Today’s children and young people are growing up in a digital world. Computer skills are vital to access life-long learning and employment. Indeed, computing is seen as an essential life-skill. 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 will teach the children the importance and relevance of the '4 Cs':  content, contact, conduct and commerce. (For details please see our Child Protection Policy.) We will also 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. It is important that Hamp Nursery and Infants School as well as parents and carers adopt strategies for the safe and responsible use of the Internet for the welfare and safety of our pupils. This will help them close the gap between the schools rigorously filtered safety systems and the more open systems the children will experiences at home.

It is our intention that our pupils are well equipped with an online safety curriculum that is purposeful and provides pupils with the necessary knowledge and skills to keep themselves safe whilst using technology. To deliver our curriculum, we follow the National Curriculum and use Elim Active Bytes as a planning tool for lesson delivery. This is a progressive planning tool that ensures that online safety is taught as a prerequisite and then woven in line with the Computing curriculum, in order to have optimum impact. Online safety coverage is carefully planned within the Safeguarding curriculum as taught in school, in addition to PSHE – ensuring that pupils at all age ranges understand this aspect of learning as a core element of keeping themselves safe