27 April 2022 @ 13:00
School-led Parental Awareness Presentation
Research informs us that where children and young people encounter online issues, they are most likely to turn to Parents and Carers** for advice.
In education terms, Online Safety for Children and Young People requires a ‘whole-school’ approach with a broad network of support (including parents and carers) if it is to be effective. In line with this, school colleagues typically provide regular parental awareness sessions for parents, carers and the wider school community to provide updates about online-related issues and how the school addresses staying safe online as a key aspect of safeguarding provision. Relatedly, an associated benefit of these sessions is to provide an opportunity to encourage parents and carers to support the school’s approach on topics such as social media use or age-appropriate gaming which often present issues for children and young people both within, and outside of, the school environment.
The Online Safety agenda can be broad and complex and whilst there is therefore undoubtedly benefit in engaging external expertise to provide good quality advice and guidance (particularly around developing curriculum progression), many of the core messages for parents and carers do not necessarily require commissioning external subject-specialists and can be more effectively delivered internally. However, a barrier to this approach is colleagues citing a lack of confidence in the subject matter, knowledge about how to approach or which resources from the vast array available are recommended to be good quality and effective.
To support education partners with a school-led approach, colleagues at Childnet have developed a (freely-available) staff-led Parental Online Safety Presentation, complete with associated guidance and delivery instructions. The presentation considers six main areas and includes the widely recognised ‘3C’s Online Risk Matrix‘ of Content, Contact and Conduct. The presentation also covers topics including Online Grooming, Bullying and Nudes/Sexting as well as strategies, signposts and tips, along with recommendations for reporting concerns.
You can access the Childnet Staff-Led Parent Information Presentation via the Supporting Resources page in our dedicated Online Safeguarding section of the site.
**LSCB MyAdvice: Online Safety – Voice of the Child (animated summary)