Teaching online safety in schools – GOV.UK

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Updated 12 January 2023

© Crown copyright 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools/teaching-online-safety-in-schools
This non-statutory guidance outlines how schools can ensure their pupils understand how to stay safe and behave online as part of existing curriculum requirements.
It complements existing subjects including:
There are no additional teaching requirements.
This guidance is for school leaders, school staff and governing bodies. It applies to all local-authority-maintained schools, academies and free schools.
Independent schools and non-maintained special schools may also find this guidance helpful as they are required to teach relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education.
Today’s pupils are growing up in an increasingly complex world, living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks.
We want schools to equip their pupils with the knowledge needed to make the best use of the internet and technology in a safe, considered and respectful way, so they are able to reap the benefits of the online world.
This advice brings together information that will help schools deliver online safety content within their curriculum and embed this within their wider whole school approach.
Refer to the education for a connected world framework for age-specific advice about the online knowledge and skills that pupils should have the opportunity to develop at different stages of their lives.
As part of the statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. This includes being taught:
Throughout these subjects, teachers will address online safety and appropriate behaviour in an age-appropriate way that is relevant to their pupils’ lives.
This complements the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face. This includes:
There are also other curriculum subjects which include content relevant to teaching pupils how to use the internet safely. For example, citizenship education explores:
Educate Against Hate has a full teaching pack dedicated to fundamental British values that includes class tasks, a class presentation, films and teaching guidance.
You should consider what you are already delivering through the curriculum, and build in additional teaching as required to make sure pupils know how to stay safe and how to behave online.
The online world develops and changes at a great speed. New opportunities, challenges and risks are appearing all the time. This can make it difficult for schools to stay up to date with the latest devices, platforms, apps, trends and related threats.
It is important to focus on the underpinning knowledge and behaviours that can help pupils to navigate the online world safely and confidently regardless of the device, platform or app. This teaching could be:
Teaching must always be age and developmentally appropriate.
Covering this content will enable pupils to make judgements about what they see online and not automatically assume that what they see is true, valid or acceptable.
You can help pupils to consider:
Covering this content will enable pupils to recognise the techniques that are often used to persuade or manipulate others.
You can help pupils to recognise:
Covering this content will enable pupils to understand what acceptable and unacceptable online behaviour look like. You should teach pupils:
You can help pupils to recognise acceptable and unacceptable behaviour by:
Covering this content will enable pupils to identify possible online risks and make informed decisions about how to act. This should not be about providing a list of what not to do online. The focus should be to help pupils assess a situation, think through the consequences of acting in different ways and decide on the best course of action.
You can help pupils to identify and manage risk by discussing:
Covering this content will enable pupils to understand safe ways in which to seek support if they are concerned or upset by something they have seen online.
You can help pupils by explaining how to:
You should link this to wider school policies and processes around reporting of safeguarding and child protection incidents and concerns to school staff. Refer to keeping children safe in education for more information.
The online media literacy strategy sets out that the government will give internet users the knowledge and skills they need to make informed and safe choices online.
It sets out 5 principles to underpin delivery of media literacy education. These include understanding:
A list of media literacy resources for teachers and parents is available.
Understanding and applying knowledge and behaviours will provide pupils with a solid foundation to navigate the online world in an effective and safe way. By understanding the risks that exist online, you can tailor your teaching and support to the specific needs of your pupils.
This section will help you understand some of the issues your pupils may be facing and where these could be covered within the curriculum. You should consider when it might be appropriate to cover these individual harms and risks.
Any activity that does look at individual harms and risks should be considered in the broader context of providing the underpinning knowledge and behaviours.
This section covers various technical aspects of the internet that could leave pupils vulnerable if not understood.
Age-specific advice on these potential harms and risks can be found in the following sections of the education for a connected world framework:
Some online activities have age restrictions because they include content which is not appropriate for children under a specific age.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Knowing what happens to information, comments or images that are put online.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Some information shared online is accidentally or intentionally wrong, misleading, or exaggerated.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Fake websites and scam emails are used to extort data, money, images and other things that can either be used by the scammer to harm the person targeted or sold on for financial, or another gain.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Fraud can take place online and can have serious consequences for individuals and organisations.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Password phishing is the process by which people try to find out your passwords so they can access protected content.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Online platforms and search engines gather personal data. This is often referred to as ‘harvesting’ or ‘farming’.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Many devices, apps and games are designed to keep users online for longer than they might have planned or desired.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Almost all devices, websites, apps and other online services come with privacy setting that can be used to control what is shared.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Much of the information seen online is a result of some form of targeting.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
This section covers elements of online activity that could adversely affect a pupil’s personal safety or the personal safety of others online.
Age-specific advice on these potential harms and risks can be found in the following sections of the education for a connected world framework:
Some online behaviours are abusive. They are negative in nature, potentially harmful and in some cases can be illegal.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Children, young people and adult learners are at risk of accessing inappropriate and harmful extremist content online. This could include downloading or sharing terrorist material, which could be a criminal act.
The internet and social media make spreading divisive and hateful narratives easier. Extremist and terrorist groups and organisations use social media (for example, apps, forums, blogs, chat rooms) to identify and target vulnerable individuals.
Teaching could include:
All education settings have a responsibility under the Prevent duty. This includes building your students’ resilience to extremism and ensuring staff are adequately trained to spot the signs of radicalisation.
Guidance, teaching resources and tools to help you teach young people about extremism, radicalisation and staying safe online are available on Educate Against Hate.
Online challenges acquire mass followings and encourage others to take part in what they suggest.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Knowing that violence can be incited online and escalate very quickly into offline violence.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Not everyone online is who they say they are.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Knowing about the different types of grooming and motivations for it, for example:
Teaching could include:
See the National Crime Agency’s think u know website for further information on keeping children safe from sexual abuse and exploitation.
At all stages it will be important to balance teaching children about making sensible decisions to stay safe whilst being clear it is never the fault of a child who is abused and why victim blaming is always wrong.
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Live streaming (showing a video of yourself in real-time online either privately or to a public audience) can be popular with children but it carries risk when carrying it out and watching it.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
Knowing that sexually explicit material presents a distorted picture of sexual behaviours.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content as part of the relationships and sex education core content (secondary), online and media topic.
Knowing different strategies for staying safe when communicating with others, especially people they do not know or have never met.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content in the following curriculum areas:
This section covers the elements of online activity that can adversely affect a pupil’s wellbeing.
Age-specific advice on these potential harms and risks can be found in the following sections of the education for a connected world framework:
Knowing about the impact of comparisons to ‘unrealistic’ online images.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content as part of the health education core content (secondary), internet safety and harms topic.
Knowing how to identify when online behaviours stop being fun and begin to create anxiety, including that there needs to be a balance between time spent on and offline.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content as part of the health education core content (secondary), internet safety and harms topic.
People can often behave differently online to how they would act face to face.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content as part of the relationships education core content (all stages), online relationships topic.
What users post can affect future career opportunities and relationships – both positively and negatively.
Teaching could include:
You could cover this content as part of the relationships and sex education core content (secondary), online and media topic.
Pupils may raise topics including eating disorders, self-harm and suicide. Teachers must be aware of the risks of encouraging or making these seem a more viable option for pupils and should take care to avoid giving instructions or methods and avoid using emotive language, videos or images.
Guidance on teaching about mental health and emotional wellbeing provides useful support for teachers in handling this material.
Any pupil can be vulnerable online, and their vulnerability can fluctuate depending on their age, developmental stage and personal circumstance.
However, there are some pupils, for example, looked after children and those with special educational needs, who may be more susceptible to online harm or have less support from family or friends in staying safe online. You should consider how you tailor your offer to make sure these pupils receive the information and support they need.
The following resources can help schools consider how best to support their most vulnerable pupils stay safe online:
Schools are best placed to make their own decisions about which resources are educationally appropriate for their pupils. This includes reviewing resources, even when from a trusted source, as some will be more appropriate to their cohort of pupils than others.
Before using any resource, you should check:
Online safety can be a difficult and complex topic which changes very quickly. Therefore, schools may want to seek external support who have expertise, up to date knowledge and information.
The right external visitors can provide a useful and engaging approach to deliver online safety messages, but this should enhance a school’s offer rather than be delivered in isolation.
Guidance for schools on using external visitors to support online safety education is available.
As with any safeguarding lessons or activities, it is important that schools consider the topic they are covering and the potential that a child (or more than one child) in the class may be suffering from online abuse or harm in this way.
It is important to create a safe environment in which pupils feel comfortable to say what they feel. If a pupil thinks they will get into trouble or be judged for talking about something which happened to them online they may be put off reporting it and getting help.
Where schools are already aware of a child who is being abused or harmed online they should carefully plan any lesson to consider this, including not drawing attention to that child in a way that would highlight or publicise the abuse. It is good practice to include the designated safeguarding lead (or a deputy) when planning any safeguarding related lessons or activities (including online). They will be best placed to reflect and advise on any known safeguarding cases, and how to support any pupils who may be especially impacted by a lesson.
In some cases, a pupil will want to make a disclosure following a lesson or activity. The lesson may have provided the knowledge that enabled the pupils to realise they are being abused or harmed or give them the confidence to say something. This is why it is essential all pupils are clear what the school’s reporting mechanisms are.
As per keeping children safe in education your reporting mechanisms should be child friendly and operate with the best interests of the pupil at their heart.
Whole school approaches are likely to make teaching more effective than lessons alone. A whole school approach is one that goes beyond teaching to include all aspects of school life, including:
We recommend that schools embed teaching about online safety and harms within a whole school approach.
You should reflect the principles of online safety in the school’s policies and practice where appropriate, and communicate this with staff, pupils and parents. This could include, for example:
Keeping children safe in education provides advice for schools on embedding online safety into their broader safeguarding and child protection approach.
Pupils should be just as clear about what is expected of them online as offline.
Proactively engage staff, pupils, parents and carers in school activities that promote the agreed principles of online safety. This could include, for example:
This includes making sure that school staff have access to up to date appropriate training and resources so that they are confident in covering the required content in a way that is relevant to their pupils’ lives.
It could also include using information available to the school to review practices and ensure the issues facing their pupils are covered in a timely manner.
Reinforce what is taught in lessons by taking appropriate and consistent action when a pupil:
This includes expecting the same standards of behaviour whenever a pupil is online at school – be it in class, logged on at the library or using their own device in the playground.
Schools should also ensure they extend support to parents, so they are able to incorporate the same principles of online safety at home.
This list provides links to relevant government guidance and a range of national organisations who can offer support to schools.
Related guidance is available on:
Support and resources are also available from:
Schools can also get advice from national organisations such as:
You can refer parents to the following national organisations for support:
You can refer pupils to the following national organisations for support:
Mob mentality describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviours on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. ↩
Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.
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