information and resources to help you assess and improve your school's approach to online safety.

You can also read our learning from case reviews briefing on online harm and abuse to find out how you can improve online safety.

IT safety and data protection

IT safety and data protection

Schools must have strong IT infrastructure and data protection practices. Make sure your school:

uses a firewall and robust antivirus software

uses a recognised internet service provider

uses an encrypted and password protected WiFi network

actively monitors and filters any inappropriate websites or content

manages data in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provides advice on data protection for organisations across the UK (ICO, n.d.), whilst the Department for Education (DfE) provides further, specific guidance for schools in England (DfE, 2023a).

Filtering and monitoring

Putting in place effective filtering and monitoring systems are a way schools can help safeguard children from harmful online material and provide a safe environment for learning. Filtering restricts access to online content, while monitoring allows user activity to be reviewed.

The UK Safer Internet Centre provides guidance for education settings across the UK about online filtering and monitoring (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2023).

In England, the Department for Education's (DfE's) filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges provides further detail about the systems schools should have in place, including:

a filtering system that blocks internet access to inappropriate and harmful content. The system should not excessively restrict the day-to-day needs of the school or stop students learning how to recognise risk themselves

an effective monitoring strategy that allows incidents to be quickly recognised and recorded

clearly identified roles and responsibilities for staff and third parties. This should include assigning a member of the senior leadership team and a governor to be responsible for ensuring the standards are met

regular reviews (at least annually) of the filtering and monitoring provision to check that systems are working as expected

(DfE, 2023b).

The DfE statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) (DfE, 2023c) makes it clear that:

all staff should receive training on the expectations, applicable roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring

the designated safeguarding lead should take lead responsibility for understanding the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place

information on school child protection policies should include information on appropriate filtering and monitoring on school devices and school networks.

> Read our CASPAR briefing on the KCSIE guidance
In Northern Ireland, the online safety strategy and action plan (Department of Health, 2021) states that the Education Authority (EA), via C2K, provide the infrastructure to support the use of ICT in schools, including a tiered filtering system.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government's national action plan for internet safety for children and young people states that schools are expected to use filtering as a means of restricting access to harmful content (Scottish Government, 2017).

In Wales, the Welsh Government's web filtering standards provide advice on the types of websites that should, and should not, be available to pupils (Welsh Government, 2021a).

Online consent forms

If you decide to use online consent forms to record consent for children to take part in activities, these should be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Parents and carers should be informed of how this information will be stored and used.

Things to consider include:

how you will verify that forms have been signed by the right person

how you will keep the forms secure

how authorised staff will access and check the forms as necessary

whether all parents and carers will have access to an online system.

> See an example of a consent form

Teaching online safety

Teaching online safety

Alongside ensuring your e-safety arrangements are robust, it's essential that schools and colleges teach children and young people about staying safe online - both in and outside of school.

Teachers should have ongoing conversations with children about the benefits and dangers of the internet and create an open environment for children and young people to ask questions and raise any concerns.

Teaching online safety should not be restricted to IT and computing lessons. Embedding key messages about staying safe online throughout the curriculum helps ensure that children of all ages are taught online safety skills.

Teaching resources

We've developed a range of engaging and age appropriate teaching resources to help teachers deliver e-safety lessons and create an ongoing conversation with children and young people about online safety.

We developed a school pack about online bullying for 11-16-year-olds with the Anti-Bullying Alliance and Diana Award. The resources can be adapted for use in lessons, assemblies or in school councils and focus on what children and young people can do if they witness cyberbullying.

A set of lesson plans, films and activities are available through It's Not OK for children and young people aged 11 and over. These reinforce the importance of building and maintaining positive relationships and how to recognise and respond to inappropriate behaviour. They cover topics including online safety, grooming and sexting.

Our Talk Relationships service supports secondary schools to deliver inclusive sex and relationships education. Alongside elearning courses and a dedicated helpline, it includes age-appropriate lesson plans on a range of relevant topics, including: safer online friendships and relationships, sharing of nudes and pornography

Teaching children and young people with special educational needs, additional needs and disabilities

Children and young people with special educational needs, additional needs and disabilities may require different teaching methods to learn about online safety, such as:

tailored teaching materials, including visual, verbal and multi-media resources

more detailed explanation of complex issues

continuous reminders and reinforcement of e-safety messages

a slower, smaller-step approach to building online resilience

(Assiter, Avery and The Education People, 2018a).
> Use our Love Life resources to talk to young people with learning disabilities about online safety and other topics
External speakers

You may want to make use of external expertise to supplement and reinforce your school's online safety education.

Visitors with the right expertise can provide online safety information to children and young people, staff, volunteers and parents and carers.

When used as part of a well-planned, broad and balanced curriculum, this can make a significant contribution towards children's, staff and parents' online safety awareness.

Use visitors to enhance your approach to online safety, rather than deliver it in full. External expertise can help revisit and build on learning as part of a whole school approach to online safety. Visits should be part of longer term planning rather than only used for 'one-off' sessions in response to online safety incidents.

(UK Council for Child Internet Safety, 2022).
> Read the UK Council for Child Internet Safety guidance on using external expertise to enhance online safety education > Find out what safeguarding measures you need to take when you have school visitors
Talking to children and young people about online abuse

We've created resources that will help you talk to children about online safety topics. They can help you respond to disclosures, difficult conversations that may arise and any online safety incidents, discoveries, allegations and concerns.

Our poster and animation provide tips to help you ensure children always feel listened to. Both are available in English and Welsh.

Find out how to prepare and have a conversation with children and young people you work or volunteer with about difficult, upsetting or sensitive topics.

Get advice on what to do if you need to help a young person who has received or sent an explicit image, video or message.

Our elearning course on online safety will help you ensure that staff and volunteers are aware of the risks that children and young people can be exposed to online and know how to respond appropriately.

Our elearning course will help professionals to respond to incidents of nude image sharing or sexting.

Guidance

In England, the Department for Education (DfE) has published non-statutory guidance on teaching online safety in school (DfE, 2023d).

The DfE has also published non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges on harmful online challenges and online hoaxes (DfE, 2021).

The Scottish Government has produced Guidance on developing policies to promote the safe and responsible use of mobile technology in schools and on Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology (Scottish Government, 2013; Scottish Government, 2016).

The Welsh Government has online safety resources for schools (Welsh Government, 2021b).

The UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) provides a range of guidance and resources about online safety, including guidance for education settings on sharing nudes and semi nudes (UKCIS, 2020).

Childline

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice, direct them to Childline.

Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about online and mobile safety on the Childline website.

You can also download or order Childline posters and wallet cards.

Social media

Social media and social networking plays an important role in many young people's lives - it's how they keep in touch and communicate with friends, family and schoolmates.

Personal mobile devices mean that children and young people can be active on social media anywhere and at any time. This can provide new opportunities for children and young people to learn and express themselves. But it can also present risks, including:

These issues should be tackled in the classroom and as part of an open, ongoing conversation about online safety, so children can learn about how to stay safe on social media.
> For advice on how to keep children safe online, including on social media - take our online safety elearning course
Social media in schools

Some schools use social media to engage children in in the classroom, celebrate student's work, or circulate news, activities and events to parents and carers.

Schools should always consider the safety implications when using social media with children and young people.

Schools should receive the consent of parents or carers and the child before posting any identifiable information or images of children and young people on social media.

Social media accounts used for educational purposes should be authorised and supervised by the school, filtered for suitable content and use appropriate privacy and security controls.

Concerns about social media content involving pupils, such as cyberbullying, self-harm, abuse or exploitation, should be raised in accordance with your school's child protection procedures.

> Read more about responding to online abuse > See more about social media and online communities > Find out more about photography and image sharing guidance
Can teachers follow students on social media?

Teachers shouldn't use their personal accounts to communicate with or follow pupils and students on social media. This should be included in your online behaviour policy and staff code of conduct.

Including social media in your staff code of conduct

Your code of conduct for staff and volunteers should include clear statements that staff should:

not engage or communicate with children or children's families via personal or non-school-authorised accounts

be aware of their digital footprint - the information about a person that exists on the internet as a result of their online activity

only use authorised school accounts to send school communications

use staff accounts for professional purposes only, including email, website and social media accounts

take steps to avoid being found by children on social media, by selecting strict privacy settings, using a different display name and choosing an appropriate display picture

not use social media in a way that would breach other school policies.

Useful resources

Our podcast episode on enhancing online safety for children includes advice on digital footprints and personal and professional boundaries.

Download our template behaviour code for adults working with children to help create a policy that includes rules on using social media.

See more guidance for schools on how to prevent cyberbullying and teach children about it in lessons.

Read about what to do if a young person tells you they've been involved in sharing nudes, how to write policies and procedures around this and where to report or share your concerns.

Find out more about keeping children safe on social media and in online communities, including how to assess and mitigate risk on online platforms, writing policies and procedures and how to recognise and respond to concerns

Read about the steps you need to take when taking, sharing or storing images or films of children. Includes information on livestreaming and using video conferencing software.

The Government also has guidance on how you can recognise and respond to online radicalisation via social media (Department for Education (DfE) and Home Office, 2015).

Supporting parents and carers

Supporting parents and carers

Online safety can be daunting for parents and carers, as they may have concerns about their understanding of the topic and their knowledge of latest developments. Schools should remind parents that e-safety is more about their parenting and communication skills than technology.

Parents and carers should understand that it isn't enough to protect children from online harms by simply banning sites or installing firewalls and filters.

Encourage parents and carers to maintain an open and ongoing discussion about online safety at home/as a family/with their children.

(Assiter, Avery and The Education People, 2018b).

You can involve parents and carers by:

sharing resources, news activities and events via social media, newsletters, handouts and email

circulating new and updated e-safety policies and procedures

organising and inviting parents to online safety sessions, potentially using external visitors

showing parents the learning resources you use in the classroom.

More advice about online safety and how to keep children safe online can be found on the NSPCC website. This includes information on social media, online gaming, parental controls, sharing nudes, livestreaming, harmful content and online reporting.
> See our online safety advice for parents and carers on the NSPCC website
The UK Safer Internet Centre has guidance for parents and carers on online safety over the summer holidays (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2018).

References

References

Assiter, A., Avery, R. and The Education People (2018a), Online safety for learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) (PDF). Kent: Kent County Council.

Assiter, A., Avery, R. and The Education People (2018b), Engaging families in online safety: guidance for educational settings (PDF). Kent: Kent County Council.

Department for Education (DfE) and Home Office (2015) The use of social media for online radicalisation. [Accessed 15/07/2021].

Department for Education (2021) Harmful online challenges and online hoaxes. [Accessed 15/07/2021].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023a) Data protection in schools. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023b) Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges: filtering and monitoring standards for schools. [Accessed 19/06/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023c) Keeping children safe in education: statutory guidance for schools and colleges. [Accessed 29/08/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023d) Teaching online safety in school. [Accessed 18/04/2023].

Department of Health (2021) Online safety strategy and action plan. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Home Office (2023) Revised Prevent duty guidance. [Accessed 02/01/2024].

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (n.d.) UK GDPR guidance and resources. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Scottish Government (2013) Safe and responsible use of mobile technology in schools: guidance. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Scottish Government (2017) Internet safety for children and young people: national action plan. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

UK Council for Child Internet Safety (2018) Using external visitors to support online safety (PDF). [London]: UK Council for Child Internet safety].

UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) (2020) Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people. [London].

UK Safer Internet Centre (2018), Guidance for parents and carers on online safety over the summer holidays. [Accessed 15/07/2021].

UK Safer Internet Centre (2023) Appropriate filtering and monitoring: guide for education settings and filtering providers. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Welsh Government (2021a) Education digital standards: web filtering. [Accessed 12/07/2023].

Welsh Government (2021b) Keeping safe online. [Accessed 25/07/2023].

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Online safety (e-safety) and schools | NSPCC Learning

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Find out what schools and colleges need to do to keep pupils safe online, including e-safety policies and procedures, IT safety, online safety teaching resources, social media and supporting parents.

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44% of children aged 5 to 11 have their own mobile phones. They use a variety of devices and platforms including video games, video-sharing platforms and social media apps. On average: boys play around 4 hours of video games per day while girls play around 2 hours; children aged 7-16 spend just under 3 ½ hours per day online; children aged 4-15 spend just under six hours per week watching video content. Additionally, 62% of 7-16s have access to their mobile phones at all times, which means they may spend more time than is recorded.

In the same report from Ofcom as the above, 40% of parents say they struggle to manage their child's screen time. Support from schools is vital in helping children understand how to balance screen use.

Balanced screen use means using devices for different purposes. This may be playing video games or browsing social media but could also include completing homework, doing school work, learning new skills, practising wellbeing and more. It also means taking breaks from digital to focus on offline activities like school, spending time with family and friends, staying active and more. In many cases, children need support to help manage this balance, especially at the primary level.

Additional reading

Primary school resources to support children

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Primary School Resources on Online Safety | Internet Matters

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Primary School Resources - Internet Matters | Teach online safety to children in KS1 and KS2 with our free resources in e-safety.