Keeping online safe

Kia Ora Glenbrook School Community,

Thank you to those families who have been sharing and keeping connected with us. As we increase our use of online technology it is a timely reminder to remember to keep our children safe online.

A great idea is to re-discuss internet safety with your children, regardless of their ages. Create the rules or agreement with your children what they can do online, including sites they can visit and appropriate behaviours such as:

• Reviewing and approving games and apps before they are downloaded.
• Reviewing privacy settings of sites and applications.
• Checking children’s profiles and what they are posting online.
• Check the sites your child is accessing.
• Reminding children that anything that is posted online will be permanently on the internet.
• Taking the time to understand what sites they are visiting and who they are talking with and check in regularly.
• Some social media sites have age restrictions to join, check these before letting your child use them or join them.
• Monitoring a child’s use of the internet and consider having them use it in an open, common area of the house.
• Making sure your children know to report any activity they don’t feel comfortable with to parents and caregivers straight away.

At Glenbrook School the only digital platforms we currently use for learning are: Studyladder, Stepsweb, Maths Whizz, Education Perfect, Sunshine Classics, Google Classroom and Epic. Students in years 3-8 have a Glenbrook School email. This is not to be used to sign up for other sites or apps or it will be paused. The same digital citizenship rules we have at school apply when using student emails and when communicating via school email to others. On our web page there will be links to videos and websites that our teachers have explored and found to be appropriate. Some of our teachers will also lead Google Meets, an online meeting and classroom space. These meetings will be run safely by our teachers. Please keep an eye on the Parent Portal, facebook or your child’s email for the dates and times. Please, we do not want students having facebook accounts who are not at the required age. We also please ask that families contact staff directly by email not via messenger or other apps so that professional boundaries continue to be maintained.

If you need assistance:

• Netsafe continues to be available to provide you with support for online safety. They have information for parents and caregivers and have pulled together their top tips for online safety during the lockdown. To report an incident To Netsafe – https://www.netsafe.org.nz/reportanincident/
• If you think your child in your care is the victim of online exploitation or abuse, report it to Police – if you or a child are in danger or a crime is being committed, call 111 or visit your nearest Police Station immediately.

Remember, YOU are doing a great job!

Nga manaakitanga,

Your Principal,

Ms Lysandra Stuart