Recent research from Ofcom ( the UK's communications regulator) has shown that nearly a quarter of UK five-to-seven-year-olds now have their own smartphone.

At school we have noticed that the problems reported to us regarding issues of mobile phone use outside of school between pupils, has been increasing further down the school with issues now reported between pupils in Year 4 and even younger. 

The majority of these issues relate to children posting messages to each other which are not appropriate and which they would not say face to face in real life.

These messages are posted through apps such as Snapchat and WhatsApp, or through other online messaging services, or sometimes simply through text messages.

We also have other more serious issues raised to us regarding children accessing inappropriate content and inappropriate communications with people they do not know outside of school.

We would urge all parents / carers to regularly check their child’s mobile phone for appropriate safe use, and that all pupils DO NOT have unsupervised access to mobile phones and other internet connected devices in their bedrooms.

If you do allow your child to use social media and other messaging applications, please make sure they understand the following rules which we remind them of every week in class and in school assemblies:

Always keep your profile private. 
Never accept friend you do not know in real life. 
Never post anything which could reveal your identity including photographs wearing school uniform where possible.
Never post anything you wouldn’t want your parents or teachers to see.
Never agree to meet somebody you only know online without telling a trusted adult.
Always tell someone if you feel threatened or someone upsets you.

At school we have strong filtering and security software in place which prevents children accessing inappropriate content and monitors their computer use - most broadband providers have similar security measures that can be put in place to carry out a similar job at home and this might be something parents / carers want to consider if not already in place.

If any parent / carers needs further information regarding the school's teaching of e-safety please look at the page on our website or contact the school for further information.