Blog – Latest stories tagged 'internet'

The rise of communications technology has been fast. For many it arrived fully formed and e-safety is often an attempt to retro fit conventions after the fact. We can not put the genie back into the lamp and it is pointless to stick an Elastoplast over the spout, so somehow we need our understanding to catch-up with reality.

We are delighted to announce that we will be discussing this issue when we speak at Bett next week.

We have joined up with Exa Education - the UK's leading independent Internet Service Provider to schools, who are hosting a number of presentations on their stand. With seminars ranging from need-to-know e-safety advice to teaching computing in 2015, there's something for everyone!

In the E-safety Support presentation, we will illustrate three basic principles underpinning Internet technology and its usage which will equip you to not only understand e-safety today, but also to continue to understand it as the technology evolves.

Be sure to come along to stand B228 at 4pm on Wednesday 21st or 12 noon on Thursday 22nd to hear the presentation.

For those not able to attend Bett, we will be featuring the full presentation in a blog soon.

A timetable of the Exa seminars can be found on their Facebook page.

If you would like to meet a member of the E-safety Support team at Bett, please get in touch using the comments section below.

From educating children about e-safety in the classroom to helping parents teach online safety to their children when they’re at home, the role teachers play in keeping children safe online is ever expanding. 70% of parents look to their child’s school for advice about internet safety.

The internet is a wonderful development both for children and teachers. Long gone are the days when children had to wade through an encyclopedia to learn about the wider world around them. Nowadays, the answer to any question they have is merely a click away: on the worldwide web. Enquiring young minds are now endlessly able to expand their knowledge: learning and socialising, adapting to different technologies and engaging with the world around them in new and exciting ways. However, that same curiosity that makes teaching so fun and rewarding also has its drawbacks when it comes to keeping children safe online.

Dangers that children may face in the ‘real world’ such as being bullied, watching something that’s inappropriate for their age, or inadvertently revealing personal information about themselves to predatory adults are issues that they also need to be aware of in their online worlds.

Whilst schools have always taken these issues extremely seriously, the addition of e-safety to the new National Curriculum for primary schools acknowledges something teachers have known for a long time: parents are looking to teachers to help educate their children about e-safety. With only half of parents feeling equipped to teach their children about e-safety at home, the challenge for teachers is not simply finding the best resources to teach about e-safety in an age appropriate way, but also to communicate that message in ways that will help parents to continue teaching their children about e-safety when they’re at home.

As an online portal for parents about how to keep their child safe online, InternetMatters.org already offers a wide range of resources and e-safety advice for parents. To coincide with the new National Curriculum, a recently launched ‘Schools’ section now offers resources for teachers too.

E-safety Support members can also access a selection of resources the help parental engagement, including an online training module specifically for parents. To find out more, visit our online training page.

If you have any examples of parental engagement issues or successes in your school, please let us know using the comments section below.

The Community Education Awards is an annual celebration of schools’ efforts to help children and young people to become positive community members.

The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain use the Awards to demonstrate the most innovative and effective approaches currently in use and encourage the development of more projects that will have a positive impact on pupils.

The awards for 2014/15 include categories spanning; Health, Safety and Lifestyle; Finance, Enterprise and Employment; Environment; Individuals and; Technology. The Technology category includes the two following awards:

SCC Internet Safety Award
The Internet can be an invaluable resource for entertainment, making new friends and helping children learn. However, the Internet poses many dangers with users potentially at risk. In the same way children should learn about safety in school, they should also be taught the importance of staying safe online. Schools should enter this Award with projects that deal with educating children on how to avoid inappropriate content, how to keep personal information safe and the best practice for downloading information.

The Cyber Bullying Project Award
With social networking, the Internet and the use of mobile technology (texting) having a bigger impact on how we all communicate on a daily basis, it is crucial that children do not become victims of cyber bullying. With pupils just as likely to experience cruelty from children in internet chatrooms as in the classrooms themselves, this award would like to hear about projects that have looked to tackle cyber bullying.

The awards are supported by a number of big names including Axa PPP Healthcare and Childline, and their Brand Ambassador is once again Esther Ranzen, who has been involved with the awards since their launch in 2011.

Awards Organiser Kelly Griffiths said: “The Community Education Awards continue to go from strength to strength with pupils and teachers gaining recognition for their work in a number of areas such as internet safety and the environment, amongst many others.

“For the 2014/15 academic year we have expanded our Awards to incorporate more topics and we are already looking forward to hearing success stories from schools and teachers up and down the country.

“We are proud to offer schools the opportunity to have a project or person rewarded for their achievements. As we open the Awards for entries, we would like to encourage schools to visit our website and enter one of the awards on offer through our online form.”

Enter your school now