Hopscotch works with children and families as part of its core business activities. Specifically, this relates to the provision of childcare to children aged between 0-5yrs in an Ofsted Registered Early Years Setting. The purpose of this policy statement is to:
- ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is paramount when adults, young people or children are using the internet, social media or mobile devices
- provide staff with the overarching principles that guide our approach to online safety
- ensure that, as an organisation, we operate in line with our values and within the law in terms of how we use online devices.
The policy statement applies to all staff, children and young people and anyone involved in Hopscotch Children’s Nurseries activities.
Hopscotch does not allow the children in our care to use technological devices which are connected to the internet independently and without careful staff supervision. We also ensure all devices used within our settings operate Whitelisting software which allows these devices to access pre-approved websites only.
However, despite this, Hopscotch recognises the need to ensure our staff and children are well safeguarded and protected against any online dangers.
This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England.
Summaries of the key legislation and guidance are available on:
At Hopscotch we believe
- children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
- children should be able to use the internet for education and personal development, but safeguards need to be in place to ensure they are always kept safe.
We recognise:
- the online world provides everyone with many opportunities; however it can also present risks and challenges
- we have a duty to ensure that all children, young people and adults involved in our organisation are protected from potential harm online
- we have a responsibility to help keep children and young people safe online, whether or not they are using Hopscotch’s network and devices
- all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
- working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare and in helping young people to be responsible in their approach to online safety.
We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:
- appointing an online safety coordinator
- providing clear and specific directions to staff on how to behave online
- supporting and encouraging children to use the internet, social media and mobile phones in a way that keeps them safe and shows respect for others
- supporting and encouraging parents and carers to do what they can to keep their children safe online
- developing clear and robust procedures to enable us to respond appropriately to any incidents of inappropriate online behaviour, whether by an adult or a child/young person
- reviewing and updating the security of our information systems regularly
- ensuring that usernames, logins, email accounts and passwords are used effectively
- ensuring personal information about the adults and children who are involved in our organisation is held securely and shared only as appropriate
- ensuring that images of children, young people and families are used only after their written permission has been obtained, and only for the purpose for which consent has been given
- providing supervision, support and training for staff about online safety
- examining and risk assessing any social media platforms and new technologies before they are used within the organisation.
If online abuse occurs, we will respond to it by:
- having clear and robust safeguarding procedures in place for responding to abuse (including online abuse)
- providing support and training for all staff on dealing with all forms of abuse, including bullying/cyberbullying, emotional abuse, sexting, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
- making sure our response takes the needs of the person experiencing abuse, any bystanders and our organisation as a whole into account
- reviewing the plan developed to address online abuse at regular intervals, in order to ensure that any problems have been resolved in the long term.