Sample letter to parents of

							Sample letter to parents of
South Gloucestershire School



Re: Helping to keep children safe when using the internet

Dear Parent / Carer

At our school we want to ensure that learners have access to the best possible resources
for learning and many of these are now available through using the internet. As you are
probably aware children’s use of the internet and risks to their safety through this have
featured in the media. At our school we take this issue very seriously and want to do
everything we can to help young people develop the skills to keep themselves safe online
as well as in the real world.

In January 2008, Jim Knight, Minister for Schools, indicated that he felt there is a need to
join up the home and school experience in a speech he made at the BETT conference.
Ofsted, in their survey 2005/7 (published in January 2008) have also identified the
importance of this issue and suggested that more knowledge is needed of what pupils do
online and in relation to e-safety.

As a response to this we want to conduct a survey of internet use with a sample of pupils
at our school. This will help us to identify any issues from computer use that young
people may be experiencing. We will use this information to adapt our teaching of e-
safety skills to ensure that we are addressing any issues. Your child will be taking part in
this survey during the week of date to date. I have attached a copy of the questions that
we will be using for your information as your child may talk about this at home. We hope
you will find the time to talk to your child about the survey after they have completed it.

Following the survey we intend to hold a meeting for parents about e-safety and we will
share the results of the survey anonymously. We will also outline the benefits and
possible issues relating to using the internet. This will ensure that you are able to discuss
the issues with your child and support them if they ever encounter a problem. We will
also take this opportunity to share with you our policy on internet safety and our
guidelines for safe use by learners.

I hope we can work together to ensure that our young people have the skills and
knowledge to keep safe when they are learning online and know what to do if they
encounter a problem.