Everyone at Aspire has a responsibility to safeguard children in our care.  We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We strive to ensure that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.

We take this responsibility extremely seriously, and it is woven into the fabric of all aspects of our daily and strategic practice. We understand that child protection is an element of safeguarding where we must observe, speak out and act when we are concerned or have any evidence that a child may be being harmed or be at risk of harm either physically or emotionally.

If you have any concerns about a child, please contact a member of our safeguarding team (as below) by contacting the school office.

Online Safety

One of the ways we want our children to be safe is when online and using the internet.  There are so many ways to get online now that sometimes it is hard to keep up with what children are doing and who they are talking to.  This is especially the case when children receive new technology for Christmas or birthdays.

What can parents and carers do?

Set up some ground rules

• Discuss as a family how the internet will be used in your house.  Consider what should be kept private online (personal information, photos etc) and decide rules for making and meeting online friends.  Make sure you know what your child is doing online much like you would offline.

Online Safety

• Install antivirus software, secure your internet connection and use parental control functions for computers, mobile phones and games consoles to block unsuitable content or contact.
• Remember that parental control tools are not always 100% effective and sometimes, unsuitable content can get past them, so don't rely on them alone to protect your child.

Location

• Think about locating any computers in a supervised family area.  Always supervise the use of webcams which allow voice or video chat.  Consider your child's use of other devices which allow internet access such as mobile phones and games consoles.

If you'd like to know more, there are some fantastic websites you can look at:

• www.thinkuknow.co.uk  – Visit the “Parent/Carer” Section and use the “Click CEOP” button to seek advice

• www.childnet.com – Visit the ‘Know It All’ Section for an interactive guide about online safety

• www.getsafeonline.org – Free up-to-date Security advice, age specific advice

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/0/ - This is an archived site from the BBC

• www.commonsensemedia.org/ - Excellent advice about Internet Safety

If you have any further questions about your child's online habits, please do not hesitate to get into contact with one of our safeguarding team.