Staying safe online with Digital Awareness UK

We were delighted to discover that Junior School and Dame Bradbury’s pupils, as well as their parents and teachers, would have the opportunity to attend presentations delivered by Digital Awareness UK https://www.digitalawarenessuk.com/. The aim of these interactive sessions was to ensure that young learners and those looking after them understand the importance of safety and wellbeing when navigating the online world. Pupils and adults alike were very impressed by the content and pace of the sessions which Charlotte Robertson, one of the founders of Digital Awareness UK, led and all came away feeling more confident about the choices which need to be made whilst online, virtually every day.

All of the talks were well received and shared a common theme of ensuring that we all knew what the current issues and dangers are associated with using the Internet and social media. As well as this we all received good sound practical advice and tips on how to best prepare ourselves and our children with this ever changing topic. The themes covered provided food for thought in PSHEE discussions and were also an ideal launch for Internet Safety Fortnight across our 3-11 Schools and Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 5 February.

Year 3 very much enjoyed their Digital Awareness Workshop on Monday 21 January at Dame Bradbury’s and on Tuesday 22 at the Junior School. Pupils were eager to share their knowledge and experiences of the digital world. The session was awash with practical tips, and timely reminders to help the children navigate their way through the digital world. Guess Who games, stalking cat videos and a foam microphone that the children could pass around, certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seats, making serious messages engaging and memorable.

In their own words…

We looked at some popular online games and were surprised to learn that they could all be unsafe if you do not get an adult to help to look at the settings. Roumak

We learnt that it is impossible to really know who you are chatting to online. It was fun trying to match photos of people with comments. Kiana

You should check with an adult to see if a video is okay to watch. If you see something that is scary, don’t turn the device off… tell an adult so that they can report and block it. Mohan

I did what the lady said and I have put YouTube Kids on my device. Chelsy

We liked the microphone because it could be thrown around and everyone could hear your answer. Iñigo & Hasan

We thought the quizzes were fun especially the one about which games were safest. Dario & Ella

Learning about our ‘safe five’ made me feel happy because I now know who to go to if something goes wrong. Iñigo

It was great to learn more about online safety and technology. We feel more confident that we know how to use the internet and games safely. Jasmina & Rose

Year 4 pupils’ comments...

I thought Charlotte really raised our awareness about being safe online. Felicity

We learned how to not get into personal conversations with people we don’t know online. Niketh

I really liked the way she was interacting with the audience - the throwable microphone was awesome! Orla

Now we know that it’s better to go on YouTube Kids - this will make sure we are not watching anything we shouldn’t be watching. Tiana

I learned you can’t know whether a stranger online is ever telling the truth. Izzy

The workshop was useful because it helped me understand that not all online apps are safe, depending on who you are and what decisions you make. Radha

Year 5 staff and pupils…

It was a real eye opener. I thought I knew what young people were doing on the internet...which apps and websites were being used. But after the talk I could see that keeping pace with what young people are doing is an uphill challenge… they are always one step ahead! That it why it is so important to equip young people with the knowledge to protect themselves and to build up communication so they know where to go to for help when things go wrong. Mrs Parker

I didn’t know there are good hackers as well as bad hackers. Hanna

I was really shocked about how mean some people can be on the internet. Lili

The internet can be a dangerous place if you aren’t careful. Lucas

Year 6 pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the interactive and thought-provoking digital safety workshop. During the session they were challenged to use many aspects of the SPF Thinking Toolkit to engage with materials and pertinent questions about their online usage and personas. Through a range of challenges and group tasks they reflected on how to keep safe online and how important it is to build a safe profile when creating passwords and engaging in online communications.

They loved having the opportunity to openly discuss and ask questions about their online world and using a fun mobile microphone to present their ideas and opinions safely and freely. They left the session understanding how to report and deal with a variety of online situations and ways to seek support when they are unsure of the next steps to take when building a positive online experience for themselves and others.

It was great fun, I liked the microphone cube and the lady spoke in a way that I could understand. Noah

Charlotte spoke about a lot of aspects and taught us how we can be safe and become even safer online. Alexander

We were shown how easy it is for accounts to be hacked and how important it is to be safe online. Verity

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