Online Safety 
Last updated January 2026 

As one of the only remaining teachers at Westfield that can remember originally teaching from a blackboard in my classroom, overseeing the enormous change technology has had in the primary classroom over the past few decades has been both an enormous privilege and an enormous challenge.   

With constantly evolving technology that never stands still, being a digital parent to our digitally native children can seem extremely challenging, but you are not alone.  

The more we talk about our technology use together with our children, the better informed we can all be. It’s OK not to know all the answers.  

A great place to start with digital safety for children is to explore the Children Commissioner’s Guide to Managing Children’s Digital Lives. (published December 2025). This is a superb overview of things you need to consider as a parent with plenty of links to additional resources and places of support. 

As a school, we are here to support you in your digital choices for your family and I am always happy to meet with any parents for support or advice with digital issues as they arise, helping to make informed choices (or perhaps just knowing what button to press!) 

Many parents feel pressured to let their children use games or apps that they don’t feet they are really ready for. We want our children to thrive, be happy and enjoy their childhood, and it can be hard to know exactly how (or even if) technology can be a part of that safely. 

Trying to understand a myriad of parental settings, or keep up with whatever game or app seems to be the latest thing can seem like an impossible task. It’s also important to realise which other important aspects of our children’s free time may be being missed out on if it’s always being replaced with a screen. 

More and more parents are becoming aware of how collectively as a society we seem to be pushing children down a digital road earlier and earlier, into a world that is often not designed with children, particularly young children, in mind. Even basic tasks like going shopping or saving in a bank account can often require technology that in the past they didn’t, and children are losing key milestones of independence if they don’t have access to a screen. This leaves parents with a no-win choice of giving them a screen when you might not want them to have one, or seeing them miss out. This isn’t particularly fair. 

In a survey of our Year 6 pupils in October 2024, almost two thirds (65%) said that they think they spend too much time on a screen sometimes – showing an awareness that they are unable to self-regulate their usage.   

In school we have monitoring and tracking in place, a robust e-safety curriculum, and we are able to discuss appropriateness online where issues arise, involving parents where necessary. We also have our learning platform where pupils can begin to learn safe sharing with peers, through sharing content and creations with their class, where no one is using algorithms to constantly push content at them, track their usage, scan their photos and read their messages to target adverts and track their behaviour and movements to sell valuable data to the highest bidder. Digital skills can be acquired without the need to sell our children’s data to commercial operators.  

Unlike many primary schools that provide Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive to their pupils as part of Google Classroom or Microsoft 365 accounts (these would often allow pupils to create and share files with each other from home that it isn’t easy for the school to access, leaving all monitoring down to parents) our pupil-friendly system is fully traceable in school so we know what children are creating and sharing. This way we can still encourage digital creativity, children can even share with peers if they wish, but we can act as a safety net to get involved if guidance is needed or where rules are not being followed and remove content prior to anything having to be reported to us. Sadly, such monitoring will not be present when they use other platforms. Children learn through mistakes and they need a safe place to fall, but certain mistakes made online can be devastating. We aim to offer a safe digital playground where appropriateness and kindness can be fostered, before they move onto other sharing systems as they become older. 

The 13^th century Russian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī is often credited with this well known saying that we perhaps should all try to apply to our online lives when sharing something:  

“Before you speak, let your words pass through these three gates:  
Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?” 

If everyone in the public eye stuck to this when commenting online, I am sure the world would feel like a much happier place. It seems to be coming increasingly hard for our children to find role models that believe in the qualities of truth and kindness. 

The absolute gamechanger for childhood this century has been the smartphone and no matter how old your child is, you need to be prepared for the demands and strains smartphones will have on your family as they grow. 

Some parents I have spoken to look back on their decision to give their child a smartphone with regret, one parent even describing having “lost their child” once they got a phone.  

Informed impactful decisions are so important. Data is becoming clearer as we understand more about how platforms work and the impacts they are having on young developing brains. 

Around the world, parents have collectively had enough and governments are introducing legislation, whether that be social media age restrictions or the changing use of devices in schools. There is a general acknowledgement that so much online content is simply not safe for children. Schools also need to carefully evaluate their edtech (educational technology) provision in light of new data. 

Unfortunately, your children can’t wait. They need you to be a great digital parent now. Here are some resources I would recommend to help you with that journey. Keep scrolling down the list to reach a list of brilliant books I would recommend too. Sometimes even us adults need to go offline to absorb something more clearly without the glare of a screen. 

Above all else, understand that you are not alone on this journey. Talk to us if you have a specific query or concern you’d like some help with but also connect with other parents through your existing networks or using some of the links below and be brave to engage with discussing digital safety. You’ll be pleased you did. Your future adult children will probably thank you. 

Stuart Wilkinson 
Online Safety Lead, CEOP Education Ambassador  

WEBLINKS FOR URGENT HELP 
 

CEOP – Report Online Child Sexual Abuse 

Report Remove– A tool for under 18s to remove nude images of themselves online, operated by Childline. 

Report Harmful Content for reporting harmful social media content 

Childline Online or over the phone counselling support for children.  

Parent Talk Free one-to-one parenting chat support 

NSPCC Helpline if you are worried about a child in danger 

You can also contact the Police on 111 to report an issue or be signposted to support (always call 999 in an emergency if you believe a child is in immediate danger). 

Video Resources on Smartphones 

Smartphones and Children – A Stolen Childhood – Nip In The Bud  

Longer Version of A Stolen Childhood if you can spare an extra 5 minutes. 

Establishing ground rules when it is time to say yes 

A Video for children who see their peers all getting phones but they don’t have one 

NEW Keeping your child safe on a smartphone and social media 

USEFUL WEBLINKS

The Children Commissioner’s Guide to Managing Children’s Digital Lives 

ParentZone: Down to earth support for parents and families online Home | Parent Zone 

Internet Matters: Visit internetmatters.org for easy to access guides to platforms, devices and apps. This service is funded by the internet service providers and content providers. 

CEOP’s website for parents, carers, teachers and children CEOP Education (the PlayLikeShare resource that we use in school is on the 8-10 section) 
(this website was formally called ThinkUKnow and has been rebranded but the content remains the same) 

The National College have a searchable collection of information posters about different apps E-safety Guides for Schools | National Online Safety 

National College Online Safety for Parents Course Online Safety for Parents of Children aged 7-11 | National Online Safety (free sign up required) 

Setting up Microsoft Family (for Windows devices) Microsoft Family Safety 

Google Family Link (for Android and Chromebooks) Google Family Link – Home 

Apple Family Sharing (for iOS devices) Family Sharing – Apple (UK) 

Changing your router password (examples for Sky, BT and Virgin) How to change your wireless router password – Which Computing Helpdesk (consult your router user guide or ISP for specific information) 

If your ISP doesn’t offer blocking options you can always use a free service such as OpenDNS to block out nastiness at router level. You just need to be confident in logging in to your router and changing a few numbers in the settings. You can use a simple service that automatically blocks adult content, or signup for a free account and choose what to block, which could include gambling, social media etc. Find out more here:  Home Internet Security | OpenDNS 

BBC Primary Online Safety (formally OwnIt) Lots of short videos on various online safety themes.

Childnet Parent and Carer Resource Kit Parent and Carer Toolkit – Childnet 

UK Safer Internet Centre https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/ 

http://www.safetynetkids.org.uk/personal-safety/online-safety/ 

NSPCC Keeping children safe online | NSPCC 

Smartphone Free Childhood (grassroots parental campaign group) 

Smartphones and Social Media Factsheet  from Nip In The Bud 

The American Social Psycologist Johnathan Haidt makes some compelling evidence-based arguments based on his experience of the American education system in his book The Anxious Generation which you can read about here, or buy here, or request to borrow from the town library here or you could even ask to borrow my copy.

Useful Books

FOR PARENTS: Left to Their Own Devices is a really accessible read for parents, focusing on raising digitally literate well-balanced children. Full of humour, cartoon illustrations and relatable stories, whilst managing to be compassionate throughout, this book skillfully tackles so many digital areas that can feel tricky for parents to know how to address. Mum of four, Katharine Hill draws on both personal and professional experience so every reader can expect to be left with plenty of helpful tips that will work for their family context. This book will increase any parent’s confidence in digital parenting.  

FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN: Age 6+ Goldilocks (a Hashtag Cautionary Tale) A simple picture book written in verse to read together, it’s the story of Goldilocks as you’ve never heard it before. Goldilocks loves taking selfies but in a quest to get more likes, she steals porridge, breaks a chair and even sleeps in someone else’s bed – but could daddy bear we watching online? A light hearted way to explore the topic of sharing photos and videos online with your young family.  You can even find Mr Wilkinson reading this story in full CBeebies Bedtime Story mode in this video from back in 2019!

FOR OLDER CHILDREN: Ages 11+ If you child is nagging you for a phone or access to apps you don’t think they are ready for, The Amazing Generation focuses on explaining to children just how smartphones and social media are wired in a relatable, accessible and empowering way, describing smartphone free children as rebels and explaining the benefits of waiting. With plenty of advice from real teens and young adults, your child can learn how technology affects their brain and ensure they use technology for good. 

FOR TEENAGERS:  For young people already heavily invested in an online digital life, or beginning one, in The Healthy Selfie Dr Susie Davies offers an essential guide for young people to support their own wellbeing with practical advice on how to ensure they have a healthy online experience. Screen time, social media, resilience, stress, addiction and self-esteem are all covered to help teenagers understand how they can like themselves in the digital age. It’s also supberb for parents to help understand the impact their child’s digital experiences will have on their wellbeing.