Safer Internet Day - Internet Safety Workshop 2020
Our second annual workshop, an exciting project between Yarm Preparatory School and seven local primary schools in the Teesside area to engage and develop the knowledge and skills of DIgital Leaders in each school.
Aims
The Preparatory School Digital Leaders led a day-long Internet Safety Workshop, inviting Digital Leaders from other local primary schools to participate in a number of activities to develop digital skills, online safety awareness and general IT skills. The Digital Leaders used the information gleaned from the day to take back to their own schools and feed forward their findings. The result led to the most extensive internet safety survey ever carried out amongst children in the Teesside area, highlighting digital trends and providing useful information for schools, parents and pupils alike.
Background
We held our second Internet Safety Workshop to coincide with Safer Internet Day in February 2020, welcoming Digital Leaders from seven local primary schools, as well as their computing/e-safety lead teachers. The project was led by Gavin Stone (Prep School Deputy Head, Computing Coordinator and CEOP Ambassador), with the Year 6 Yarm Digital Leaders acting as leads and guides for some activities.
The workshop saw a range of projects undertaken, with support from Google, BenQ, Infinity Works and VisualSoft. This included the development of resources to educate parents and pupils about the various apps and activities children participate in online quizzes, some ‘101’ sessions where the children learned about various social media sites and VR/AR sessions led by our Year 6 Digital Leaders.
It also saw the publication of a report on digital trends amongst primary-aged children in the Teesside region, which was shared between all of the schools and used to inform and educate parents and staff. In total, over 200 children took part in the survey from the visiting schools, which has proven to be the widest-reaching survey of this kind in the region.
In all, each group of Digital Leaders participated in eight different activities and took a range of resources and findings back to their schools to share with stakeholders, including an online resource made using Book Creator, where every single child on the day collaborated to write and edit their own content on online safety.
Resources
Yarm Preparatory School contributed two teachers to run and coordinate the event. Lunches and refreshments were provided by the school catering team. School venues were used, with the Prep Hall and one classroom hosting the event. VisualSoft, Infinity Works, Google, BenQ and C-Schools provided additional support by way of resources for the pupils to use/experiment with and staff to host these activities.
Impact
“Brilliant event. The pupils enjoyed all of the activities and developed their knowledge and understanding of online safety.” - Teacher from Layfield Primary School.
“We are more aware of the technologies which will enhance our curriculum as a result of the event. It was also useful to make contacts to enhance our curriculum.” - Computing Coordinator, The Glebe Primary School.
“A superb day which the children thoroughly enjoyed. Well organised and empowering for our children.” - Computing Coordinator, Hartburn Primary School.
Pupil Involvement
8-12 year 5-6 pupils each from Layfield, Kirklevington, Yarm Primary, The Glebe, Hartburn, Preston and Nunthorpe Primary Schools, as well as twelve year 6 pupils from the Prep School took part in the project.
Frequency
This was the second Internet Safety Workshop but plans are already in place to run it again in 2021, once again coinciding with Safer Internet Day in February. More schools are being invited to participate.