At Aspire Academy, we teach our students about online safety in a variety of ways.
Online Safety
As a parent / carer, the world of online safety can be confusing and overwhelming. There is so much information out there and often children are often so much further ahead in their understanding of the online world than the adults around them.
Preparation for Adulthood lessons in KS3 teach students about digital literacy - knowing how to use ICT positively, how to evaluate online information and how to create a positive digital footprint. In PSHE, students will focus around some of the dangers of the online world - bullying, scams, gaming and addiction, online grooming and the dark web. We also teach our students about Artificial Intelligence, the benefits this can provide them, but also the additional risks this brings. Students will learn about sources of support and advice when things go wrong online. ICT will also be part of their curriculum offer in other subjects.
We want our students to be empowered as responsible citizens in a digital world.
Some of our young people access material outside of school that might be inappropriate - or they might use Social Media in a negative way to communicate with others. We will always support parents and carers in educating our young people around these issues, and help signpost external services and interventions where things escalate.
Below are some useful links for national organisations that offer practical advice and guidance on how to keep your child safe online.
Online Gaming
Many young people are spending an increasing amount of time online gaming with friends, or with online communities. Whilst we recognise the benefits this can provide for some students, there are also dangers for young people who spend too much time online.
Childnet International is an organisation who works with others to help make the internet a safe place and offer the latest advice.
Childnet have updated their guide to help parents and carers get to grips with their children’s online gaming.
The guide offers basic, but extremely useful hints and tips on how they can keep their children safe online.
Radicalisation & Extremism
There have been many reports in the media recently of young people being targeted by adults and peers who hold extreme views that advocate violence. This has amplified in the last year due to lots of high profile events and contentious views online that have been shared widely on social media
‘Extremism’ is where someone holds views that are intolerant of people who are of a different belief, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender or sexual identity. For young people, a key part of growing up is exploring new ideas and critically questioning the world around them, and this should be encouraged in order to help them develop their understanding of the world and learn the values of tolerance and acceptance. However, this needs to be balanced against the need to protect young people from radicalisation and extremism. ‘Radicalisation’ is the process where an individual or group comes to support extreme political, social, or religious ideologies, which can lead to violence.
The more time a young person spends online, the more likely they are to come across extreme views around misogyny, race and sexuality. Social media sites tend to provide ‘echo chambers’ - information that reinforces a narrow range of views because computer algorithms are designed to direct our attention to more of what we have been looking at. At our Academy, we remain vigilant to any signs that our young people might be expressing or promoting extreme views. In many cases, this is an opportunity for us to work with the young person to examine their views and provide alternative ones. We firmly believe that good, balanced education is key to tackling extreme views. In a small number of cases, we will refer to external services to work with a young person.
As a parent / carer, it is vital to keep an eye on your children and any changes in their behaviour:
What to look out for:
- Out of character changes in dress, behaviour and beliefs.
- Changes in their friendship group or associating with people who hold extremist beliefs.
- Losing interest in previous activities.
- Changes in use of social media with increased secrecy.
- Showing sympathy for extremist causes.
- Advocating extremist messages.
- Glorifying violence.
How to help keep them safe:
- Make sure you know where your child is and who they are with; find out about your child’s friends and their families.
- Be aware of your child’s online activity and check which social media sites they are visiting; report any sites that you have concerns about.
- Talk to your child about their lives and their interests; encourage them to take up positive activities with local groups that you trust.
- Help your child to be critically aware of what they see on the TV or the internet; encourage them to see different points of view and help them to develop tolerance for others.
Useful websites:
Sexual Harassment and Violence
Ofsted published a review of sexual abuse in UK schools in June 2021. The report highlighted that young people feel that sexual harassment, unwanted sexual behaviours and online sexual abuse, is so commonplace that they no longer think about reporting it. The problem extended beyond schools with most abuse occurring online or in social situations away from education settings.
The link below will allow to read Ofsted’s report:
What is sexual harassment?
Sexual harassment is unwanted and unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature which can occur online and offline. The definitions used by the Department for Education (DfE) are as follows:
• Sexual harassment: this includes sexual comments, sexual jokes or taunting, physical behaviours such as deliberately brushing against someone, displaying pictures, photos or drawings of a sexual nature.
• Upskirting
• Online sexual harassment: this includes sharing of sexual images, sexual comments and messages, sexual exploitation, coercion and threats.
Sexual violence: this includes:
• Rape
• Assault by penetration
• Sexual assault
• Causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent
We want to assure you that we take all concerns which may be raised involving sexual harassment and sexual violence, seriously. Any allegation of child-on-child abuse, sexual harassment and sexual violence will be dealt with in line with DfE guidance and Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2025.
Staff at Aspire Academy are expected to challenge any form of derogatory or sexualised language or behaviour and have been trained to share any safeguarding concerns raised about a child by reporting this to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy. This is to ensure the child receives appropriate support. We are also continuing to actively encourage all pupils to ‘‘call-out’’ and report any incidents of sexual harassment they may see or experience.
Children who are victims of sexual violence and sexual harassment (online or offline) will likely find the experience stressful and distressing. This kind of behaviour is never acceptable and it is important that all victims are taken seriously and offered appropriate support.
We will discuss any concerns about a child with the child’s parents/carers and will normally notify the parents of all the children involved, unless we believe that notifying the parents would increase the risk to the child.
We are aware that we also have a crucial role to play in teaching young people about sexual consent, sexual bullying, healthy relationships and respect for others and we will continue to do this through our PSHE programme and our wider forms of pastoral care and support.