Cybersafety

Dear Families, 

Due to the increasing awareness of the impact of social media on children’s mental health and life skill development, we will be more strictly policing the use of social media by primary students, in line with our Cybersafety Code of Conduct as outlined in the Family Handbook.

There is a lot of research to show that use of social media by young children is harmful as their brains find it hard to process online social interactions and risks, they are unable to navigate online dangers, and overuse of social media can cause damaging addictive processes to take place in the brain which children are unable to control.   More information can be found here:

As you will be aware, many social media sites have age restrictions on who may open accounts.    Examples of sites where the account holder must verify that they are aged 13 or over in order to hold an account are below: 

• Tiktok
• Facebook
• Discord
• Snapchat
• Instagram
• BeReal
• Reddit
• Pinterest
• X
• Youtube 

There are many other social media sites that have similar restrictions, and the list is not restricted to the above. As we are a Christian school, it is important that we are honest in all our dealings online, and display the College virtue of Integrity. As such, any primary students who are found to hold social media accounts (even if accessed on their own private devices at home) where they are required to say they are 13 years old or above, and therefore would have lied about their age, will be banned from the use of the College network until the account is deleted, and will also undergo at least a 1-week ban from use of technology at school. 

If they already have a College iPad, their iPad will be locked until the account is deleted, and they will also undergo a 1-week ban. We ask that you talk to your children about being honest in their dealings online and face-to-face. This includes not lying about their age online. We thank you once again for your support in this matter and look forward to working together with you as we aim to create responsible digital citizens. If you have any questions about the above, please feel free to contact me to discuss.

Kind regards,

Yvette Clifton | Head of Primary