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Bank Holiday 5th May 2025
Y5 Hautbois Residential 6th May 2025
Y5 Hautbois Residential 7th May 2025

e-Safety

Online Safety

At Millfield, it is important to us that our pupils and parents/carers know where to find information and support for using devices and the internet safely.

Below is some general guidance and signposting to helpful tools for parents and carers to use in regard to online safety.

We have also created dedicated pages to specifically support with:

Social Media
Gaming
Healthy technology habits

Where to find information, guidance and further support

UK Safer Internet - https://saferinternet.org.uk/

UK Safer Internet is a leading global partnership helping to make the internet a great and safe place for everyone. They provide support and services to children and young people, adults facing online harms, and professionals working with children. A bridge between Government, industry, law enforcement and society, they are the engine of the online protection landscape in the UK, dealing with both prevention and response.

Key Links

Guidance - https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers
Reporting harmful content - https://reportharmfulcontent.com/?lang=en
Reporting sharing of non-consensual images - https://stopncii.org/
Reporting online child sexual abuse videos & images anonymously - https://www.iwf.org.uk/
Parental Controls guides - https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/

CEOP - https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents/

CEOP is a law enforcement agency and is there to help keep children and young people safe from sexual abuse and grooming online. They help thousands of children and young people every year who have been in a similar situation. CEOP are unable to respond to reports about bullying, fake accounts or account hacking.

REMINDER: With any gaming or social media account, if a child at the age of 9 signs up and says they are 13, they will be shown 18+ content at the age of 14 as the app will think they are 18.

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Social Media

It is the view of Millfield Primary School that children of primary school age should not be engaging with social media platforms as they all have restrictions 13+. If as a parent/carer, you choose to allow them to access these sites, then we would encourage you to familiarise yourself with the content on this page. (link - What is social media? | NSPCC) It will help to keep you informed and help to keep your child safer.

To find out what the age restrictions are for the various social media platforms, please click here and see below. (link - https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/what-age-can-my-child-start-social-networking/ )

For better understanding of parental controls for the different social media platforms out there, go to Social media - Internet Matters

Guidance for parents about social media - What is social media? | NSPCC

What are the risks of social media for children?

Oversharing
Sharing their location
Talking to people they don’t know
Sending or receiving inappropriate content
Unrealistic sense of body image or reality
Obsessive focus on likes and comments

REMINDER: With any gaming or social media account, if a child at the age of 9 signs up and says they are 13, they will be shown 18+ content at the age of 14 as the app will think they are 18.

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Video games, consoles & platforms

If your child is a keen gamer and uses a range of consoles or devices to play the latest games, make sure to set them up safe.

How to Ensure Your Children Stay Safe While Playing Online Games | NSPCC

Use https://www.taminggaming.com/ to find out about the games your children are playing online. It has search features which allow you to quickly find the content which is relevant to you and your child. Click on the link above to access the site.

Specific guides for how to ensure safe set up of the games your child might be playing are below.

Roblox (PG)

Information: Is Roblox safe for my child? | NSPCC

Parental controls guide: Roblox parental controls guide | Internet Matters

Fortnite (Age 12+)

Information: What is Fortnite? Safety guide for parents | Internet Matters

Parental controls guide: Fortnite parental controls guide | Internet Matters

Minecraft (Age 7+)

Information: What is Minecraft? Parent guide | Internet Matters

Parental controls guide: Minecraft parental controls guide | Internet Matters

Call of Duty (Age 18+)

Information: Is Call of Duty safe for kids? Guide for parents | Internet Matters

Parental controls guide: You can set up Parental Controls on your gaming system to limit access to Call of Duty Black Ops 4 based on its PEGI rating so that playing the game requires a password.

When should I be worried about my child’s gaming?

These are some signs that a young person is finding it hard to control the way they’re gaming:

they feel regularly exhausted and disengaged
they’re struggling to concentrate at school
they prioritise gaming over important daily activities like sleeping, eating and washing
they’re only socialising online and finding in-person interactions difficult to manage or enjoy
they no longer keep up with other interests they used to enjoy
they’re finding it difficult to think or talk about much else

These feelings and behaviours can leave a young person feeling low or depressed, anxious, angry or isolated.

To find out more about gaming and your child’s mental health, go to Gaming and Mental Health | Parent Guide To Support | YoungMinds

REMINDER: With any gaming or social media account, if a child at the age of 9 signs up and says they are 13, they will be shown 18+ content at the age of 14 as the app will think they are 18.

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Healthy technology habits

Benefits of screen time

Online games and activities can enhance teamwork and creativity.
The internet gives children access to a wealth of information to help build their knowledge.
Interacting with computers can improve visual intelligence and hand-eye coordination.
Technology takes away physical barriers to social connections, which can support children who struggle to make friends or communicate offline.
Children in households with computers perform better academically than peers who do not have ready access to computers.

Potential risks of overexposure to screens

Using devices while sitting in one place reduces physical activity needed for a healthy lifestyle.
Sleep cycles are affected by blue light from screens, tricking our brain into thinking it is still daylight, making it difficult to sleep.
Too much passive screen time could weaken communication and social skills.
Some research found that children who spent more than two hours a day on screen-time activities scored lower on language and thinking tests.
Screen-based entertainment increases central nervous system arousal, which can amplify anxiety.

Creating a balanced digital diet with screen time tips | Internet Matters

Advice for parents of under 5s

Supervise use - We recommend this age group only have supervised access to technology. This means that they should only be using technology when fully supported by a parent or carer.
Use family devices, accounts and services – Use child friendly devices and services like children’s tablets and child versions of popular video sites.
Check content first – Check the content on apps and games each time before use and turn off features like ‘autoplay’ so you can be in control of what is shown next.
Set up your parental controls – make use of safety settings across your home Wi-Fi, devices and accounts. You can find out more by visiting our parental controls page.
Start safety conversations - it’s important to start talking about safety online as soon as your child is using technology. Visit our Techosaurus page for age-appropriate resources.
Establish healthy habits - Make technology use purposeful from a young age by making sure it’s playing a positive role in your family. You can do this by watching and enjoying age-appropriate online videos together.

0-5 years downloadable guide

Advice for parents of children under 10 years old

Enable access to devices with limited features - Device usage at this age is best kept to devices with limited capability. This could include tablets without data and non-smart phones that only allow calls and texts.
Keep tech use visible in the home - Try to keep tech use in shared family spaces or used with bedroom doors open. This will allow you to support your child and be more aware of what they are doing online.
Follow age ratings – Apps, sites and games come with age ratings which are important to follow. You can find out the age rating on the website for the platform or by visiting Common Sense Media’s reviews.
Use safety settings – Explore the in-app and device safety settings with your child and check them regularly to make sure they are still in place.
Revisit parental controls – as children grow up and need the internet more for schoolwork you may want to adjust your parental controls. Keep checking these regularly to make sure they are in place.
Have regular safety conversations – at this age online safety conversations should be happening regularly. Visit our advice on talking to your child about online safety.
Build healthy habits - acknowledge the positives it brings as part of your safety conversations and agree rules and boundaries together as a family.

6-10 years downloadable guide

Advice for parents of pre-teens and teens

Follow age requirements - Many popular Apps, sites and games are 13+, it’s important to check and follow these with pre-teens.
Speak to phone providers - If your child owns their own smartphone then contact the service provider to make sure it is registered as a child's device. This means additional safety restrictions can be put in place.
Support your child with their settings - Support your child to manage their safety and wellbeing settings across devices and accounts.
Focus on regular safety conversations – It’s important to keep conversations regular at this age. Check our advice on tackling challenging conversations including tips for how to use technology to support you with this.
Share youth facing help and support - Make sure your child knows about services that can help like Childline. You could start by sharing the online safety advice content and the Report Remove tool created by the IWF and Childline.
Revisit parental controls – you will likely need to revisit your parental controls again at this age and adjust them. Keep checking these regularly to make sure they are in place.
Explore healthy habits together – Healthy habits work best when all the family agrees to following them. This could be agreeing to charge devices away from beds to support sleep and not using devices during mealtimes to help take breaks.

11-13 years downloadable guide

Advice for parents of children with SEND

Parents are best placed to know their child – This is particularly true for children with SEND. We recommend parents consider the right age and stage for their child based off the level of support they need.
Make use of tech to support – We know tech can be vital for communication, learning and sensory or emotional regulation for children with special educational needs. It’s important that children continue to receive access that is right for them.
Explore all relevant strategies – While age-based recommendations may not be appropriate they can instead be approached as a list of practical strategies for parents to explore.
Use resources tailored to children with SEND – We worked with Ambitious about Autism to create tailored advice and resources for parents to use with their children.