Whitegate CE Primary School
Online Safety
Keeping Children Safe Online
Although the internet can enrich children’s lives, keeping the whole family safe and happy online is important. At Whitegate we are committed to making sure we teach our children how to stay safe online.
"If a child ... is spending 3 hours or more a day on a screen they will develop mental health issues, anxiety or depression. " - Professor Barry Carpenter OBE
"How are children kept safe when using technology at Whitegate school?" Each class has read through the Whitegate E-Safety Path with their class teacher and signed an agreement. This path is displayed in every classroom. We understand that this pathway is to keep us safe while learning and having fun with technology.
"Am I allowed to play this game?" When deciding what is or isn’t appropriate for our young people, I use the website ‘Net Aware’, created by the NSPCC. This website allows you to see how safe your child really is when using certain apps and websites.
You can explore the website yourself here using this link: https://www.net-aware.org.uk
It is extremely concerning how poorly rated many apps are for their safety and content features despite being so popular with children. It comes down to the parents and carers to safeguard children and ensure the age limits are being followed.
In July 2021, I delivered E-Safety assemblies to Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 separately. The children had lots of questions about if their favourite games are age appropriate. A lot of the children were shocked to see the content of their favourite games was not age appropriate. As requested by the children, I have added the game list as a PDF attachement on this web page.
"Who are our E-Safety Officers?" At Whitegate we have a brilliant team of 6 children from Oak and Willow class who help raise awareness of staying safe online and when using technology. You will recognise them from their informative information assemblies and from their blue E-Safety badges and keyrings.
Below are some links and PDF documents which can provide you with more E-Safety information.
If you have any questions about E-Safety, please contact Miss Monks on 
E-Safety Officer Updates:
Tuesday 14th December 2021: As we look forward to the arrival of Christmas Day, some children are excited to recieve new digital divices which can connnect to the internet. Miss Monks shares a story, #Goldilocks A Hashtag Cautionary Tale. #Goldilocks is a modern twist on the classic fairy tale that offers a fun and accessible way for you to discuss all things social media related. Co-branded by Vodafone UK and Andersen Press, award-winning author Jeanne Willis created the light-hearted story. The book is designed to help educate children about the potential consequences of being unkind, getting carried away with selfies, or oversharing images, as we see Goldilocks getting into trouble with the three bears over her pursuit of likes on social media….
If you want to know more about #Goldilocks, you can download the story and matching activity sheet from down below.
Wednesday 13th October 2021: Our wonderful E-Safety Officers have delivered a quiz to the whole school on age ratings for the most popular games and apps. The children in KS2 were happy to see some of their favourites such as Minecraft and Roboblox were suitable for their age. Some children were dissapointed but understood that some games and apps such as Fortnite and TikTok are not appropriate for primary school aged children. Why don't you have a look at the games and apps you use at home, are they age appropriate?
Our Wonderful E-Safety Officers delivering a quiz assembly. 13.11.21
Files to Download
