We want all the pupils of Laurelhill to be safe when using computers.  The computers at school are filtered, and continuously monitored by staff, however most home computers are not filtered. 

Please take a moment to read the advice below to ensure the safety of your children.

Where is your home computer? 

If it is in a child’s bedroom then you cannot easily monitor it.  All child safety experts agree that any computer that has access to the internet should be moved into a family room where everyone has access and where you can monitor how your children use it. (From research conducted at Laurelhill in January 2008 we believe that the majority of those Laurelhill pupils with Internet access at home have the Internet PC located in a family room where it can be supervised – well done for putting safety first.)

Talk to your children about how they protect their safety while online.

Encourage children to show you anything that makes them uncomfortable. Use their expertise and learn from them. But check if they are following the Rules for On-line safety below

For more information check out these sites:

• http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents
• http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/

Rules for Online Safety

1. Never tell anyone you meet on the Internet your home address, your telephone number or your school’s name
2. Never send anyone your picture to anyone online.  Once you put your picture online you have no control over how it is used or who it is shared with.
3. Never arrange to meet anyone unless your parent/guardian goes with you and you meet in a public place.  People you contact on-line are not always who they seem.  People don’t always tell the truth on-line – no one can see them.
4. Never open attachments to e-mails unless they come from someone you already know and trust.  They could contain viruses or other programmes that would destroy all the information and software on your computer.
5. Never respond to nasty or suggestive messages.  Always tell your parent/guardian if you get such messages while on-line and report them to CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre - see red button below.)
6. Be very careful in chat rooms.  Even if a chat room says it is only for children, there’s no way at the moment to tell if everyone there really is a child.  It might be an adult or an older child trying to trick you.
7. If someone adds you to their contact list and you don’t know them, make sure you block them. This will stop them from seeing when you are logged on, and they won’t be able to contact you. If you add someone and decide afterwards you don’t want them on your list you can delete them too.
8. If someone says or writes something that makes you feel uncomfortable or worried make sure you tell your parent/guardian.
9. Be yourself and do not pretend to be anyone or anything you are not.