Safer Internet Day 2019 has now been and gone, but we are happy to report that our Bigfooters are still going strong! Delivering workshops and assemblies for ages 6- 11 years, we have been delighted to spread key messages about how our young people can protect themselves and each other in order to prevent breaches of safety online.
With two assembly tours operating across the country, as well as various workshop only projects, including for the first time our KS1 ‘Boo Learns to Surf Safely’ package, we have been inundated with schools seeking to provide their students with a creative means through which to explore this often difficult topic.
‘BOO’ FEEDBCAK FROM JENNY HAMMOND PRIMARY SCHOOL: “The workshop itself was fantastic. The activities grabbed the attention of the children and by the end of the session, I felt the children had learnt the objectives set. I also felt that the activities were able to be transferred from the workshop back into the classroom. This will support my further teaching of computing and E safety. The long piece of paper used to share their learning was also a super plenary.”
CAUGHT IN THE NET FEEDBACK FROM EARLSFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL: “Our facilitator was fantastic at engaging the children at their level. They thought of discussion techniques that got them thinking deeply and empathising with characters suffering from cyber bullying. Children were enthusiastic but also took it seriously and this impacted their learning.”
We were also delighted to team up with our delivery partners at Kidscape again, after a successful anti bullying week in November, to fully equip our Bigfooters with the knowledge and expertise to then work effectively within our schools. This year our work focused heavily on spreading internet security and server and programme safety setting messages, as well as where children can look to for help if needed. However, we also investigated how children can develop their own responses to internet safety, especially when it came to restricting their screen time, relationships with other users, and how they relate key safety information back to their parents.
To this end, we also delivered over ten parent inset session in schools this year; one hour sessions assisting parents and guardians to define their role in relation to internet security and safety settings. These workshops also allowed parents/guardians the opportunity to get to know the programmes and games their children are currently using, and explore with us different ways in which they can sensitively approach their children about their daily online activity.
We are therefore delighted to share with you details released by phone and internet provider O2 who, this year, have been closely working with the NSPCC who to develop a wealth of information for parents and educators alike. They have a helpline that anyone can call if they have any questions / concerns about online safety and also offer a service whereby you can make an appointment instore with an o2 guru where parents / carers can discuss any concerns, and can also get help looking at security settings on their devices. You don’t have to be an o2 customer to access these services:
https://www.o2.co.uk/help/nspcc
Tik Tok: A new app used by young people to create and share short videos has also responsibly released information for parents/ guardians related to what they need to know in order to keep their children safe whilst using their app; lets hope all others follow suit!
https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/esafety-news/tik-tok-app-safety-what-parents-need-to-know/