Today’s children and young people are growing up in a digital world. As they grow older, it is crucial that they learn to balance the benefits offered by technology with a critical awareness of their own and other’s online behaviour, and develop effective strategies for staying safe and making a positive contribution online.  We also want to help our parents and children improve their own understanding of online safety issues so they can learn to use the internet and all digital media in a safe and secure way.  

At School when discussing the subject of staying safe online, we teach the children the importance and relevance of the '4 Cs':  content, contact, conduct and commerce.  It is useful for parents to reference these when talking to their children about safety online.  For details please see our Child Protection Policy.  

Download the Department for Education advice for parents on cyberbullying here

Access the Department for Education online parents support website called Parent Info here

ONLINE SAFETY AT SCHOOL

As part of your child’s curriculum and the development of computer skills, we provide access to the internet in teacher supervised lessons. We strongly believe that the use of the web and email is hugely worthwhile and an essential tool for children as they grow up in the modern world. But because there are always concerns about children having access to undesirable materials, we have taken positive steps to deal with this risk in school. Our school internet access provider operates a filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate materials. Each class discusses how we can all stay safe online and the dangers we may face on the internet. We then ask every child to sign an Acceptable Users Agreement so that we know they have read and understood our school's rules on staying safe. We have a group of Year 6 digital leaders in school, these children champion digital citizenship and digital creativity within our school and help to educate peers and teachers about staying safe online.

LADY BOSWELL'S SCHOOL - A SMARTPHONE-FREE SCHOOL FROM SEPTEMBER 2026

With effect from the start of the next academic year our mobile phone policy will change and the School will become a 'Smartphone-Free School'.  That means no smartphones for pupils on School grounds, for any year group.   

Why has the school made the decision to become smartphone free?

While smartphones can be valuable tools for adults, an increasing body of research highlights the negative impact of smartphones and social media on children’s mental health, as well as the potential exposure to harmful and dangerous content online. This evidence has been growing over a number of years and is now impossible to ignore.  Smartphones, which were never designed with children in mind, pose significant risks to children’s wellbeing and development. As Headteachers, our priorities are ensuring exceptional standards of learning, behaviour and wellbeing to achieve our School Vision. There are increasing concerns that wider smartphone use by children is detrimental to these goals.

Furthermore, the decision to become smartphone-free is rooted in maintaining the safety of our children.  At school we have rigorous filtering and monitoring processes to ensure that children remain safe online on school devices.  Whilst children have never been permitted to use smartphones in school, smart devices that have 4 or 5G technology (and therefore do not require access to the school’s protected WIFI systems) could leave children vulnerable before and after school to seeing harmful content that is outside of the school’s control.

Feedback from other local schools that have gone smartphone-free has been overwhelmingly positive.  They report:

• an overwhelming reduction in the number of pupils being given a smart phone.
• increased quality of interactions between children before and after school – children chatting and playing rather than looking at screens.
• parents have felt empowered to delay smartphones with a clear reason of ‘you won’t be able to take it to school’.
• having a non-smart phone has been normalised. Parents felt supported in seeking out alternative options and children are less likely to want a smart phone and pressure parents for one as their friends don’t have them.
• fewer safeguarding incidents where children are seeing and sharing harmful content outside of school.
• fewer friendship issues and conflict caused by children not yet having the skills to communicate effectively online.
• positive feedback from parents about having the skills to reduce screen time at home.

ONLINE SAFETY AT HOME

As a parent you will know how important the internet is to children - they use it to learn, play, socialise and express themselves. It's a highly creative place of amazing opportunities. But the technology children use every day can seem a bit daunting and you might worry about the risks your child can face online - such as bullying, contact from strangers or the possibility of them seeing illegal or inappropriate content on line. you can engage with your children regarding their use of the internet while at home. The document below gives you some conversation starters to have with your child.

In October 2025, we were pleased to host a 'Parenting in the Digital Age' workshop for parents led by Katherine Myatt.  This covered, amongst other things, the subject of a Smartphone-Free Childhood.  Please find a copy of the resources shared at the meeting below.

PARENT RESOURCES

To try and help parents with the fast moving and changing world of internet and social media we've included some guides for parents below to several popular children's online websites and social media which are fantastic resources, They contain information on how to help keep children safe.

Please see a checklist below to help your child stay safe on line; by following this simple checklist, you can start to protect your children and decrease the risks they face online.