esafety_officer

We have posters which some schools are using/adapting as AUPs here The best approach I've found is to find a template to start with and then involve pupils directly (school councils or in class/tutor time etc) in creating a child friendly version which is specific to your school/setting. The AUP is then much more likely to be followed and becomes useful and purposeful documents.

Happy to help directly as many Kent schools contact me regarding this but the ultimate decision and responsibility will lie with the headteacher/governing body so I would suggest that they are suitably informed about both the risks and benefits of cloud storage so they can make an informed decision. There is e-Safety content on Kelsi and also regarding data protection here The ICO have guidance on cloud usage (not specific to schools) here and you may also find this blog post useful

Hi all, Please feel free to share! The Childnet STAR Toolkit is a new online safety resource that offers practical advice and teaching activities to help secondary schools explore internet safety with young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Developed in partnership with Leicester City Council’s Building Schools for the Future Programme, Childnet’s STAR Toolkit aims to increase the online safety knowledge of educators and empower them to support their learners to use the internet safely and positively. The aim of the Childnet STAR Toolkit is to assist teachers in educating their pupils with ASD about the internet and safeguarding them against online risks.The four sections SAFE, TRUST, ACTION and RESPECT all feature the concept of friendship and emphasise the importance of finding the balance between online and offline interaction. At the same time, the resource is continually promoting a positive, fun and safe experience for young people with ASD. The Toolkit has been developed with input and support from three schools in Leicester. Childnet want advice and help from educators to further develop this toolkit to better provide for young people with ASD so Childnet have created a forum for staff to share their experiences using the toolkit and any adapted resources or ideas that they have used. Childnet would welcome any support in helping to spread the word. On the "About the Toolkit page" you can find a blog post and images, a press release and a two-page flyer. There is also a suggested tweet to help in creating a buzz on Twitter! "Check out @Childnet’s new #esafety and #autism toolkit for secondary schools. It’s free online at www.childnet.com/STAR"

Just to add, this is now available electronically (along with back editions) and in PDF format here

Apologies for a late response from me. The Ofsted section five briefing lists the following points regarding filtering and monitoring. Indicators of Good and Outstanding practice: "Recognised Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Regional Broadband Consortium (RBC) together with age-related filtering that is actively monitored." Indicator of inadequate practice: "Security of passwords is ineffective, for example passwords are shared or common with all but the youngest children." and "There is no internet filtering or monitoring." Personally I advise schools against using any shared logins (e.g. class accounts, shared staff logins) except for children with severe SEN (who must be directly supervised by a member of staff) or for early years and foundation stage settings. However I have worked with 4 year olds who have their own iTunes, XBox, Moshi Monster and Facebook accounts and they can remember those passwords then I'm sure they can cope with a school login if they are taught how! I tend to find the biggest issue with this is actually due to a lack of confidence in teaching primary children about password safety by staff, rather than the children's ability to remember passwords. It is not only poor practice for later years (e.g. children think it's acceptable to share their passwords and login details) but it can also be a nightmare for tracing security and filtering breaches or identifying behaviour concerns (by both pupils and staff) so schools can take appropriate safeguarding and/or disciplinary action. These means that schools may leave themselves vulnerable to concerns or allegations about failure to take appropriate action to prevent harm and safeguard the school community. I would echo Skunks point, Ofsted are unlikely to drill into the specific technologies used to achieve this, but it is likely that they will discuss school e-Safety practice and policy with staff and pupils - I am aware of them speaking to reception pupils about what to do if they saw something online that made them feel worried etc. This is why a whole school approach (with clear SLT oversight) with appropriate whole staff training, embedded and progressive pupil education, strong and up-to-date Acceptable Use Policies and evidence of appropriate risk assessments etc is essential. Ultimately it will be up to individual schools to decide how they choose to meet these recommendations but the school SLT and Governing Body will need to be able to explain and justify any decisions made.

There is a brilliant digital literacy scheme of work from the SWGfL which maps e-Safety education and resources from foundation stage to sixth form available here: www.digital-literacy.org.uk/Home.aspx . It looks at e-Safety education in its broadest sense (e.g. not just focusing on grooming) and it maps UK based and international resources to both the computing and PSHE curriculum and enables schools to ensure that they are building on children's skills. They also feature resources to send home as homework to encourage parent/carer participation which schools have reported to be incredibly helpful.

I just logged on to share the posters and can see that you've already done it - Thank you The posters are now available and being circulated electronically - I hope schools and settings find them useful and I would welcome any comments etc and ideas on how they have been used with pupils.

We have guidance for schools available here in our "Using social media as an establishment" document and also in our "Template Staff Acceptable Use Policy". When carefully considered and managed, social networking can be very a very positive way to engage the wider school community and I work with several schools who manage this well. However if staff (and indeed pupils and families) don't understand the potential risks and have clear boundaries regarding safe usage (and respect them!) then the school and indeed staff could be vulnerable to safeguarding and security concerns e.g. allegations, data breaches etc. It's mainly about having a clearly understood aim for use (not just doing it for the sake of doing it or copying another school/member of staff!), risk assessing carefully beforehand (to identify and take action to reduce or remove risk) and then being transparent with your activities (ensuring that there are clear boundaries for use which protect the staff, school and students). Sadly there have been many high profile incidents where staff have used social networking, both personally and professionally in ways which breach professional standards which can bring the school or profession into into disrepute, undermine confidence in professional abilities (both of which are disciplinary offences) and in worse case situations has led to criminal action being taken following child protection or safeguarding concerns. Childnet also have some really useful guidance about professional boundaries and reputations (including use of social media) here which might be helpful.

This year’s theme for Safer Internet day is ‘let’s create a better internet together.’ The UK Safer Internet Centre have created primary and secondary school packs which include quick activities, lesson plans, assemblies and posters. There is also a parent pack, which includes everything a school or setting might need to help them host a parent session. The packs will help to provide lots of great ideas and resources to help schools and organisations get involved in Safer Internet Day 2014.

Hi everyone, just letting you know my e-Safety blog has been relocated and it can now be found here

You can report the following content to the IWF here: Child sexual abuse content hosted anywhere in the world. Criminally obscene adult content hosted in the UK. Non-photographic child sexual abuse images hosted in the UK. If the content is hosted in the UK then the IWF will work in partnership with the police and the ISP or host company to have the offender(s) investigated and the content taken down. If the content is assessed as potentially criminal but hosted outside the UK where the IWF has no established contact, then the IWF will notify CEOP who then disseminate the information to the relevant national law enforcement agency via Interpol. If the country where the content is hosted operates a Hotline like the IWF then the IWF will notify them directly. I would suggest that you follow your schools usual child protection mechanisms (I can see you've already spoken to your DCPC/safeguarding lead) and I would suggest that your conversation with them and any action taken is documented and captured in your schools e-Safety incident logs/report tools etc. Also make sure you seek some support for yourself if necessary as exposure to potentially criminal content can be very upsetting and distressing.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) have warned of a concerning rise in the use of webcam by sex offenders to blackmail children and young people online. CEOP have investigated a number of cases in which sex offenders have used blackmail to force young people to perform sexual acts on webcam. In the past two years, the CEOP centre has been involved in 12 operations where blackmailing children into performing sexual acts has been a clear motive of the offender. In that same period it has also discovered - using information from police forces in the UK and abroad - that 424 children have been a victim of online sexual blackmail, with 184 from the UK. Research also shows that of those victims, seven children seriously self-harmed or attempted to take their own life, including six from the UK. Seven children took their own life, including one from the UK. Typically online sexual blackmail happens as follows: An offender makes contact with a young person. This can happen anywhere online, including on a social network, in a chatroom, in a game or even on their mobile. The offender begins a conversation and tricks the young person into sending them an indecent picture, appearing naked or performing sexual acts on webcam. They trick them in a variety of ways including: pretending to be a girl or boy of the same age, pretending to be someone the child knows, flirting with them or sending them sexual pictures or videos. The offender records the webcam footage. They then threaten to share the video with the young person's friends or family if they don't perform more sexual acts. Some young people have been threatened for money or told to hurt themselves. This has happened to hundreds, potentially thousands, of young people in this country and this is sexual abuse. The emotional impact can be devastating. A full press release from CEOP can be found here New materials have been published by the CEOP Education team as part of the Think U Know resources to help schools and organisations to run assemblies and workshops to raise awareness amongst young people of this type of crime. To help run sessions with young people CEOP have launched a suite of resources which includes: A fully scripted PowerPoint for use as an assembly, workshop or lesson A factsheet to handout to young people A letter to send or email to parents encouraging them to talk to their children about this type of crime All of these resources can be downloaded from the Thinkuknow resources area (in the 11-16 section) at: http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/resources Young people might feel like there is no way out but they can always report to CEOP online at Thinkuknow or visiting the CEOP Safety Centre Young people can contact ChildLine on 0800 1111 or report concerns using the ClickCEOP button which is assessed by trained and experienced child protection workers. The NSPCC have also set up a dedicated helpline for young people (and adults who may care or support them) suffering this type of crime - this helpline will be available 24/7 throughout September and October 2013. Please share this number with the children and young people you work with: NSPCC helpline: 0800 328 0904.

Hi everyone, Just thought I'd share some new guidance which was published last week for schools to help them manage "Sexting" incidents. I've posted the below on my blog so apologies if some of you have already seen it! "Sexting", the practice of sending self generated explicit pictures or video footage via mobile phones and the internet is becoming increasingly common among some teenagers. In October 2012, the Internet Watch Foundation found that 88 per cent of self-generated, sexually explicit online content of young people had been taken from its original location and uploaded onto other websites. Statistics from the children's charity Beatbullying suggested 38 per cent of young people have received a sexually explicit text or email, while 25 per cent have received a sexual image they found offensive. Long term consequences of "sexting" by young people can include various emotional effects (e.g. bullying, isolation etc) as well as possible criminal action. "Sexting in schools: advice and support around self-generated images: What to do and how to handle it" aims to helps schools start to address this issue in the right way with children, young people and their families. The guidance has been developed by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation child protection charity, and sponsored by online software company Securus with input from Medway County Council and Kent County Council. The document includes practical support for schools and advice on whether teachers can search phones and computers. The pack also includes advice to teachers about how to respond if a child tells them about 'sexting' they have been involved in, as well as how to handle explicit images, manage student reaction and prevent further incidents. Case studies in the document also highlight the impact that sharing of explicit images can have on children's lives and the challenges faced by schools in dealing with it. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, welcomed the guidance, which has been produced in conjunction with a range of education groups, charities and councils. "The problem of 'sexting' - and the exposure of children to pornographic images through mobile devices - poses real and serious challenges for parents, head teachers and school staff," he said. "It exemplifies the way technology blurs the boundaries between school life and the wider world." Peter Davies, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which helped develop the new document, said: "There are very real risks with this activity by young people, from bullying to the sharing of these images among sex offenders." CEOP had seen an increase in young people sharing sexual images and videos of themselves with their peer group, he said. "Sexting in schools: advice and support around self-generated images: What to do and how to handle it" can be downloaded here www.securus-software.com/sexting

I have knowledge of both so feel free to email/PM and I'll let you know the feedback I've had from schools. Both have advantages and a few drawbacks depending on what you want to use it for. Another site which might be worth looking at is Edmodo as that is a free service and has had great feedback from schools.

I hope this might be useful to some of you and please feel free to share! CEOP have released their latest film, First to a Million (aimed at young people aged 13-18), which is now available to download from the Thinkuknow site. The film is also now live on YouTube. As many schools block access to YouTube CEOP have created a 'First to a Million Software' package which can be downloaded from the Resources area of the Thinkuknow site. This package enables schools to play the film on network as if it were a DVD - but it's still interactive. Registered Thinkuknow users can download the zip file in the resources area (right click 'Extract All', open up the 'First to a Million.exe' file) and it is available in PC or Mac formats. The download also comes with a full set of guidance notes and a supporting activities pack in the Thinkuknow Resources area If you work with young people aged 13 and up then you can also encourage them to watch the film atwww.thinkuknow.co.uk/first2amillion CEOP also have a blog which they are using to share news and information (such as new resources and updates around recent changes in technology or trends) on 'Thinkuknow: News and Views' and staff can share how they have used First to a Million via the blog's comments feature. You can also keep updated with CEOPs activities via the Click CEOP Facebook Fan Page and on Twitter via @CEOPUK or #First2aMillion.

I was sad I couldn't make it - I was delivering a parents talk which had been booked since March but I followed the comments on twitter. I hope no one minds me joining even through I'm an LA and not technical!

Hi Everyone, I hope you don't mind me joining you, I'm the e-Safety Officer from Kent County Council - I've been lurking a while but haven't posted yet. I thought that some of you might find the new Vodafone Digital Parenting Magazine useful. It contains information about the very latest technology and challenges including Expert View articles, ‘How to’ guides and Take Action checklists which will help families of toddlers to teens to stay up-to-date and feel more confident about getting involved in children's online lives. It's available electronically here and you can also order hard copies for free to give out to parents in school here