Akiva School

Akiva School

Safeguarding and ONLINE SAFETY

Click on the headings below to read more about safeguarding, online safety and the CEOP Safety Centre for advice and reporting.

Safeguarding at Akiva

The welfare of our children and their safety is the overriding consideration of the school at all times. As with all schools, we have a legal duty to look out for signs of abuse in children and to report any concerns to the MASH Team (Multi Agency Support Team) at the local authority, who will carry out the necessary investigations. Further information about safeguarding children in Barnet can be found on the Barnet Safeguarding Children Board website at: http://www.barnet.gov.uk/bscp/

The Safeguarding Team at Akiva Primary School are:

  • Mrs Claire Silver - Headteacher
  • Mr Rohan Plunket - Deputy Headteacher
  • Michaela Bishop - SENCO

Gail Roston is the Safeguarding Governor.

All staff receive appropriate initial child protection training and regular updating, as well as being supervised and supported in the work they do. Akiva Primary School follows Safer Recruitment of Staff procedures. Interview panels always include members who have completed Safer Recruitment training. All staff are required to complete an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check before they can work in the school.

The school maintains a single central record that contains all the data required by Ofsted.

Akiva Primary School has a range of policies and procedures to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people.

View Akiva's Child Protection Safeguarding policy

While at school, it is extremely important that we keep children safe and secure at all times. In order to do this we have a variety of systems in place.

Advice on Online Safety 

Online Safeguarding and Digital Literacy

The Internet is expanding and developing at an unprecedented rate and it is a difficult job to keep on top of developments in order to ensure the safety of our children whilst they are online. We can control the access our children have in their ‘offline’ lives by limiting their access to the television, choosing suitable books for them to read and teaching them ‘stranger danger’. In their ‘online’ lives however things that we wouldn’t dream of allowing them to view can be a click away. That is unless we are aware of social media, chat rooms, explicit websites etc…

There are many ways that we can educate ourselves as parents, teachers and the wider educational community. The following is a check list from ‘Thinkuknow’ the online resource for parents and teachers. (https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk )

Talk to your child about what they’re up to online. Be a part of their online life; involve the whole family and show an interest. Find out what sites they visit and what they love about them. If they know you understand they are more likely to come to you if they have any problems.

Watch Thinkuknow films and cartoons with your child. The Thinkuknow site has films, games and advice for children from five all the way to 16.

Encourage your child to go online and explore! There is a wealth of age-appropriate sites online for your children. Encourage them to use sites which are fun, educational and that will help them to develop online skills.

Keep up-to-date with your child’s development online. Children grow up fast and they will be growing in confidence and learning new skills daily. It’s important that as your child learns more, so do you.

Set boundaries in the online world just as you would in the real world. Think about what they might see, what they share, who they talk to and how long they spend online. It is important to discuss boundaries at a young age to develop the tools and skills children need to enjoy their time online.

Keep all equipment that connects to the internet in a family space. For children of this age, it is important to keep Internet use in family areas so you can see the sites your child is using and be there for them if they stumble across something they don’t want to see.

Know what connects to the internet and how. Nowadays, even the TV connects to the Internet. Make sure you’re aware of which devices that your child uses connect to the Internet, such as their phone or games console. Also, find out how they are accessing the Internet – is it your connection or a neighbour’s Wi-Fi? This will affect whether the safety settings you set are being applied.

Use parental controls on devices that link to the Internet, such as the TV, laptops, computers, games consoles and mobile phones.Parental controls are not just about locking and blocking, they are a tool to help you set appropriate boundaries as your child grows and develops. They are not the answer to your child’s online safety, but they are a good start and they are not as difficult to install as you might think. Service providers are working hard to make them simple, effective and user friendly. Find your service provider and learn how to set your controls.

The online magazine Digital Parenting is an excellent resource that offers advice on how to manage your children’s devices including smartphones, tablets and games consoles.

We would recommend that you talk to your child about CEOP.  Use the  CEOP website to report anything that makes them feel scared or unsure. Sometimes they may have stumbled onto a site that they shouldn’t see or may be wary about questions they are being asked in a chat room. The  CEOP website links them directly to a CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) team member who can help them. 

At Akiva Primary School we take E-Safeguarding seriously. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s online activity or want to report anything, please contact any member of the safeguarding team (see above). They will be happy to offer advice and support and can advise you on the best steps to take.

What is Safe Search?

SafeSearch Kids is a custom search engine using Google’s SafeSearch features with additional filtering added to block potentially harmful material. Search filtering tools provide a way for children at home and in school to research the Internet more safely thanks to strict filtered results using any browser. In our school children search using SafeSearch and you can use this as your default search engine at home by adjusting your settings. This will help to ensure Internet safety.

A safe visual search engine for children is ‘Kiddle’: http://www.kiddle.co/

Social Networking

Remote Learning

Game consoles and video games 

Find out how to use and apply parental controls to popular games consoles. Get information on age ratings and the different games available.

Helpful online safety links providing guidance for parents and carers

See our live feed from Parent Info

O2 NSPCC Online Safety Helpline

Need to talk to someone?
Sometimes it's easier to talk about a problem. O2 and NSPCC have set up a helpline, to answer any questions you or your child might have about staying safe online.

Whether you're after techy advice on things like:

  • information about an app or service in general
  • privacy setting on apps
  • parental controls on your wifi

Or want help with more personal matters such as:

  • how to stop online bullying
  • what to do about who your child's messaging
  • how to talk about sexting.

Whatever you're worried about, big or small, give O2 / NSPCC a call on 0808 800 5002 for free, Mon – Fri 9am – 7pm . If your child is worried about you talking to them alone, you can them together, and they reassure you both.

Read more here

CEOP Safety Centre for advice and reporting

Are you worried about online sexual abuse or the way someone has been communicating with you online?

The NCA (National Crime Agency), CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection command) is here to help children and young people.

The Click CEOP button provides a gateway to the CEOP Safety Centre, an area of the CEOP website offering:

  • advice on a range of online safety issues, such as hacking and cyberbullying;
  • signposting to NCA-CEOP partners offering help and support on issues outside of CEOP’s remit, such as ChildLine and BeatBullying;
  • reporting of suspected or known child sex offender activity directly to CEOP for investigation.

Visit the CEOP Safety Centre ceop.police.uk/safety-centre  

You can report directly to CEOP, by clicking on the Click CEOP button below.

CEOP takes all reports seriously and children of all ages can report through the Click CEOP button. 

 

 

 

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