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Online Safety
Online Safety Mission
At Nower Hill, we recognise the ever-evolving risks posed by the online world and take our responsibility to educate, support and protect students seriously. Online Safety is a key part of our safeguarding provision, embedded across our curriculum, policies, staff training and leadership oversight.
In line with Keeping Children Safe In Education 2025, we address up-to-date risks such as:
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AI misuse (such as deepfakes, fake images, impersonation);
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Teaching about misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories;
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Group chats and anonymous messaging platforms;
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Online gaming platforms and unmoderated chat;
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Online sexual harassment, scams and radicalisation.
Students learn how to behave responsibly and safely online through dedicated lessons in Citizenship, Computing and Form Time, with cross-curricular references across Key Stage 3-5. They are also proactively taught digital empathy.
We are committed to supporting parents, carers and families, including those who may face barriers such as literacy, SEND or EAL needs. All resources aim to be accessible, easy to read and practical in supporting families to remain informed.
Key Staff
Miriam Ahmad → Digital Learning Safety Lead
Janine Sabbagh → Designated Safeguarding Lead
What We Teach
Our Online Safety curriculum covers key issues relevant to today's digital landscape.
This includes:
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Managing digital footprints and privacy settings, including the trustworthiness of websites and online information;
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Identifying fake news, scams and misinformation for protection online;
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Understanding grooming, sextortion and online exploitation;
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Respectful communication and how to report abuse;
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Screen time, mental health and digital wellbeing.
This content is taught across the Key Stages and is continually updated to reflect emerging issues.
Families are welcome to speak to our Digital Learning Safety Lead (Miriam Ahmad) in the first instance, or our Designated Safeguarding Lead (Janine Sabagh). Your child’s Head of Year would also be pleased to support if there are any concerns or questions. Full details of the taught curriculum in Computing, Citizenship and PSE are available on our Curriculum Maps on the school website.
Reporting a Concern
Worried About Something Online? If your child is feeling unsafe, uncomfortable or distressed about something they’ve seen, said or done online, we are here to help.
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Speak to your child’s Head of Year
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Contact our Digital Learning Safety Lead or our Designated Safeguarding Lead
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Use the CEOP Safety Centre to report online abuse
For Parents and Carers
Online Safety is a shared responsibility between school and home. Our aim is to equip you with the knowledge and tools to support your child confidently and calmly.
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You will hear about Online Safety at our Year Ahead Evenings, where we share key risks, trends and how to support young people online.
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If additional issues arise in a year group (eg misuse of group chats), targeted resources and assemblies will be delivered to students.
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Our Heads of Year or Digital Learning Safety Lead are available for 1:1 or small group parent sessions if more in-depth support is requested.
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We regularly update this page with guides, posters and practical tools - many of which are SEND and EAL friendly.
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How to Use Digital Tools to Protect Your Child
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AdBlock → a free browser extension that blocks most pop-up ads and unwanted banners. You can install it by going to www.getadblock.com and clicking ‘Get AdBlock’. It works on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.
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Youtube Restricted Mode → scroll to the bottom of any YouTube page, click ‘Restricted Mode’ and turn it on. This helps hide videos that may be inappropriate.
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Google SafeSearch → go to www.google.com/preferences and turn on SafeSearch under ‘SafeSearch Filters’. This helps filter out harmful or explicit content from your search results
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CEOP https://www.ceop.police.uk/
NSPCC Keeping Children Safe Online
Thinkuknow https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
Thinkuknow Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/user/ceop
