Why is online safety so important?
The internet is a fantastic tool to help children learn, and feel connected to others. But the online world can also be a dangerous place, with potentially harmful content a click away. The tragic circumstances of Molly Russell and Frankie Thomas, both teenagers who died from suicide following exposure to harmful materials online, show just how real these dangers are. A recent survey revealed that nearly half (45%) of children aged 8 to 17 had seen something online that they felt was inappropriate or made them worried or upset. Parents, teachers and school leaders report feeling ill-equipped to keep children safe online, with the survey linked above finding that 67% of parents are concerned about the nature of content their children are exposed to. We owe it to the children in our care to protect, support and educate them when it comes to navigating the internet safely.
What does The Key offer to help with online safety, and what’s new for 2023?
We understand what a challenge it can be to stay on top of online safety, when it’s such a fast-moving issue and your time is so stretched.
At The Key, we have a number of resources to support you, your staff and your pupils to keep your pupils safe online. Share our new 20-minute eLearning course to help your staff keep up to date with what they need to know (and reassure you that they know it). Download our upcoming assembly PowerPoints and interactive lesson packs with the resources your staff need to teach pupils about keeping safe online. And display our engaging online safety posters, to help you embed these messages and raise the profile of online safety across your school.
You can also adapt our online safety model policy, and take a look at examples of these policies from primary, secondary and special schools. And review our article on online safety requirements, which includes guidance on what you should have in place to keep pupils safe online.
We’ve also got your governors covered. They can access guidance on the governors’ role in keeping pupils safe online and how to review your online safety policy.
What makes The Key’s online safety support different?
At The Key, we’ve listened to what really matters to you and your school community - so we’ve taken a ‘quality over quantity’ approach when it comes to online safety. Rather than an overwhelming library of resources for you to wade through, we’re creating a curated selection of high-quality resources to address your specific needs: staff training, whole-school awareness and classroom learning.
We’ve worked with experts and teachers to make sure these resources embed key learning effectively - for both your staff and pupils - with minimal prep required. All of our lesson packs include real-life scenarios to help pupils put what they’ve learnt into practice, to give you and your staff confidence that pupils know how to keep themselves and others safe online.
How do I get access to The Key’s online safety resources?
If you already have Whole School membership, you don’t need to do anything. We’ll let you know as soon as your resources are ready. If you don’t yet have Whole School membership, explore your membership options.
A blog post by Bethany Eadie
Bethany Eadie is an experienced content producer in The Key’s content team. She’s worked on everything from CPD courses to remote learning guidance, but her passion is safeguarding. As a primary school teacher and middle leader, Bethany taught every year group from nursery to year 6, and she enjoys ‘keeping her hand in’ as a governor at her local primary school.