Staying Safe Online

At Les Varendes High School, safeguarding is at the heart of what we do, and this includes ensuring that every student is supported to stay safe online. We work closely with students to promote responsible use of technology, but it is equally important that parents and carers play an active role in supporting their child’s online safety at home.

We encourage all parents to:

• Use age-appropriate parental controls on home broadband, search engines, YouTube, mobile phones and games consoles.

• Talk openly with your child about the risks they may face online, such as cyberbullying, peer-on-peer abuse, or inappropriate content, so they feel confident to come to you if something goes wrong.

• Consider placing computers, laptops, or games consoles in communal family areas to make online use more transparent.

It is vital to remind children to act responsibly and respectfully online, just as they would in face-to-face interactions. Encourage them never to hide behind anonymity to make unkind comments, and to remember that anything shared online - even if later deleted - may have already been saved or shared by others.

Children under 13 should not have social networking accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, as these services have age restrictions in their terms and conditions. For older children using social media, encourage them to:

• Set enhanced privacy settings so that only trusted friends can view their posts.

• Never accept friend requests or messages from strangers.

• Allow a parent, carer, or trusted adult to be added as a friend or follower for extra oversight.

Parents should also be mindful that content filters do not always work on public Wi-Fi, so children’s access to unprotected networks should be limited.

Local Support in Guernsey

• Guernsey Police provide advice and resources on staying safe online: www.guernsey.police.uk

• Digital Greenhouse Guernsey runs initiatives supporting young people in safe and creative technology use: digitalgreenhouse.gg

• For further guidance, you can also visit the UK Safer Internet Centre: www.saferinternet.org.uk. It is also possible to report abuse via their website, by clicking on the 'Report an Issue' button. To report abuse via text messaging, you can anonymously report issues via SMS by texting GUE + message to 078600 21584.