Online Safety
Sussex Road Primary School ensures the curriculum equips all children, at an age-appropriate level, with the knowledge and skills to keep them as safe as possible online. We work with respected organisations to provide children and families with the best advice and resources.
"Online Safety is being aware of the nature of the possible threats that you could encounter whilst engaging in activity through the Internet. These could be security threats, protecting and managing your personal data, online reputation management, and avoiding harmful or illegal content.
It isn’t about scaremongering, it isn’t about criticism and chaos, it’s about focusing on the positive and enriching side of digital life whilst recognising its challenges and how to best approach them."
SWGfL 2025
RESOURCES TO USE AT HOME
Childnet has created six videos designed for families to use to support conversations about online safety at home.
Online Child Sexual Abuse
26% of surveyed girls have had some kind of experience of receiving a request for nude or semi-nude photos or videos.
"Children can be groomed, coerced or encouraged into sexual activities online. This is known as self-generated child sexual abuse content, or first person produced images and videos. It’s where sexual images or videos of children are captured via a webcam or camera-enabled device. There is no physical presence of the abuser and the child is often in their own bedroom or bathroom. Whilst these images can be the product of grooming, blackmail and coercion, they could have also been originally voluntarily produced by the child, but then shared with others without the child’s full knowledge or consent. Any child with unsupervised access to the internet is potentially at risk."
UK Safer Internet Centre
For further support, use the following link: UK Safer Internet Centre - Coerced Online Child Sexual Abuse
Gaming
74%of young people say online gaming can teach important skills like concentration and teamwork.
"Online gaming is hugely popular with children and young people. Annual research conducted by OFCOM shows that gaming is still one of the top activities enjoyed online by 5–16 year olds, with many of them gaming on mobile phones, games consoles, tablets or computers."
UK Safer Internet Centre
For further support, use the following links:
UK Safer Internet Centre - Gaming
Childnet: What do I need to know about online gaming?
Screen Time
"Screen time is the amount of time we spend on devices with screens, like phones, tablets or laptops. Sometimes, there can be concerns that young people are spending too long on their devices, and about the effect that screen time can have on health and wellbeing."
UK Safer Internet Centre
For further support, use the following links:
UK Safer Internet Centre - Screen Time
Childnet: Screen Time Guidance for Parents and Carers
Parental Controls
"Parental controls are designed to help protect children from inappropriate content online, such as pornography, age restricted apps, or other adult content. These controls can be used in various ways, for example to help ensure that children access only age-appropriate content, to set usage times, to monitor activity, or to help prevent in-app purchases."
UK Safer Internet Centre
Internet Matters has written parental control guides for most of the apps and platforms popular with children. They can be accessed here: Internet Matters - Parental Controls
Pornography
10% of 9 year olds have viewed pornography online; 27% of 11 year olds have seen pornography online.
"Online pornography can be images or videos online of naked adults, adults having sexual intercourse, or showing sexual behaviour. Some people may enjoy looking at or watching these for pleasure. Pornography, both online and offline, can influence how they think about sex, relationships and their own body image.
It’s important that we talk to children about the sexualised content they see, including online pornography, to help them interpret and critique this information and to help them develop healthy and positive attitudes towards sex, relationships and their own body."
UK Safer Internet Centre
Childnet has produced a series of videos to support parents in talking to their children about pornography. They can be accessed here: Childnet: Online Pornography
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