Online safety: involving parents and carers

Help parents keep their children safe online by engaging them in discussions about online safety. Download and share factsheets about online safety concerns, see examples of letters to parents, and read our tips on working with parents with EAL.

Last reviewed on 21 September 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 4003
Contents
  1. Benefits to getting parents involved with online safety
  2. Communicate parents' responsibilities through your policies
  3. Highlight to parents what they should do about any concerns
  4. Share factsheets about websites and apps
  5. Direct parents to useful resources
  6. Run in-person workshops
  7. Download example letters 
  8. Download a sample online safety leaflet for parents
  9. Make sure your communications reach parents with EAL

Benefits to getting parents involved with online safety

By involving and engaging parents, they can share any online safety issues that have come up at home. These can then feed into the design of your online safety programmes. This will also mean parents have a greater awareness of your curriculums and can implement the principles of online safety at home as well. 

Communicate parents' responsibilities through your policies

  • Include online behaviour in your behaviour and bullying policies, and clear processes for reporting in your child protection policy
  • Parents should be responsible for making sure their child has engaged with your online safety policy. Our model policy includes acceptable use agreements for parents, as well as pupils

The DfE guidance on teaching online safety in school has further information. 

Make sure parents know your policy and the process for reporting online safety concerns to the school. This