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Welcome to BarmingPrimary School

Barming Primary School is a 2 form entry primary school on the outskirts of Maidstone. It is a co-educational school for children aged 4 to 11 years old. There are currently 411 children on role.

A Message from the Head of School

Barming Primary School has so much to offer. Everyone is welcome and children are encouraged to flourish and achieve their goals. Come and find out what we are all about!

Orchard Academy Trust

Barming Primary School is an Academy and is part of the Orchard Trust family of schools. The Trust currently consists of Allington Primary School and Barming Primary School.

Last Week's Attendance:

Reception 97.3%
Year 1 97.0%
Year 2 95.9%
Year 3 97.6%
Year 4 96.7%
Year 5 95.8%
Year 6 94.7%
Whole School - 96.4%

Internet Safety

Staying SAFE ONLINE during COVID - 19:

It is very important that we stay safe online. We are all using our computers more than usual at the moment and we need to remember key internet safety advice during this time. Please only use the sites we recommend and if you are using 'Youtube or Search Engines' please use them with your children.

Follow these links for further support and advice:

https://www.childnet.com/blog/keeping-children-happy-and-safe-online-during-covid-19

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/blog/keeping-children-happy-and-safe-online-during-covid-19

https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2018/01/11-great-kids-safe-search-engines.html

We have made sure that there is always one Designated Safeguarding Lead onsite. If you need support during this time please ring the school and ask to speak to the on duty DSL.

These are:

Miss Rootes

Mr Laker

Mrs Rathbone

Mrs Stere

Mrs Darby

CEOP Information

CEOP- https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre

CEOP Button

Reporting Online Abuse:

CEOP links encourage all organisations that have an online presence, where children and young people congregate, to adopt the CEOP ‘Report Abuse’ mechanism.

Report Abuse Button:

This is not designed to replace existing reporting mechanisms, but is intended to deal with specific threats from individuals who seek to use the online environment to access young people and children for sexual purposes.

Benefits:

By implementing the ‘report abuse’ button, children and young people on our site will be empowered to report suspicious individuals or behaviour directly to law enforcement quickly and easily. The reports come directly to CEOP/Police intelligence centre and the team there are then in best place to analyse, assess and take appropriate action according to the perceived risk and threat to an individual child.

Information and analysis of these reports can then shape the future development of services reducing the potential threat and harm to children.

THE CEOP Report button is freely available on our school site, just in case it is needed.

How children use ICT at school:

Many activities involve computer software that is not connected to the internet and is produced in the same way that books are written, i.e. to be appropriate for particular age groups. Using ICT in school is important as it can:

Help improve a child’s achievement;
Prepare children with skills for life for the ‘digital age’;
Encourage children to enjoy learning using digital devices.

Email:

Children are not given individual email addresses while at Barming Primary School. They will learn about email and in Year 3 use a computer program that is similar to email but is not connected to the Internet at all.

Internet Use:

For most tasks where children need to go on the internet they will be given a link to click on to a particular site. Some of these links are in our Year Group pages on this website and the children can then access these sites at school and at home. Whenever children are using the Internet at school they are supervised. Older children do learn to use Search Engines as part of their Computing and Online Safety education, but they are directed to particular searches. The school makes use of a very strong filtering system which will not allow access to any social-networking sites and also filters out many inappropriate pages. However, children are taught to close the window and get an adult if they see something on screen that is not what they expected. We have had many assemblies supporting children with this to ensure they stay safe online!

Online Safety:

Children are given a program of Online Safety (See Our Curriculum Page) throughout the school appropriate to their age;
Children are always supervised when they are using computers in class and in the Computer suite;
The school computer system has a filtering service that blocks access to social-networking sites and websites that might have inappropriate content. This will be similar to filtering systems at home that broadband providers offer as ‘parental controls’;
There are posters throughout the school wherever there are computers which remind children how to use the computers safely and what to do if they did come across something inappropriate;
There are paper copies of information to help parents with Online Safety in the office reception area at school;
The links below provide more information from government and other websites to help you and your children find out more about using the Internet safely in school and at home.

	CEOP 'Think U Know'

E-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at Barming Primary School. Online Safety is taught to all pupils which explains and demonstrates how to stay safe and behave appropriately online but we can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with you. Your help is needed to talk to your children about how they can keep themselves safe and behave appropriately online. It’s important that we are all vigilant when children are using the internet and act to ensure they are protected from people who may pose a risk to them. Children can accidently or deliberately be exposed to illegal, unwanted or unpleasant content, comments or activity online and there are steps you can take at home to minimise this risk.

Establishing some Golden Rules for Online Safety at home:

Ground Rules

Discuss as a family how the internet will be used in your house. Consider what information should be kept private (such as personal information, photos etc) and decide rules for making and meeting online friends. Ensure your children know the risks of accepting friends’ requests from strangers online and make sure you know what your child is doing online much like you would offline.
Discuss using strong passwords with your child so they understand how they can protect their online accounts. It’s important they know they need to keep their passwords safe and not share them with anyone or use the same password for several accounts. If your child’s account is “hacked” or compromised then make sure they change their password and report any concerns or suspicious activity. For more advice on using strong passwords visit http://tinyurl.com/Getsafeonlinepassword

Online Safety

Ensure that you understand how your children’s devices work (e.g. can they download apps). Install antivirus software, secure your internet connection and use Parental Control functions for computers, mobile phones and games consoles to block unsuitable content or contact.
Always remember that parental control tools are not always 100% effective and sometimes unsuitable content can get past them, so don’t rely on them alone to protect your child.

Location

Consider locating your computers and laptops in a family area where children’s online activity can be monitored or supervised. Always supervise the use of webcams and any applications or devices which allow voice or video chat. Also consider the use and location of other devices your child’s uses which allow internet access such as mobile phones and games consoles. Visitwww.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-and-resources/a-parents-guide for safety information about consoles and devices.

Dialogue

Talk to your child and ask them to show or even teach you how they use the internet, learn which websites or tools they like to use and why. Learning together with your child can often open opportunities to discuss safe behaviour online. It’s important that you know all of the sites and apps that your children are using and that you make sure they are suitable (e.g. read the sites terms and conditions) and age appropriate.
Ensure that your child knows that once a picture, video or comment is sent or posted online, then it can be difficult to remove and control as other people can forward it share it without them even knowing.
Always ensure you and your child know how to block and report people online who may send nasty or inappropriate messages or content. Explore privacy settings, help guidance and any information on the site for parents. Encourage your child not to retaliate or reply and to keep any evidence of cyberbullying messages.
Make sure your child knows it’s important that they tell an adult they trust if anything happens online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable.
It’s essential to be realistic: banning the internet or web sites often will not work and it can make a child feel less able to report a problem or concern, so education around safe use is essential.

Digital Parenting