This Case Study by Redby Primary School, Sunderland, looks at how their school went about holding an E-Safety Week.
Background
Prior to the sessions, there had been a number of issues surrounding e-safety, particularly outside of school, involving MSN and Social Networking, in which parents had expressed concerns about their own and other children’s understanding of E-Safety. It was felt that both parents and children needed to consider these issues and become more aware of the possible risks involved in using the Internet.
Both ICT subject leaders had attended CEOP training and as part of Safer Internet day, planned to work with each year group, using various resources and training materials. It was felt that parents should also view the materials, in order to approve the content of the children’s sessions and also to further their own understanding of the issues involved in E-Safety.
School Size: There are 427 pupils in the school, including Nursery.
Type: Redby Primary is mixed gender school for ages 3-11.
Other Participants: The Head Boy and Head girl, Tyne Tees News, Sunderland Echo, School Governors.
In line with the ‘Safer Internet Day 2010’ we decided to hold an E-safety week within school. We felt that E-Safety was an extremely important area that both parents and children needed to be educated in. As a result our project began with two parents’ sessions where the main objectives were:
To discuss what is included in the term E- Safety
To explain why we are holding an E-Safety event and what this will involve
To show you the resources we will be using during our E-Safety week
To share ideas and resources for helping to keep your children safe.
Links to the curriculum
These objectives linked in closely with the ICT and PSHCME curriculum.
ICT
Talking about the uses of ICT inside and outside school (5c)
Citizenship
That their actions affect themselves and others, to care about other people's feelings and to try to see things from their points of view (4a)
To recognise the different risks in different situations and then decide how to behave responsibly, including sensible road use, and judging what kind of physical contact is acceptable or unacceptable (3e)
The work we planned also helped with aspects of community cohesion.
What the ICT Subject Leaders did
In October 2009 our ICT subject leaders completed the CEOP ‘Think You Know Training’. This training prompted us to complete a week’s worth of events within school. In preparation for the event we issued ‘Think You Know’ questionnaires from year 1 to year 6. We collated the results and this gave us a great insight into the ways in which our children use the Internet and mobile phones. This further enabled us to tailor the use of our subject leaders’ training and the resources we had to the needs and requirements of our children.
To begin with we prepared two parents’ sessions, one was planned for 9.15am and the other at 5.30. This helped us to optimise the number of parents who could attend because we tried to schedule times that would fit around working patterns. We also contacted the local news (Tyne Tees) who held a live broadcast from school. This included interviewing the Head Teacher, Head boy and girl as well as parents and governors who had attended the session.
Our parents sessions started with the preparation of a number of slides explaining what E-safety involved and why it was so important to teach issues surrounding the topic within school. The information we provided was further supported by documentation such as the Safeguarding children Online – BECTA Feb 2009, which also references the Byron Report. During our parents’ sessions we shared the results of the ‘Think You Know’ questionnaires that we had completed with both KS1 and KS2. Our parents were quite surprised by the findings. We also shared a selection of resources with the parents and asked for their views. To finish the session we explained what our parents could do to help keep their children safe at home and therefore reinforce the lessons we were planning in school.
The overall feedback provided from parents was extremely positive and those who attended (12% of total parents) really appreciated that school was addressing such an important issue.
What the pupils did
Following the parents’ sessions we then held timetabled E- safety lessons from Yr1 –Yr6. These were planned in response to the findings from the questionnaires and issues the parents had discussed. During these sessions we used a range of CEOP resources such as Jigsaw, Tom’s Story, Lee and Kim and Hector’s world. These had all been approved by the parents who attended the E –Safety sessions and were warmly received by the children.
Class teachers then followed up the training sessions with the children. Year groups completed E-Safety posters, podcasts and dramatised activities. This helped to reinforce the important messages we were teaching.
Parents fully supported the materials we proposed to use in the E-Safety sessions with children and they also reported that they had become much more informed after the session. Even though many parents had expected the sessions to be inapplicable to them (for various reasons, including their child being a younger member of the school or the fact that they already considered themselves to be well informed), all parents reported that they were much more informed.
Positives:
Parents felt that limiting access to the internet or social networking would be easier as children would be hearing the same message from home and school.
Parents and children were much better informed about the risks of Internet use.
Both parents and children learnt to compare their behaviour in the online world to the real world.
Parents and children used the resources at home.
The sessions were attended by 12% of parents.
Quotes from parents
“It is great that the school is raising this issue as the children will take more notice – it’s not just parents being ‘controlling.”
“Tonight’s session should be made compulsory for all parents whose children have access to the Internet.”
“Although I monitor my child’s access to the Internet, when he sees these materials he will understand why I am so strict.”
“A very useful and thought provoking meeting.”
Negatives
88% of parents did not attend the sessions and a repeat session held after Safer Internet day was only attended by 3 parents. Further work is required to ensure more parents become informed of E-Safety Issues
Future Developments
We are thinking about following every class assembly with an E-Safety workshop for parents. This will help to ensure more parents are informed of the issues surrounding E-Safety.
Each ICT lesson begins by recapping the in house E-Safety rules.
The films we used were from the ‘Think You Know’ website. However, in order to access them you need to complete the ‘Think You Know’ training. Details of which can be found on the Think You Know website.
Labels: eSafety, Case Studies, Case Study - School-based Innovations and Projects, Awards Case Study
This Case Study by Redby Primary School, Sunderland, looks at how their school went about holding an E-Safety Week.