Online Safety
Springcroft · Digital Safety Hub
Online Safety: safe, smart & confident online
Helping your child explore the internet safely and confidently — what we do in school, and how you can help at home.
"Pupils learn about healthy relationships, emotional wellbeing, economic wellbeing and how to keep themselves safe, both online and in the local community. Older pupils discuss topics such as peer influence and digital responsibility with maturity."
— Ofsted, September 202601How we keep children safe
Online safety is taught from Reception, embedded across lessons and revisited regularly, led by Mr Rowley (Online Safety Lead) and Mr Drew (DSL).
School devices are protected by monitored security systems, both internal and external. Children know their use is monitored.
Displays around school reinforce safe habits, revisited in assemblies and lessons. Talk them through at home too:
02Learn by playing
Designed for children to explore themselves — brilliant for a rainy afternoon, or to sit down and try together.
A free browser game from Google and Parent Zone. Children help the Internauts see off hackers, phishers and oversharers while learning five simple online safety habits.
▶ Play InterlandThinkuknow's three-part cartoon series for our youngest pupils, covering watching videos, sharing pictures and playing games online.
▶ Watch the episodesThinkuknow's follow-on animated series, helping children spot pressuring or manipulative behaviour online and stay safe in games and chats.
▶ Watch the episodesAlso worth a look: BBC Own It (age 8+, an app and site for building healthy digital habits) and CBBC Newsround's Keeping Safe hub, written in child-friendly language.
03Resources by age
🧸 Reception–Year 2 (ages 4–7)
🎒 Year 3–6 (ages 8–11)
- Thinkuknow: 8–10 year old advice
- Play Like Share videos
- Interland game
- Privacy settings
- Sharing personal information
- Parental controls
- Gaming: what parents need to know
- Parents' Guide to Apps
- Social Media advice hub
- Setting up devices safely
- Net Aware — age-rated app guide
- BBC Own It (age 8+)
- CBBC Newsround: Keeping Safe
🎬 Online safety 'how to' videos
Short clips from Knowsley on gaming, group chats and scams.
04AI and online safety
Childnet's guidance on generative AI misuse (ages 13–17, adaptable for Year 6).
Concerned about an image of your child? Under-18s can confidentially report it and have it removed.
🤖 What parents need to know about Character.AI
Character.AI is an entertainment platform where users chat with AI-generated characters that can take on the role of favourite fictional characters, friends, mentors, or even romantic partners. Because the replies feel emotional and personal, conversations can start to feel like real relationships — which is a concern if they begin to replace time with real people.
What are the risks?
Replies are generated on the spot rather than pulled from a checked script, so even with safety filters on, conversations can drift into unsuitable territory. A child-friendly character name is no guarantee of a child-friendly response.
Characters can talk about friendship, love and empathy without any real understanding behind it. Some may push for attention, loyalty or secrecy, which can distort a child's sense of consent and healthy give-and-take in relationships.
Like any chatbot, characters can state incorrect information confidently, or simply agree with whatever a child already believes rather than questioning it — risky if it's relied on for advice about health, money, safety or wellbeing.
Chatbots can seem endlessly attentive and supportive. A child may start turning to a character rather than the people around them, especially concerning if it starts to affect sleep, schoolwork, hobbies or friendships.
Conversations can feel private, but they sit on a company's servers, and some data may be kept to improve the service. Children should never treat a chatbot like a confidential diary.
Watch for secret accounts, hiding phone use, late-night chatting, distress when access is stopped, withdrawal from others, or believing the character is genuinely conscious — these can signal a child is already lonely, anxious or in need of support.
Advice for parents and carers
- Keep conversations open — ask what they enjoy about it, and questions like "has it ever said something that felt wrong?" without shaming them for using it.
- Pause, check and ask — encourage them to check important claims elsewhere and ask a trusted adult; a chatbot should never be the sole source of medical, mental health, legal or safeguarding advice, and passwords, locations or private images should never be shared.
- Check age, settings and limits — Character.AI's minimum age is 16 in the UK, and open-ended companion chat is restricted to over-18s; 16–17 year olds get a different, guided experience. Never help a child enter a false age.
- Notice and respond — save evidence and report any chats involving sexual content, threats, abuse or self-harm, and follow the platform's safeguarding process. Contact emergency services if anyone is in immediate danger. Childline: 0800 1111. NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000.
Source: The National College, #WakeUpWednesday — "What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Character.AI" (September 2026).
📺 Our September 2026 briefing: AI and going back to school
05Parental controls & filters
- Parental Controls booklet 2026
- Vodafone Digital Parenting guide
- Google SafeSearch
- UK Safer Internet Centre
The PSHE Association's Online Financial Harms Lesson Pack covers safeguarding risks, with lesson plans from Key Stage 2.
NSPCC's Speak Out Stay Safe includes lesson plans for pupils with additional needs. See also UK Safer Internet Centre: SEND guidance.
06What parents need to know about…
One-page #WakeUpWednesday guides from The National College on the apps, games and issues children meet most. Tap a tile to open the guide.
🎮 Games & consoles
💬 Social media & messaging
🤖 Devices & AI
🧠 Wider issues
07Worried about something?
Speak to your child's class teacher, or contact Mr Rowley (Online Safety Lead) or Mr Drew (DSL) directly. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.