Online Safety Information

At Thames Ditton Infant School we believe that children should be taught how to use the internet and how to stay safe from an early age to prevent them getting into any difficulty in later years. We do this through our computing curriculum, regular discussions when using computing technology and through anti-bullying week. It is also important that these messages are shared at home.

Filtering and Monitoring 

The internet is now used daily in education and has become a fundamental tool to support children’s learning. It acts as a key learning tool for children however, it can also be an area for concern due to the nature of potentially harmful content available online.

It is essential that children are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material. At Thames Ditton Infant School we have effective filtering and monitoring systems in place for all devices and their effectiveness is regularly reviewed. Filtering and Monitoring is the responsibility of DDSL (Mrs Coulter) and any incidents or concerns are reported to Headteacher and Governors Safeguarding committee.

Filtering

Through our filtering system (Netsweeper) we ensure that children are not exposed to illegal and inappropriate content.

Our filtering system manages the following content: discrimination, drugs/substance abuse, extremism, pornography, gambling and violence. 

Monitoring

Through our monitoring system (Senso) we actively monitor through key words and other indicators across all devices. Any in appropriate language used is reported weekly via the systems log which captures evidence of words used and user/device information. Any serious inappropriate language is reported to DDSL in real-time. 

Our monitoring system covers the following content: illegal content, bullying, child sexual exploitation, discrimination, drugs/substance abuse, extremism, pornography, self harm, violence and suicide. 

For more information on how to monitor and use filtering at home, visit the very useful websites below where you will find information on how parents can set parental controls on home devices:

• Thinkuknow
  Thinkuknow is the education programme form NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children both online and offline

• South West Grid for Learning
  A not-for-profit charitable trust, prviding wide range of products, services and solutions designed specifically for education.

• Childnet
  Helping make the internet a great and safe place for children and young people.

• O2 - Keeping kids safe online
  Resources designed to help parents have regular conversations with their children about onlin safety.

• Skips-Parents Guides to keeping kids safe online.
  Parents guides on a range of topics including privacy, sharing photos, gaming, fake news, social media.

• NSPCC
  Online safety guides and advice.