Young people at Prior’s Court have been joining in a global campaign around staying safe while using the internet.

Ahead of Safer Internet Day 2021 today (Tuesday, 9 February), our Computing Teacher Nuno Guerreiro has been leading on delivering teaching around e-safety.

This year’s Safer Internet Day 2021 theme is “An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world”.

Activities, which have been adapted from existing resources to best meet the needs, interests and learning styles of our young people. have included:

• Making a display of tips around safe internet usage after watching a video about “Pause and Think Online”
• A group activity explaining the ‘SMART online’ approach
• Playing a “true or false” game to show how not everything which is online is true. Our young people then focused on a letter each in the word SMART and created a display of advice using symbols and key words
• A “This is me online” activity to identify what our young people like to do when they are on the internet
• A like/dislike board to encourage young people to communicate their online preferences

A range of resources, ideas and lessons plans have been set up for teachers across Prior’s Court to utilise and implement during sessions, with specific training for staff also planned.

Nuno said: “This is a very important topic to teach our young people as part of the Keeping Me Safe Area of Learning within our Learning Framework, particularly as many of our young people have their own personal internet-connected devices. We take the safety of our young people very seriously, which includes when being online, and it is part of their path to more independent living to access the internet safely.

“It is important to keep working all year round to ensure our young people safe and confident using the internet.

“We only can achieve this if Prior’s Court staff are also informed, vigilant and confident in using the internet safely themselves so we can guide our young people on the right path. We have also sent advice to parents to help support the work we are doing on-site.”

To find out more about Safer Internet Day, go to saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2021