At Archbishop Temple Church of England High School we recognise that the appropriate use of new technologies, both in the classroom and at home, provides our pupils with richer learning experiences. However, whilst we recognise the advantages of new technologies, as a school we are also acutely aware of its possible dangers.
New technologies are central to modern life and they enable us to have instant communication with one another. They allow for the rapid retrieval and collation of information from a wide range of sources, and provide a powerful stimulus for creativity. However, these technologies are also potentially damaging. They offer access to harmful and inappropriate materials and, because of the anonymity offered, they make young people vulnerable for harm and exploitation.
At Archbishop Temple Church of England High School we have a managed system of filtering. We recognise both the benefits and potential dangers of new technologies, and we provide an age related e-safety curriculum which encourages our pupils to become polite online citizens. This is delivered both directly in creative media lessons and discretely in all subjects and it aims to equip our pupils with the skills needed to assess the risk of accessing sites, recognise the potential dangers of the information they are viewing, and adopt safe practices both in school and during unsupervised contact at home.
Archbishop Temple Church of England High School asks families to read the ‘acceptable use’ policy, which details what our pupils are allowed and not allowed to do when using new technologies and which makes explicit the consequences of breaching this agreement.
CEOP is the division of the police service that deals with Child Exploitation and Online Protection. All children are taught about how to register their concerns, and this is one way that they can report online abuse. The link on our webpages goes to a page where they can make a report, they click some boxes about themselves and then write a description of their experience. All reports made are then given a priority traffic light colour, and red priorities are usually contacted within the first 24 hours by a dedicated team member who calls the person who has made the report to assist them. This topic is covered by our online safety officer in assemblies along with a video to support reporting and what happens after a report is made.
We take e-safety very seriously, and would recommend the websites located on the drop down menus above to provide parents with resources and advice about e-safety at home.
The school's online safety policy is available to view here.
