Online safety

Online Safety

Technology is an important part of children's lives and can provide wonderful opportunities to learn, create, communicate and explore.

At Christleton Primary School, we want children to enjoy the benefits of technology while developing the knowledge, confidence and judgement they need to use it safely, responsibly and respectfully.

Online safety is an important part of safeguarding. We teach children about online safety through our curriculum and reinforce these messages whenever children use technology in school.

We also recognise the important role that parents and carers play. Children's online lives increasingly include games, videos, messaging, social media, connected devices and artificial intelligence, and these can change quickly. We therefore encourage families to talk regularly and openly about what children are doing online.

The most important message we can give children is that if something online worries, frightens, confuses or upsets them, they should tell a trusted adult. Children should feel able to ask for help without worrying that they will automatically be blamed or have their technology taken away.

Understanding online risks

The Department for Education's current safeguarding guidance describes four broad areas of online risk:

These risks can occur across online games, messaging services, social media, video-sharing platforms, livestreams, websites and AI tools. The technology may change, but the principles of keeping children safe remain the same.

Helping your child stay safe online

Parents do not need to be technology experts to help their children stay safe. Having regular conversations and showing an interest in what your child enjoys online can be one of the most effective safeguards.

Some useful principles are:

• Talk regularly. Ask your child what games, apps and websites they enjoy and who they interact with online.
• Use age-appropriate services. Check the age requirements and safety information for games, apps and social-media services before allowing your child to use them.
• Protect personal information. Children should avoid sharing their address, school, phone number, passwords, location or other personal information with people they do not know.
• Check privacy and location settings. Review these together, particularly when installing a new app or game.
• Be careful with online contacts. Children should understand that people online are not always who they claim to be.
• Use parental controls. Parental controls and device settings can reduce children's exposure to inappropriate content, purchases and unwanted contact, but no technical system can remove every risk.
• Think before posting or sharing. Photos, messages and videos can be copied or shared beyond the original audience.
• Be kind and respectful. The same expectations for behaviour and relationships apply online as they do face to face.
• Block and report. Help children understand how to block unwanted contact and report inappropriate content or behaviour.
• Tell a trusted adult. If anything makes a child uncomfortable, worried or frightened, they should stop the interaction and tell an adult they trust.

Online games, messaging and contact with others

For many primary-aged children, online gaming is one of the main ways they communicate with other people online.

Games can be enjoyable and sociable, but some include voice chat, messaging, livestreaming, purchases or communication with people the child does not know.

We encourage parents to understand who their child can communicate with, whether chat functions can be restricted and what privacy controls are available.

Children should be taught not to share personal information with people they meet online and not to arrange to meet someone they know only through the internet. If anyone asks them to keep an online relationship secret, requests personal information or images, or makes them feel uncomfortable, they should tell a trusted adult immediately.

Social media and age restrictions

Many social-media services currently have age restrictions and are not intended for primary-aged children. Parents should check the current terms and minimum-age requirements of individual platforms rather than assuming that all services operate in the same way.

The UK approach to children's use of social media is currently changing. The Government has announced plans for stronger restrictions for children under 16, which are expected to come into force from spring 2027. We will continue to update our advice as national requirements change.

Whatever the platform, we encourage parents to consider not only whether a child can create an account but whether the service is appropriate for their age, maturity and individual needs.

Artificial intelligence and online information

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly common in search engines, apps, games and educational tools.

Children need to understand that information produced by AI is not automatically accurate or trustworthy. AI can produce incorrect information and can also be used to create realistic-looking pictures, videos, voices and other content that is not genuine.

Our approach is therefore to help children develop healthy scepticism and ask questions such as:

Who created this? Why was it created? Can I check it somewhere else? Is it trying to persuade me? Could this have been created or changed using AI?

The increased importance of AI and digitally altered content is explicitly recognised within the latest national safeguarding guidance. KCSIE 2026 also recognises AI-generated explicit imagery and deepfakes as safeguarding concerns.

Inappropriate or upsetting content

Despite parental controls, filtering and other safeguards, children may occasionally encounter something online that worries or upsets them.

If this happens, encourage your child to:

stop – close or move away from the content – and tell a trusted adult.

Try to remain calm and reassure them that telling you was the right thing to do. Depending on what has happened, content or users can often be blocked and reported through the service being used.

Where there is a concern about grooming, sexual communication or exploitation, this can also be reported to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP).

Online safety at Christleton Primary School

We take appropriate steps to provide a safe digital environment in school.

Our safeguarding arrangements include appropriate filtering and monitoring of school networks and devices. These arrangements are reviewed regularly as part of our safeguarding responsibilities.

The Department for Education requires schools to review their filtering and monitoring provision at least annually and to consider the needs and risks of their particular pupils. Current standards also require schools to consider rapidly changing content, including material generated through artificial intelligence.

Filtering alone cannot keep children safe. The DfE is clear that no filtering system can be completely effective, which is why education, appropriate supervision and children knowing how to seek help remain so important.

Working together

Keeping children safe online works best when school and home work together.

We encourage parents to talk about online life in the same way they would talk about school, friendships or activities outside school. Simple questions such as “What have you enjoyed online today?”, “Has anything surprised or worried you?” and “Who would you tell if something didn't feel right?” can help keep communication open.

If you become concerned about something your child has experienced online, please contact us. Where an online incident raises a safeguarding concern, the school will respond in accordance with our safeguarding procedures.

Useful support for parents and children

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