Online Safety Policy

At South Hill Park Pre-school, we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of every child in our care.  We believe our staff should remain fully attentive during their working hours to provide the highest quality care and education for all children. This policy applies to all electronic devices capable of taking photos, recording videos, sending or receiving calls and messages. This includes cameras, mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches and any recording devices. The Manager and Deputy Manager monitor the use of cameras, videos and other technological devices within the Pre-school. 

Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment 

• Only ICT equipment belonging to the Pre-school will be used by staff and children. 

• All Pre-school computers have virus protection installed and safety settings are set to ensure that inappropriate material is not accessed. 

Internet Access 

• Children do not have unsupervised access to the internet or social networking sites at Pre-school.  

• Staff access the internet with children for purposes of promoting their learning and listening to stories and music.

• Children are taught the following stay safe principles in an age-appropriate way ◦ Only go online with a grown up ◦ Be kind online ◦ Do not give information about me to anyone on the internet ◦ Only press buttons a grown up has said are ok for me to use ◦ Tell a grown up if something makes me unhappy on the internet.

• Staff do not access personal or work emails whilst supervising children. 

• Children do not access online games whilst in preschool. 

Mobile phones and other devices that accept calls, messages and video calling. 

• Children are not allowed to bring mobile phones or other ICT devices with them to Pre-school. 

• Staff are not allowed to wear personal smartwatches and/or Fitbits that receive calls and messages during working hours. 

• Personal mobile phones are not used by our staff where children are present during working hours. They are kept in the office on silent mode, throughout the day, which is an area not accessible to children. 

• Staff are able to use their mobile phones in the office, or on their lunch break in the quiet room, which becomes a staff room and is not accessible to any children during the lunch break period. 

• In an emergency, personal mobile phones may be accessed in an area with permission from the Manager or Deputy Manager (e.g., needing to call an ambulance or other emergency situation and only when staff and children are fully supervised by other staff). 

• We have a Pre-school mobile phone that is taken on local outings and trips, however, occasionally staff are asked to take their mobile phones on outings, for use in case of an emergency. During this time and whilst with the children, they do not make or receive personal calls, or take photographs of children, nor do they access social media, the internet or respond to text messages. 

• Staff access work emails and work WhatsApp groups on their own phones when away from the children. They agree to the Preschool guidelines with regards to maintaining confidentiality and sharing of information. 

• Parents and visitors are not allowed to use their mobile phones whilst on the premises.  Any parent or visitor needing to use their mobile phone will be directed to the office, where there are no children present.

Cameras and videos  

• Staff use Pre-school cameras, recording equipment and a Pre-school mobile to take photographs of the children for their folders and other purposes that their parents have given us permission for. 

• Photographs and recordings of children are taken for valid reasons e.g. to record their learning and development, for displays within the Pre-school, with written permission received by parents. 

• All photographs of children are downloaded to the Preschool computer and are deleted from the cameras at the end of each week. The photographs are printed at Pre-school, to be put into the children's learning journeys.

• Staff leave their Pre-school cameras in a basket before they enter the bathrooms.  

• At special events e.g. Christmas Sing Along, where parents request permission to photograph or record their own children, general permission is sought from all parents for their children to be included. Parents are reminded that they do not have a right to photograph anyone else’s child or to upload photos of anyone else’s children to a website or social media site. 

• If photographs of children being used for publicity purposes, parental consent must be given and safeguarding risks minimised, for example, ensuring children cannot be identified by name or through being photographed in a sweatshirt with the name of their setting on it. 

Social media

• The Pre-School has a Facebook page available to a closed group, which is used as a communication tool for the setting. It is monitored by the Pre-School Manager, Deputy Manager and Chair of the Committee. They reserve the right to remove any comments or postings at any time. 

• Everyone has a responsibility to protect the reputation of the Pre-school and to treat staff, families, colleagues and any members of the Pre-school with professionalism and respect when using these social media sites. Staff and parents must not make derogatory, defamatory, rude, threatening or inappropriate comments about the Pre-school or anyone connected with it. 

• Staff are required to manage their personal security settings to ensure that their information is only available to people they choose to share information with. 

• Staff will not accept friend requests on social media or respond to communication attempts from families when children are at our preschool due to it being a breach of expected professional conduct. Staff avoid personal communication, including on social networking sites, with parents with whom they act in a professional capacity. 

• If a member of staff and a family are friends before a child comes to the Pre-school, this information will be given to the Manager before the child starts and a risk assessment and agreement in relation to boundaries is agreed. 

• Staff observe confidentiality and refrain from discussing any issues relating to work. 

• The use of the Pre-school’s name, logo or any other published material without prior written permission from the manager and/or committee is not allowed. This applies to any published material including the internet or written documents. 

Use of Fitbits/Smart watches 

• To ensure the safety and well-being of children we do not allow staff to use personal smart watches and/or Fitbits that receive calls and messages during working hours. 

• We use phones/mobile phones supplied by the preschool to provide a means of contact. 

• Staff must not wear smartwatches at work, they must be treated the same as staff mobile phones and locked away during working hours. 

• Visitors and parents are asked to put their smartwatches or Fitbits in airplane mode or remove them and put them in their bag whilst in the Pre-school. 

• Children are not allowed to wear smartwatches at Pre-school. 

Last reviewed June 2025