Online Safety Policy
At Farsley Springbank Primary School, our approach to online safety is rooted in our core values of being Courageous, Kind and Curious. We recognise that technology plays an essential role in children’s lives and that it is our responsibility to ensure pupils are supported to use it safely, responsibly and positively.
Our school aims to:
- Create a safe and supportive online environment where pupils, staff, volunteers and governors are protected from harm and feel confident to report concerns, showing courage when something does not feel right
- Promote kindness and respect in all online interactions, helping pupils understand the impact of their digital behaviour on others and fostering positive, inclusive and responsible online communities
- Encourage curiosity in a safe and informed way, empowering pupils to explore digital technology, information and online opportunities thoughtfully, critically and with appropriate safeguards in place
- Identify and support pupils who may be more vulnerable to online risks, ensuring our approach is inclusive and responsive to individual needs, including those with SEND or additional safeguarding vulnerabilities
- Provide clear education and guidance for pupils, staff and families so that everyone understands how to use technology safely, responsibly and in line with school expectations
- Establish clear systems for prevention, reporting and response, enabling concerns to be identified early and addressed proportionately, consistently and effectively
- Equip pupils with the knowledge and skills to make safe choices online, both in and beyond school, helping them to become confident, responsible digital citizens
The 4 key categories of risk
Our approach to online safety is based on addressing the following categories of risk:
- Content – being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content, such as pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation and extremism
- Contact – being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users, such as peer-to-peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes
- Conduct – personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm, such as making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g. consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and/or pornography), sharing other explicit images and online bullying; and
- Commerce – risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and/or financial scam
This policy is based on the Department for Education’s (DfE) statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, and its advice for schools on:
It also refers to the DfE’s guidance on protecting children from radicalisation.
It reflects existing legislation, including but not limited to the Education Act 1996 (as amended), the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and the Equality Act 2010. In addition, it reflects the Education Act 2011, which has given teachers stronger powers to tackle cyber-bullying by, if necessary, searching for and deleting inappropriate images or files on pupils’ electronic devices where they believe there is a ‘good reason’ to do so. The policy also takes into account the National Curriculum computing programmes of study as well as the updated 2026 Statutory Relationships and Health guidance. This policy also reflects the DfE’s filtering and monitoring standards and guidance (2023) on meeting digital and technology standards for schools.
You can download the full Online Safety Policy below.
Guidance and advice for parents and carers on online safety
There is a page on our school website which is designed to provide parents and carers with useful information and links to external websites about online safety. Click on the link below.