Online Safety Policy Statement

Purpose of this policy statement

Wood Street Walls CIC works with children and families as part of its activities. These include:

Online workshops (via Skype or Zoom)
School and community workshops
In-person engagements/local conversations

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

 ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is paramount when adults,
young people or children are using the internet, social media or mobile devices
 provide staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to online
safety
 ensure that, as an organisation, we operate in line with our values and within the law in terms
of how we use online devices.
The policy statement applies to all staff, volunteers, children and young people and anyone involved in
Wood Street Walls' activities.

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect
children in England/Northern Ireland/Scotland/Wales [select the relevant nation]. Summaries of the
key legislation and guidance are available on:

online abuse learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect/online-abuse
bullying learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect/bullying
child protection learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-protection-system

We believe that:

-children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind

children should be able to use the internet for education and personal development, but
safeguards need to be in place to ensure they are kept safe at all times.

We recognise that:
-the online world provides everyone with many opportunities; however it can also present risks
and challenges

we have a duty to ensure that all children, young people and adults involved in our
organisation are protected from potential harm online
we have a responsibility to help keep children and young people safe online, whether or not
they are using [name of organisation]’s network and devices
all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or
sexual orientation, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is
essential in promoting young people’s welfare and in helping young people to be responsible
in their approach to online safety.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

appointing an online safety coordinator [this may or may not be the same person as your
nominated child protection lead]
providing clear and specific directions to staff and volunteers on how to behave online
through our behaviour code for adults
supporting and encouraging the young people using our service to use the internet, social
media and mobile phones in a way that keeps them safe and shows respect for others
supporting and encouraging parents and carers to do what they can to keep their children
safe online
developing an online safety agreement for use with young people and their parents/carers
developing clear and robust procedures to enable us to respond appropriately to any incidents
of inappropriate online behaviour, whether by an adult or a child/young person
reviewing and updating the security of our information systems regularly
ensuring that user names, logins, email accounts and passwords are used effectively
ensuring personal information about the adults and children who are involved in our
organisation is held securely and shared only as appropriate
ensuring that images of children, young people and families are used only after their written
permission has been obtained, and only for the purpose for which consent has been given
providing supervision, support and training for staff and volunteers about online safety
examining and risk assessing any social media platforms and new technologies before they
are used within the organisation.

If online abuse occurs, we will respond to it by:

-having clear and robust safeguarding procedures in place for responding to abuse (including
online abuse)

providing support and training for all staff and volunteers on dealing with all forms of abuse,
including bullying/cyberbullying, emotional abuse, sexting, sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation
making sure our response takes the needs of the person experiencing abuse, any bystanders
and our organisation as a whole into account
reviewing the plan developed to address online abuse at regular intervals, in order to ensure
that any problems have been resolved in the long term.

Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures, including:

 Child protection
 Procedures for responding to concerns about a child or young person’s wellbeing
 Dealing with allegations of abuse made against a child or young person
 Managing allegations against staff and volunteers
 Code of conduct for staff and volunteers
 Anti-bullying policy and procedures
 Photography and image sharing guidance (to be created)

[More information about what these policies and procedures should include is available from
learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection]

Contact details

Online safety co-ordinator
Name:
Phone/email:
Senior lead for safeguarding and child protection
Name:
Phone/email:

NSPCC Helpline
0808 800 5000

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on: …………………………………………………………………………

Signed: …………………………………………………………………………
[signed by the most senior person with responsibility for safeguarding in Wood Street Walls and the safeguarding lead on your board of trustees].

Date: …………………………………………………………………………….