Our Year 6 pupils joined up with our Senior School students to attend an ‘Online Safety’ event organised by MAW Safeguarding; an organisation which offers support to schools and educators in making the internet a safe place for children and young people.

As a school we regularly practise and promote the safe use of devices and the internet in all our lessons and activities, particularly through our IT curriculum, PSHE programme, and in school assemblies. However, the aim of today’s sessions is to highlight to the students themselves the importance of e-safety; teaching them to recognise some of the risks and dangers and giving them tips and strategies on how to deal with online content or contact which concerns them so that they can use the internet and all digital media in a safe and secure way.

The sessions delivered by Milly Wildish from MAW Safeguarding focused on online safety in a way that is up-to-date, relevant to young people’s day-to-day experiences and above all, empowering. Topics covered ranged from how to deal with spam and unsolicited friend requests to peer pressure and how it can be hard to say no. Information and advice was given on the various tools and ways in which young people can deal with such challenges and pressures. While this included useful tips such as thinking before sharing, privacy settings, reporting and blocking, perhaps the most important was encouraging the students to open up to and engage with parents, carers and teachers about online safety risks and challenges. It is essential young people feel reassured and all know where they can go to for support.

All Year groups (Year 6-Year 13) attended sessions throughout the day. Our thanks to Milly Wildish for coming along to speak to our students. It was a very useful and informative event for students and staff alike.