Online Safety
At Ryelands, we are passionate about equipping our pupils and parents with the support and information that they need to keep safe online.
The internet develops every year. So must we!
For details about how we teach online safety to our pupils, please navigate to the Computing curriculum page on the school website. You can also read our Online Safety Policy in the ‘Non-Curriculum Policies’ page of our ‘Policies’ menu.
On this page, you can find support and information to help Ryelands families stay safe online. Scroll down to read this information.
If you are concerned about your child’s internet usage and would like some support from the school, please do not hesitate to contact the school. Our learning mentor team and online safety team are more than happy to help.
Social Media and Age Ratings
According to official age ratings and guidance, all primary school age children are too young to use social media sites such as TikTok (the app guidelines stipulate children over age 12 only).
Our policy and advice is to follow the games age rating and not allow your child to access any social media platforms.
Despite the age guidelines, we are aware that many of our pupils do access these platforms online. This has caused numerous conflicts between friends and have caused unhappiness amongst our pupils. Sadly pupils are witnessing content which is unsuitable and unsafe for them to view.
However, if your child does access these platforms, please follow the advice below:
- Ensure that your child only goes online when a responsible adult is in the same room supervising.
- Ensure that your child only plays and interacts with friends which they already know in real life.
- Ensure that your child balances the time they spend on these platforms with exercise, fresh air, reading and face-to-face communication with family (no more than 1-2 hours a day- please see our screen time advice on this page).
- Explain to your child that all of their online communications cannot be truly deleted and make up part of their digital footprint– so being respectful and appropriate is vitally important.
- Ensure that your child cannot make in-game purchases without your supervision.
- Explain to your child that if they read, or hear, something upsetting, they are to immediately log off and tell a trusted adult.
Enjoy watching Ryelands’ Online Safety Movie! Made by the children of Ryelands to help us all to stay safe when we use the internet. It’s well worth a watch as a child or a parent!