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The SWGfL series of live e-safety briefings recommence in September

After a successful 2 year programme of delivering vital e-safety information across the UK, the South West Grid for Learning are now planning a further series of 80 events to run until march 2016.

Online safety is one of those areas of safeguarding that never seems desperately important until things go wrong; only then do a host of authorities appear to point out the massive gaps that have been missed.

The recent Serious Case Review at a North Somerset First School where a member of staff had been systematically abusing children over a period of time clearly identified the glaring gaps in online safeguarding that in hindsight are so obvious but at the time, obviously didn’t register as a cause for concern.

The E-safety Live Briefings are short sharp sessions that aim to provide the most amount of information in the shortest possible time at a local location to you...and they are free?

Who for?

In the broadest sense the sessions are designed for any professional working with children and young people, and certainly not just designated ICT leads in schools. There will be lots in the session for those in Senior Management, those who are accountable for governance, need to steer holistic approaches and formulate strategy as well as practitioners who are keen to extend knowledge and increase effectiveness. Anyone in the Children’s Workforce will benefit from the insight and the testimonials reflect the wide appeal.

Content

There will be content about current technology, latest trends and issues that are emerging, focus on some of the key research that is being carried out and the important findings from it. Guidance on policy and legislative frameworks as well as exploration of tools, techniques and strategies being employed to good effect. There is also signposting to useful sources of support.

The scanning and scrutiny of material in the rapidly changing field of online safety is constant and the briefings are a vital component in efforts to ensure practitioners and policy makers alike are aware and conversant.

Resource Base

The resource base, accessible by every delegate who attends through a password issued to them, reinforces all the headline content of the briefing by giving access to the detailed research, documentation, presentations, legislation and quoted material of any other form from the session itself. This includes media coverage, video clips, hyperlinks and multi-media interactions.

Hosting Opportunity

The UK Safer Internet Centre are looking for organisations who would like to host one of these briefings, and are committed to achieve a broad reach. So urban or rural, North, South East or West, you could put yourself at the centre of learning and change.

To find out more, visit the E-safety Live website

Make a Noise about Bullying and win tickets to see the classic musical, Wicked

The Anti-Bullying Alliance are working in partnership with Wicked to share the Make a Noise about bullying message through a prestigious and inspirational competition for children and young people in schools and colleges in England.

Schools and colleges are invited to submit entries on behalf of their students in the following six categories:

1. Individual – Key Stage 2 (student aged 9-11)
2. Group – Key Stage 2 (2 to 10 students, aged 9-11)
3. Whole school entry – Key Stage 1 and 2 (11 + students)
4. Individual – Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 (student aged 11-18)
5. Group – Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 (2 to 10 students, aged 11-18)
6. Whole school entry – Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 (11+ students)

How to enter?
Send the Anti-Bullying Alliance a video clip where students Make a Noise about bullying! This could be a song, poem, rap, musical piece – or even a collective shout out in an assembly. The video clip should be no more than 2 minutes long and it can be filmed on a phone.

The prize
One winner in each category will win tickets to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London, and will win one of the following prizes dependent on the category entered: Individual – up to 4 tickets; Group – up to 10 tickets; School - up to 300 tickets.

The competition closes at 5pm on Wednesday 30th September.

For more information on how to enter, including the terms and conditions, visit www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk.

For more information about Wicked visit www.wickedthemusical.co.uk.

July marked the first anniversary of the World’s first scheme set up to give confidence to the public that venues who provide publically available WiFi were barring access to pornographic or child sex abuse websites.

At a time when most children and young people have access to the internet through their mobile phones it is imperative that venue owners ensure that Public WiFi is not only protected but they are reassuring the public that they are doing everything in their power to protect our children and young people in this way.

The scheme ensures that the provision of Public WiFi Service is safe and meets an agreed industry standard as agreed by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron in July 2013.

The UK Government were the initiators behind the scheme and have provided continued support with direct support coming from Minister Ed Vaizey who was instrumental in the development. The recent appointment of Baroness Shields OBE as Minister for Internet Safety and Security further strengthens the Government’s commitment to internet safety.

Baroness Shields stated:
“The Friendly WiFi scheme has been a great success and is another example of how the UK is leading the world when it comes to making the internet a safer place for young people. I am delighted that organisations like IKEA, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Maudsley Centre and the City of York Council are joining the current members who are setting the bar for the responsible provision of public WiFi. Parents can take comfort in knowing that their children are protected from harmful content in these zones, and wherever they see the Friendly WiFi logo."

John Carr, Secretary of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety commented:
WiFi is a key pillar of our hyper-connected, always on world so it is essential that every company or organization that is involved in supplying it to the public thinks about their responsibilities towards children and young people. Friendly WiFi is the only scheme that checks to ensure that public WiFi meets a given standard, regardless of the individual WiFi provider. It is a testament to the success of the UK’s Friendly WiFi scheme that it is now being launched in the USA. I look forward to seeing Friendly WiFi grow and expand over the coming years.”

Beverley Smith, Director of the RDI commented:
“The first year of the scheme has been fantastic and it has been a real pleasure to work with all brands involved as well as the brands I am currently discussing the scheme with. To see the expansion of the scheme across all types of venues is achieving exactly what the scheme was developed to do”

Forerunners of the Scheme included Tesco and Starbucks.

Josh Hardie, Responsibility Director for Tesco stated:
“Friendly Wi-Fi means parents can be safe in the knowledge unsuitable content isn’t accessible through our wireless networks. We want to make sure children are properly safeguarded in our stores and we’re proud to be one of the first organisations to sign up to the scheme. ”

Simon Redfern, Communications Director for Starbucks commented:
“We’re delighted to have supported the Friendly WiFi initiative from the outset. We have exciting WiFi upgrades taking place over the next few months and our customers will soon be able to enjoy a faster service with the reassurance they are in a friendly and safe environment both online and in store at Starbucks.”

Expansion of scheme to the United States
RDI has been working to bring the Friendly WiFi Scheme to the United States with internationally known Internet safety expert, Donna Rice Hughes, CEO and President of Enough Is Enough (EIE), a U.S. based not-for profit organisation whose mission is to make the Internet safer for children and families. EIE launched the National Porn Free WiFi campaign in the United States in 2014 by targeting key brands such as McDonald’s and Starbucks to lead corporate America to adopt a minimum standard of filtering to ensure that pornography or child sex abuse images can’t be accessed whilst using their free Wi-Fi services

Donna Rice Hughes, President ‘Enough is Enough’ US stated:
“Corporate America needs to exercise responsibility to be part of the solution to keep children and families safe while using public WiFi services. The Friendly WiFi accreditation scheme is a win-win for the Corporation who offers filtered and friendly WiFi and is well positioned to become the good housekeeping seal of approval to help guide consumers where to go to use safe Wi-Fi in the U.S.”