Safe Internet Use

The internet and related technologies are becoming increasingly important in the daily lives of our children and have many positive benefits.  They can be used both educationally and socially. We all need to make sure our children are able to use the internet safely.
At the ICS, each primary class has two ICT lessons in the primary ICT suite every week.  In these lessons your child may be allowed access to the internet. There is also likely to be daily access to the internet in their classrooms using either the interactive whiteboard or the class PC.  We aim to provide a safe and secure online environment for all of our children.  All your children’s internet access is supervised, we have an extremely high filter and our firewall and virus software are both up to date.  Many parents ask for advice on how they can ensure a safe environment for their children when accessing the internet from home and how to help their children to develop safe habits when learning and playing online.  Some of the following advice about online safety is common sense but it’s also important that as parents you know how to use the technology yourselves and be aware of how and when your children are using the internet.

• Keep virus and firewall software up to-date. 


• Enable your ‘browser safe’ search option and/ or consider using internet filtering software, walled gardens and child-friendly search engines.


• Talk and have fun learning together.


• Discuss regularly online safety and go online with your children.  Communication is the key to eSafety.


• Involve everyone and agree your family guidelines and rules. Remember that sometimes what is acceptable for a Year 10 child is not necessarily acceptable for a Year 4 child.


• Keep the computer in a communal area of the house, where it’s easier to monitor what your children are viewing.  Never let children have webcams, or similar, in their bedroom.


• Talk to your children about why they should not to give out their personal details. If they want to subscribe to any online service then make up a family email address to receive the mail.


• We all love to chat and children are no different.  Encourage your children to use moderated chat rooms and never to meet up with an online ‘friend’ without first talking to you.


• Time children spend offline is equally important and should be encouraged.  The amount of time spent online should be monitored to help prevent obsessive use of the internet.


• Encourage your children to tell you if they feel uncomfortable, upset or threatened by anything they see online.


• Have proportionate responses if the family guidelines are not followed.

For more information about using the internet safely with your child please go to the following websites: