Blog – Latest stories tagged ''

Tuesday 7th February is Safer Internet Day. Celebrated globally and coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the campaign sees hundreds of schools and organisations join together to raise awareness of online safety issues and run events and activities right across the UK.

Each year has a different focus and for 2017, the theme is ‘Be the change: Unite for a better Internet. Schools, companies, police services, charities and other organisations across the UK are invited to get involved in the campaign to inspire the safe and positive use of technology.

Join us on Thursday 2nd February for a Free webinar

The SID campaign will create a huge buzz right across the UK and globally! There will be national youth events, activities in schools across the UK, media coverage, a day of trending on social media, companies will spread the word to customers and employees, as we all aim to reach as many children and families across the UK as possible.

The impact of the Safer Internet Day activities must also be reinforced with ongoing activities throughout the year. An ethos around online safety needs to pervade through the school all year round with initiatives to engage students and stakeholders on the safe use of technology. The schools that tick their e-safety box on Safer Internet Day and do nothing for the rest of the year are doing a great disservice to their pupils.

Getting the Most of SID2017 - Free Webinar, Thursday 2nd February
This year, we have joined forces with Tim Pinto, E-safety Consultant, formerly of the Yorkshire and Humber Grid for Learning and current member of the Education Advisory Board of CEOP to bring you a free webinar.

The live webinar will give you the opportunity to ask questions and find out about resources to help you make the most of the event.

There will be 3 sessions through the day, each offering advice on resources, lessons, policies and ideas for developing activities that can be embedded into the school timetable.

This series of webinars has now been completed. A recording of the afternoon session will be available to download shortly.

Safer Internet Day 2017 set to be biggest yet

Safer Internet Day is the UK’s biggest campaign to inspire children and young people to ‘Be the change’ and use technology positively and responsibly.

Activities from films and a photography project, to lesson plans and presentations, schools are encouraged to deliver engaging activities for Safer Internet Day and empower their students, staff and parents and carers to use technology safely, positively and responsibly.

Safer Internet Day 2017
On 7th February 2017, Safer Internet Day will be celebrated globally with the slogan ‘Be the change: Unite for a better internet’ with millions of people around the world uniting for a better internet.

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of schools and organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

The Safer Internet Day 2016 campaign reached 40% of all UK children, with schools across the country running whole school activities, lessons, holding parent sessions or getting involved in the social media campaign.

How can schools get involved?
Schools across the UK can get involved in a number of ways:

• Engage students by running assemblies or class activities – or join the SID2017 photography campaign to empower your students to create engaging images that communicate a message.
  
• Reach out to parents and carers by running a session or sharing information.
  
• Showcase what you are doing to support the day by joining the supporters list and sharing on social media.
  
• Join the social media campaign – find out how to get involved in the biggest global campaign about the safe use of technology and use the #giveasmile templates to encourage your pupils to create their own emoji or share positive messages.

The impact of Safer Internet Day involvement
Engaging in Safer Internet Day can have a hugely positive impact. Last year, out of those children and young people who had heard about or engaged with Safer Internet Day, 87% said that as a result they felt more confident about what to do if they were concerned about something online. This year already 300 schools have joined the official supporters list for Safer Internet Day 2017 and it looks set to be the biggest Safer Internet Day yet.

As Will Gardner, Director of UK Safer Internet Centre, said:

“Safer Internet Day is a moment in the year where children and young people, parents and carers and schools can all come together and talk openly and honestly about the positives of the internet as well as the potential risks.

“With an ever-changing landscape, it is more important than ever to equip young people with the critical thinking skills they need to navigate the online world.”

E-safety Support - SID2017 Competition
Don't forget to take part in our annual SID competition. To get involved, all your pupils have to do is come up with a positive e-safety acronym using the words CHANGE or UNITE - inspired by the SID2017 theme, Be the Change: Unite for a better Internet.

This competition is open until midnight on February 6th 2017. Find out more

A reminder of the e-safety related events and activities held throughout the year

As the new academic year begins, many schools will be finalising their calendar to ensure that important dates such as examinations, residential trips and parents evenings are included in the yearly planner.

In addition to these standard dates, schools are also encouraged to look at including awareness days into the school calendar to focus on issues which relate to the social and emotional well-being of children and young people.

In terms of e-safety, the standard days are Safer Internet Day (February) and Anti-Bullying Week (November). However, there are many other occasions in the academic year where schools can promote e-safety related issues. National Hate Crime Awareness Week (October) can highlight ways in which schools can inform students of the legal consequences of promoting race hate on the internet. In addition, Data Protection Day (January) is another occasion to ensure that pupils and parents keep their personal data safe when using the internet.

The benefit for schools in engaging in these days is that the organisations who organise these events often have resources such as lesson plans, so that teachers don’t have to start from scratch when putting together lessons. Also, it is a good way of evidencing ways that you promote e-safety to others e.g. parents which can be included in any self-reviews or information for OFSTED.

In addition, awareness days often generate publicity from local or national media, so stakeholders may be more interested in attending events or receiving literature which relate to them. Also, many organisations offer speakers and who can come into school and offer an additional perspective when talking about these subject areas.

Whilst schools may not be able to cover all awareness days that relate to e-safety, it is important to pick out a couple, and establish them in the school calendar. Here are some suggestions:

January
BETT - 24th - 27th January 2018
Data Protection Day - 28th January

February
Safer Internet Day - 6th February 2018
No Tech for Breck Day - 6th Feb - 17th Feb 2018
Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week - 5th - 11th February 2018

March
National Safeguarding Month
National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day - 18th March

April
Childnet Film Competition

May
Mental Health Awareness Week - Date TBC

June
Stop Cyber Bullying Day - 15th June 2018
Stand up to Bullying Day
Child Safety Week
GoGadgetFree/Unplug

July
Stand Up to Bullying Day
World Emoji Day

August

September
Sexual Health Week
Pupil Voice Week

October
Bullying Prevention Month (Cybersmile Foundation)
National Hate Crime Awareness Week
Get Safe Online Week
Digital Citizenship Summit
Digital Kids Show

November
Wear Blue for Bullying Day
Anti-bullying Week
Child Internet Safety Summit

December

If you have an event that you would like to include in this list, please email tina@e-safetysupport.com or use the comments section below.

E-safety Support members can download an e-safety planner from the support and advice area of their dashboard