e-Safety in Schools

On the 10th February 2010, Ofsted published its report: "The Safe Use of New Technologies". This report is based on evidence from a small-scale survey carried out between April and July 2009 in 35 maintained schools in England (Including a variety of settings including Primary, Secondary, Special, PRU contexts), which included a Primary and a Secondary School in Kent!

The report evaluated the extent to which the schools taught pupils to adopt safe and responsible practices in using new technologies, and how they did (or did not) achieve this. It also assessed training on internet safety for the staff in the schools visited and considered the schools' links with families in terms of e-safety.

All of the schools visited reported that they had dealt with a variety of e-safety incidents, such as pupils accessing inappropriate websites, as well as problems with social networking sites and instant chat sites.

The inspectors focused on 5 key areas:

• Overall effectiveness of e-Safety
• Outcomes for pupils
• E-Safety provision
• Leadership and management
• Training for all staff

The provision for e-safety was outstanding in five of the schools, good in 16, satisfactory in 13, and inadequate in one.

The 21 most effective schools were considered to have a well-considered, active approach to keeping even the youngest  pupils safe when they were online and were helping them to take responsibility for their safety with knowledge that is appropriate to and sufficient for their age and stage of development. The schools carefully considered the pupils' knowledge and understanding and supported them accordingly. The staff training was well established, incidents and activities were logged and recorded and the e-Safety curriculum was planned and coordinated effectively across all subjects and Key stages.

In the "outstanding" schools all the staff, including members of the wider workforce, shared responsibility for e-Safety and its delivery and development across the school. Assemblies, tutorial time, personal, social, health and education lessons, and an age-appropriate curriculum for e-safety all helped their pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies. Senior leaders, governors, all members of staff and families worked together to develop a clear strategy for e-safety and policies and procedures were reviewed regularly in light of technological developments. These schools also recognised that, although they had excellent relationships with families, they needed to keep developing these to continue to support e-safety at home.

All of the ‘outstanding' schools used ‘managed' systems to help pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies. ‘Managed' systems (filtering and monitoring systems) have fewer inaccessible or blocked sites than ‘locked down' systems and so require pupils to take responsibility themselves for using new technologies safely. ‘Locked down' Systems were felt not to provide pupils with enough opportunities to learn how to assess and manage risk for themselves online. 13 schools used ‘locked down' systems which kept their pupils safe while in school, Ofsted felt that such systems were less effective in helping them to learn how to use new technologies safely. These pupils could therefore be considered more vulnerable overall. This was considered to be a particular concern when pupils were educated away from their main school, e.g. in work-based learning.

The area Ofsted felt to be the weakest aspect of provision in those schools visited was the extent and quality of training provided for staff. It did not always involve all the staff (including all member of the school support and site team) and was not provided systematically and monitored. In addition, although many schools had policies and procedures for e-safety, most of the schools did not review or evaluate these regularly and include input from stakeholders including pupils, families and governors.

Ofsted felt that the schools visited needed to focus more consistently on a number of important areas, including:

• developing a curriculum for e-safety which builds on what pupils have learnt before and which reflects their age and stage of development
• providing training which enables all staff, not just teachers, to support pupils
• helping families to keep their children safe

To do this, Ofsted felt that schools need more support from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Becta, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and local authorities, in developing and maintaining good practice.

The recommendations that Ofsted are now making to schools are that they should:

• audit the training needs of all staff and provide training to improve their knowledge of and expertise in the safe and appropriate use of new technologies
• work closely with all families to help them ensure that their children use new technologies safely and responsibly both at home and at school
• use pupils' and families' views more often to develop e-safety strategies
• manage the transition from locked down systems to more managed systems to help pupils understand how to manage risk; to provide them with richer learning experiences; and to bridge the gap between systems at school and the more open systems outside school
• provide an age-related, comprehensive curriculum for e-safety which enables all pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies
• work with their partners and other providers to ensure that pupils who receive part of their education away from school are e-safe
• systematically review and develop their e-safety procedures, including training, to ensure that they have a positive impact on pupils' knowledge and understanding.

The full report can be found here: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Thematic-reports/The-safe-use-of-new-technologies  and includes details about the process and what some schools had implemented in order to achieve their grading. There are also some useful hints and tips which schools may find helpful!

 The BBC's education coverage can be seen here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8505914.stm

As a result of this report Kent County Council will be reviewing its current procedures and policies including a discussion about the use of ‘locked down' and ‘managed' systems in our Primary and Special schools.

 

We welcome any comments or views on how Kent County Council can help schools achieve an ‘outstanding' grading below.

Rebecca Avery, e-Safety Officer

 

Brand new and updated resources are now available from CEOP in time for Safer Internet Day (9^th Feb 2010) 

"Lee and Kim's Adventures: Animal Magic". New KS1/Foundation Stage Resource

Lee and Kim's adventure is a cartoon which features Lee and his sister Kim playing on their favourite online game "Animal Magic".  The video explains the dangers of sharing personal information and introduces Superhero SID who protects children on the internet! The video includes SID's song which along with several lesson plans and activities (including mask, puppets, games and song sheets) can be downloaded separately.

These resources are suitable for Foundation Stage (Some content is still to be released) and Key Stage One - although adults and Key Stage Two children are sure to enjoy and learn from the show too!

You need to be registered at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers to be able to download all the resources.

 

Version 3 Think U Know Presentation: KS3/4

The Think U Know presentation for 11 to 16 yr olds has been updated and re-launched. It includes sections on Sexting, Spim and Cyberbullying as well as new video content and has 5 supporting lesson plans to accompany the resource. To download all the 11-16 content you must be a registered Think U Know trainer.

 

New Online Surveys

Due to demand, CEOP are now providing online surveys for staff and students - links can be found below.

Hector's World survey (for teachers to complete) - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hectorsworld

ThinkUKnow 8-10 survey (for pupils from 8-10 to complete) - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TUK8to10survey

ThinkUKnow 11-16 survey (for pupils from 11-16 to complete) - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TUK11to16survey

 

 

Also don't forget to register your plans for SID10 on the Activity Map!

 

Safer Internet Day is now just a week away and Childnet International have put together the following resources to aid schools in preparing for it:

• Check out 10 quick ideas for both PRIMARY and SECONDARY teachers around the theme of 'think before you post'.

• Childnet & SWGfL have devised 'think before you post' related drama activities and scenarios for SECONDARY audiences - "With Friends Like These" 

 'Know IT All' update On Safer Internet Day itself (9th Feb) Childnet will be launching a TOOLKIT OF RESOURCES FOR SECONDARY TEACHERS. This new Know IT All resource will be available online at www.childnet.com/kia and will contain practical and easy to use lesson plans and resources on a range of subjects, including copyright, digital citizenship, social networking, cyberbullying and grooming. This work has been supported by the TDA, the UKCCIS and Becta. Childnet has partnered with ITV's Signed Stories to produce the Primary resource, The Adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART crew in British Sign Language.  The first BSL chapter will be released on SID (9th Feb). There will also be a new promotional film for the Know IT All suite of resources,  produced with the support of Becta, the TDA and UKCCIS. Finally, to aid Childnet's future development of KIA, Childnet have produced an online evaluation form for those who have used or who are using any of the Know IT All resources (i.e. Know IT All for Parents, Know IT All for Primary, Know IT All for Secondary and Know IT All for Trainee teachers). Feedback  is very important to Childnet in order to improve and evaluate their resources.  This form can be found online at www.childnet.com/kia  

European Safer Internet Day (SID) 2010 istaking place on Tuesday 9th February. SID10 is be supported by countries throughout Europe and during the week (from Monday 8th February – Friday 12th February 2010), a range of activities will be taking place across the continent to help protect young people online. The theme for SID10 is ‘Think Before You Post’ and it is hoped that the whole week will be a week of action across Kent and in the UK.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) are the official UK hub for SID activities and you can visit Thinkuknow’s Safer Internet Day 2010 website at http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk  

CEOP hope that these pages can help to identify regional and national activities that schools and staff may wish to promote or get involved with, as well as highlighting various resources (from CEOP and other organisations) that can be used to help raise awareness.

For further information about international activities for SID please visit http://www.saferinternetday.org

Make sure your school takes part in Safer Internet Day 2010 by registering your event on the Thinkuknow activity map! You can also let the e-Safety Officer know by commenting below about any events and activities planned, or via email  as the Kent Press Team are looking for schools and case studies with exciting plans to share experiences and ideas.

Microsoft UK are offering Schools the chance to offer and host free online sessions for parents on internet safety to support Safer Internet Day 2010 on the 9th February and the launch of the new digital code for children "Zip it, Block it, Flag it". Places are limited and Microsoft are asking that schools register by the 28th January if they wish to join

These virtual sessions offer schools the opportunity to host a parents evening with a presentation led by a Microsoft volunteer to inform and educate parents on the technology their children are using and how they can keep them safe when online.

These sessions are free and all you need is to be able to connect to the internet on a screen or whiteboard and parents will be able to see the presentation and any questions can be submitted.

For more information and to see how to book please follow this link or visit Microsoft's website directly here

 

For more information on SID 10 and to register activities taking place in your school visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk

Don't forget to let us know your plans for Safer Internet Day by commenting below or emailing the e-Safety officer: esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk

A collection of useful websites with curriculum guidance, which can be used in Primary Schools to compliment ICT themes across Key Stage One and Two has been posted on the new Kent ICT website. Key e-Safety issues are explored with some suggestions to help staff overcome potential barriers in the classroom.

These resources and web links were gathered together by the Advisory Service Kent's Primary ICT team and Kent's e-Safety Officer. If you have any suggestions for useful e-Safety websites which you've used or seen used successfully in the classroom, which could be added to the list then please comment below or email suggestions directly to esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk

e-Safety in Research and e-Awareness

e-Safety in Communication

 

 

It has been bought to Kent County Council's attention that many Local Authorities are blocking a teaching resource website: www.sparklebox.co.uk.  Although this website is popular with schools, CEOP has issued a statement supporting both this action and the following statement from South West Grid for Learning: 

 

“It is understood that a person who is on the record as an owner and director of Sparklebox Teacher Resources Limited (which appears to claim ownership of the SparkleBox web site and children’s learning materials) is a registered sex offender who has recently admitted a second offence, is on remand in prison and is awaiting sentence in January.”

For this reason we feel it right to block the site centrally until more information is available and review whether this site should be blocked permanently after consulting schools and other sources.

Failure to block this site may place Schools or Kent County Council in a difficult position regarding duty of care. Should staff wish to continue using the website there is nothing to stop its use from home. We invite discussion from staff who may be concerned about this decision to discuss this on the e-Safety Blog (please note that this blog is moderated so your comment may not appear immediately).

 

 

What does "think before you post" mean to you?

CEOP (The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) are inviting young people to create and post a video clip to show them what this statement means to you and why it is so important to be safe on the internet - make your entry as original, exciting or as edgy as you like. The clip can be anything you like - they want to know what you think!

This is a competition that is open for 8-16 year olds to create a short film (1-3 minutes long) under the banner of Think Before You Post - what does it mean to them, how would they explain this sentiment to other young people and we are throwing down the gauntlet to young people to be as creative as they like to get this message across to their peers - and the opportunity to win some exciting prizes.  Entries can be made by individuals, small groups of up to 5 people or as a whole class - a great end of term project perhaps! 

The entries can be submitted  now and the closing date is 28^th January 2010.

For further details click here 

For more information on Safer Internet Day 2010 visit http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk/

Did you know about the New Facebook Privacy Settings?

Facebook have recently ‘revamped' their Privacy Settings which they say will enable users to have more control over the information they share and post online.

These changes include:

•  A "simpler" Privacy page and some settings have been consolidated. For security reasons, you will now be required to enter your password to update your privacy settings.
• A privacy control has been added to the publisher at the top of your home and profile page. This allows users to set privacy on individual posts
• Instead of having networks for regions (e.g. London), people's locations are now listed in the "Current City" or "Current Region" field of their profiles. This means if you use the "Friends and Networks" privacy setting, the networks part only applies to work and school networks
• A basic set of information is publicly available, meaning it's visible to anyone that navigates to your profile. This includes applications you use on Facebook, and websites you connect with via Facebook. This information includes your name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, friend list, and Pages. Any additional information (e.g. photos or videos) will only be exposed if your privacy settings allow it.
• There are now three basic levels of privacy: Friends, Friends of Friends, Everyone.

However these changes have already come under great criticism from users, digital rights groups and bloggers as it is felt that these new changes could be encouraging users to share more information with the wider web and becoming more visible online, which of course gives great concern to younger and possibly more vulnerable users and professionals who may be using Facebook.

See the BBC's report on the new Facebook settings here

 

It is strongly recommended that all Facebook users make sure they are aware of how to protect their profiles online with the new settings

 

So, what do the new Privacy Settings mean?

These new Privacy changes have meant that there is a of publicly available information available as default to Facebook and the wider web community, such as your Name, Profile Picture, Current City, Gender, Networks, Friend List and Pages.

Some tips:

• To prevent the basic level of information being shared online via search results you must restrict your search results to only being seen by "Friends" or remove/change the content. 
• To hide your friends list online you must click the pencil icon in the Friends box on your profile. Then, uncheck the "Show my friends on my profile" box. People who come to your profile will now not be able to see this information (Please note that applications can be still view and access your friends lists at this point).
• You can restrict your Profile Picture from being shared through Facebook via the Photo Album Privacy options by selecting the album called "Profile Pictures" and setting the option to "friends only"
• You can remove your profile from being displayed by public search engines in the Privacy settings under the "Search" option - uncheck the "Allow indexing" option

Facebook recommends that ‘Everyone' should be able to see information that they say will make it easier for friends to find and identify you, which includes information like your About Me description, Family and Relationships, Work and Education Info and Website, posts that you make, photo albums and status updates. They do remind users that by using the "Everyone" option then the information will be seen by others on the internet or others who view your profile, but will this be recognised by young people?

Facebook do recommend that personal information such as Birthdays, photos and pictures you've been tagged in etc can only be seen by "Friends of Friends" (this is the new default setting) and that information such as phone numbers etc can only be seen by friends. This however doesn't take into account that we don't always know who our friends are friends with and sometimes people accept friend's requests from strangers to access games or to appear to be popular.  This could have potentially disastrous effects for young people and staff (e.g. if colleagues have accepted young people onto friend's lists etc)  as friends of friends may be able to access more information than under the previous settings.

For users whose profile says they are under 18 then the Privacy settings are slightly different. Both adults and under 18s have publicly available information (name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, Friend List, Pages etc)  but the "Everyone" setting works differently for under 18's. When under 18's set information like photos or status updates to be visible to "Everyone," that information is only visible to their friends, friends of friends, and people in any school or networks they have joined. Under 18's do not have public search listing created for them, so they do not appear in outside search engines (such as google) until they have turned 18.

This setting will however rely on the fact that a user hasn't lied about their age when they began using Facebook. (We are already aware of the growing numbers of young people, as young as 9 ho use Social Networking, 70% of 9-19's according to Ofcom, and a recent survey by Netmums with Professor Tanya Byron found that three quarters of children secretly visit social networking sites without their parents' permission.)

 

 So what next?

We strongly recommend that all Facebook users, young people, parents/carers and staff go through the new privacy settings and carefully consider the information posted online to ensure we aren't sharing any information with the web that we don't want or need to.

Facebook's new guidance on Privacy can be found here 

FAQ's about the new Privacy Settings can be found here 

Facebook have posted some video tutorials here

 

NB: Please note that this post may be amended according to any future changes Facebook may make to the Privacy settings.

Any comments or discussions will be gladly received!

 

Today 300 delegates from across government, industry, law enforcement and the third sector will attend the UKCCIS Summit in London for the launch of the first Child Internet Safety Strategy and  Digital Code for internet safety. 

 ‘Click Clever Click Safe’ , was drawn up by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and will be launched by the Prime Minister at the first UKCCIS Summit in London today. Young people now have much greater online access than ever before, with research showing that 99 per cent of 8-17 year olds have access to the web. New research published today also shows that 18 per cent of young people said they had come across harmful or inappropriate content online, with 33 per cent of children said their parents don’t really know what they do on the internet. Today’s strategy will outline how government, industry and charities are working together to keep children and young people safe online and implement the recommendations from Professor Tanya Byron’s review ’Safer Children in a Digital World’. The strategy will mean:

• For the first time ever, internet companies, charities and the Government will be independently reviewed against new UKCCIS standards to keep children and young people safe online
• Young people and parents will be targeted by a new Digital Code ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it’ - the ‘Green Cross Code’ for internet safety. This will be adopted by retailers, social networking sites, schools and charities and displayed where appropriate
• Parents will be able to access a one-stop shop website for internet safety advice hosted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP)
• From September 2011 online safety will be a compulsory part of the curriculum from age 5; and
• Professor Tanya Byron will review the Council’s progress, beginning in January 2010

  

The "Zip it, Block it, Flag it" campaign is backed by government investment, and will encourage children to:

• Zip: not share personal, intimate details with strangers they have met online, while at the same time closing off some parts of the web to children by using security PINs or other parental controls.
• Block: Block emails or any other contact from people or companies they do not know and block children from accessing certain sites.
• Flag: Highlight any suspicious individuals, activities or websites to the relevant authority, including site admins, teachers or even police.

 Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "The internet provides our children with a world of entertainment, opportunity and knowledge - a world literally at their fingertips. But we must ensure that the virtual world is as safe for them as this one. Today we are launching our online version of the 'green cross code'. We hope that ‘zip it, block it, flag it’ will become as familiar to this generation as ‘stop, look, listen’ did to the last." This new strategy builds on the progress already made by the Government to implement the Byron review and provide parents and young people with the information, advice and guidance they need to ensure they can enjoy the internet safely. The Government also announced today that:

• All 270,000 computers to be provided under the Government’s Home Access scheme will incorporate the CEOP Advice, Help, Report button, to help children and their families quickly report inappropriate content or internet approaches from strangers as well as get help and advice on issues such as cyberbullying, viruses and hacking.
• Government will lead the way globally, by exploring how child internet safety can be improved through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

 

UKCCIS was set up in September 2008 to implement the recommendations from Professor Tanya Byron’s review ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’. It is made up of over 140 organisations, including Google, Microsoft, Bebo and the NSPCC.

 

To download  “Click Clever Click Safe: The First Child Internet Safety Strategy” click here

For more details on the Launch and promotional material click here 

To hear Professor Byron speak to BBC news about the new strategy click here

 

Share your views and ideas of the New "Green Cross Code" for the internet "Zip it, Block it, Flag it"

Orange have launched a new e-Safety education video for parents called "Not knowing's not enough".

The video considers the fears and concerns that parents and carers (indeed many adults) have about the internet and could be a fantastic starting point to create discussion around the topic at parents events or staff meetings. The film depicts children returning home from school, dropping their school bags and going straight to their rooms to go online. The resulting discussions from their parents are seemingly linked by a common concern about what their children may be up to. There are some positive messages about the internet as well as the negative so that the film has some balance.

Orange has also updated their online information for parents at http://www1.orange.co.uk/safety/ 

The website includes the film and has hints and tips, a handy parent's guide, as well as information about blocking and reporting content to Orange.

Let us know your views on this new resource below.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) is calling on all schools in England to take part in Anti-Bullying Week 2009, which takes place 16 -20 November. The focus will be on cyberbullying - the use of information communications technology (ICT), particularly mobile phones and the internet, to deliberately upset someone else.  Research has found that more than a third of 12-15-year-olds have faced some form of cyberbullying.

This year's campaign ‘Stay safe in cyberspace' offers schools a wealth of opportunities to explore the serious issue of cyberbullying. As with all bullying, the experience of being cyberbullied can be very painful for those who are the targets. Schools and communities can use Anti-Bullying Week 2009 to address issues around cyberbullying in a positive way, involving the whole school community in tackling the problem.

To help plan for Anti-Bullying Week 2009, ABA has sent a resource pack to every school in the country. The pack is full of essential information to support anti-bullying work, and the materials and complementary online resources highlight links to the national curriculum. The resource pack is also available to download from the ABA website

The resource pack includes advice for parents and carers on how to deal with cyberbullying, a summary of the DCSF guidance on cyberbullying, ideas from Young ABA for children and young people, stickers and an order form for ABA pin badges, logobugs, pencils and posters highlighting this year's theme.

Additional guidance is also available for Further Education colleges, including guidance for senior management and student support teams, and anti-bullying tutorial sessions

Beat Bullying resources

The charity Beatbullying are also inviting schools and young people to take part in a competition to design a new "Cybermentors Widget" for the Cybermentors website, during anti-bullying week.

The competition deadline is 5pm on Friday 27th November 2009 and entries can be posted or emailed to beat bullying. Winners will be announced on the CyberMentors and Beatbullying websites the following week. The completion template, examples and entry details can be found here

Beatbullying have also launched a set of lesson plans, activities and assemblies for schools to use during anti-bullying week which are available here

 

Further information on online bullying is  also available on the Becta website and on the Next Generation Learning site.

 

Tell us your plans!

Are you or your school taking part in anti-bullying week? If so, share your plans or ideas on the e-Safety blog

Vodafone have launched the first comprehensive website to support parents understand their children's online activities and support them in their digital world. The Vodafone Parents' Guide , has been developed with leading parenting website Mumsnet and tested extensively to ensure it builds parents' confidence. The aim of the website is to help parents play an active and essential role in their children's digital world and to get to grips with their use of mobiles and other online social media.

 Vodafone.com/parents bringings together a wide range of topics in one place. Divided into two sections, 'Get to grips with technology' and 'Get involved and stay in control', it offers up-to-date guidance on issues such as children's excessive use of technology, managing their presence in social media, access to location technology, cyber-bullying and the risks of meeting strangers online.

Carrie Longton, co-founder of Mumsnet, said: "With technology developing at such an incredible pace, it's great that Vodafone has produced an online resource to help us understand it.  The feedback from the parents on Mumsnet was very positive and many felt they learned a huge amount while they were testing the site."

Professor Tanya Byron highlighted the generational divide between parents and their children in her 2008 Review "Safer Internet in a Digital Age" and noted that parents do not feel equipped to help their children in the digital world. She commented that they "...either under estimate or do not realise how often children come across potentially harmful and inappropriate material on the internet and are often unsure what they would do about it" and said that this generational divide can lead to fear and a sense of helplessness.

Annie Mullins OBE, Global Head of Content Standards at Vodafone, who led the development of the website, comments: "Many parents tell us that they are baffled by what their children are doing be it on their on their mobile, on Facebook or via their iphones. They say it's hard to keep up with the pace of change.  Their desire is to get simple, clear information on everyday matters, such as knowing what age a child should be given a mobile or setting the rules for using Facebook, and very practical advice about what to do. Our new Parents' Guide empowers parents as they face the challenges of the 'Twitter generation'"

 

 

Young People and Privacy

Ofcom today published research showing 54 per cent of 11-16 year olds in the UK say young people need advice about how to keep their personal information online private.

Many children and young people also believe that information is needed on how to keep security information such as password and PIN numbers safe (28 per cent), how to avoid inappropriate content online (22 per cent) and how to deal with cyberbullying (20 per cent).

Nearly a quarter of children and young people stated that they wouldn't know what they would do if they encountered ‘inappropriate material' on their mobile phone (25 per cent) or games console (22 per cent).  

The majority of 7-16 year olds say they have received some information about staying safe online (74 per cent).  But 23 per cent say no-one has talked to them about online safety

The full summary of the research can be found here 

 New Parental Guidence

Ofcom has also published two new guides for parents and carers on how to use parental controls on mobile phones, games consoles and portable media players and, if they need to, how to report inappropriate content.

The guide for parents and carers on parental access controls on mobile phones can be found here 

The guide for parents and carers on parental access controls on games consoles and portable media players can be found here

 Ofcom previously produced a guide about managing media for children and young people (Digital TV etc) which can be found here

Children's Minister Delyth Morgan yesterday launched a new facility on myguide, a free and easy-to-use tool to help parents and carers catch up with their children when it comes to the Internet.

"myguide" helps provide the next step in the Government's implementation of Dr Tanya Byron's review of internet safety. myguide can be used independently, with the support of a friend or family member, or with help from experts in one of the thousands of UK online centres based in libraries and community organisations.

The updates to myguide now includean interactive guidance course and quiz to help families manage the risks while enjoying the benefits of the web. It includes many of the top parental concerns about the internet, from phishing and spam to online rogue traders and extremist websites, from chat rooms to music file-sharing, and from stealth marketing to safety filters. The site stresses the importance of open family discussions and where to go for additional information and help.

Launching the new resource, Children’s Minister Delyth Morgan said: "Today's generation of children and young people are often much more computer savvy than their parents, something that can be of great concern as mums, dads and carers look to keep their children safe online without restricting their enthusiasm for and exploration of the Internet. The free myguide service is designed specifically for people in this situation. The new Family Internet Safety guide will help people become more knowledgeable about the risks and how to manage them. It will be particularly useful for the many thousands of parents who will be participating in the Home Access programme when it is rolled out nationally from the end of the year. myguide will be an important part of the support for the programme to help parents make effective use of the Home Access computers and Internet connectivity to support their children's learning."

Commenting, Dr Tanya Byron, author of the review, Safer Children in a Digital World, said:  "Parents need to be internet-confident to be able to help their children manage its risks and make the most of its opportunities. Since my Review, the Government has made good progress on making my recommendations a reality. The UK Council for Children's Internet Safety (UKCCIS) has been established, advice has been published for parents on Social Networking, and a new set of resources, 'Know IT All for primary teachers', has been launched to help schools keep young children safe online. Now, another gap has been filled with the new myguide resource. This means that parents just beginning to learn about the internet can from the outset learn how to keep their children safe and savvy online."

A Worcestershire teenager is thought to be the first person in Britain jailed for social network bullying after threatening to kill someone on Facebook.

In jailing 18-year-old Keeley Houghton up for three months in a young offenders institution, District Judge Bruce Morgan described the online bullying of 18-year-old Emily Moore as "warped" and "nasty" after hearing how she had been targeted on the popular site. He stated "Since Emily Moore was 14 you have waged compelling threats and violent abuse towards her. Bullies are by their nature cowards, in school and society. The evil, odious effects of being bullied stay with you for life."

Houghton sobbed throughout the hearing at Worcester Magistrates today as it was described how she had targeted Miss Moore for four years since they had been at school together, and had left the message on Facebook saying she was going to "murder" her and other abusive messages.

Miss Moore stated "I am so relieved. My blood used to run cold reading her comments. Her abuse consumed my every waking moment for the past four years. I got so scared I couldn't even turn on the computer."

As well as the three-month term of detention, Houghton was given a restraining order banning her from contacting Miss Moore in person, via the internet or in any other manner for five years. Read more on the case here

This case is a landmark in the fight against cyberbullying, as Internet users have previously been jailed for harassment on social networking sites but Houghton is the first to be convicted of bullying via the internet.

Emma-Jane Cross, chief executive of charity Beatbullying, said the sentencing was the first of its kind in the UK. She said although cyber-bullying is increasing, the government, networking sites like Facebook and charities should work together to tackle the problem of bullying generally.

"The sentencing of an 18-year-old girl for cyberbullying is the first of its kind in the UK and sets an important precedent. Cyber-bullying is a worrying and fast-growing trend which can be more harmful than typical schoolyard bullying. However, the solution is not to limit young people's internet access and phone usage, instead, social networking sites like Facebook, along with the Government and charities like Beatbullying, must work together to tackle the real root of the problem - the bullying itself."

If you or someone you know has been effected by Cyberbullying then visit the Cybermentors site for advice and information.

Childnet have launched new "How to guides" for young people, teachers and parents on their Kidsmart Website. The "Skills School" features brief video clips with voice-overs explaining how to use safety features of websites and services such as MSN, Bebo and Google searching.

Childnet are considering suggestions for new video guides so send requests in to Kidsmart or contact or follow them via twitter 

I've put in a request for a Facebook guide as it seems to be very popular with young people in Kent Schools, including those under 13 despite the minimum age limit imposed under COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act).

Schools frequently ask me how we can discuss the safe use of sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MSN with under 13s, without being seen to be promoting them (and the fact they are nearly always filtered in educational settings).  I think the Skills School could be seen as one possible alternative due to its impartiality and ease of use with young people and adults. It's a resource that can be recommended to young people and their parents if a concern is raised or be used as part of a PSHE or ICT scheme of work/session.

The Kent Video "Be Safe e-Safe" was also launched to be aimed at transition aged students who might be using social networking sites without considering the dangers. The video is available to watch online here and the hard copy version contains 3 guides to MSN, Facebook and Bebo. A copy was sent to all Schools in Kent and Medway but to request a copy contact the e-Safety Officer  (please note number are extremely limited).

The internet is a huge source of positive experiences that offers unprecedented opportunities for global information exchange, communication, networking and education. However, alongside these benefits are risks, often similar to those in the offline world.

The offline risks of terrorism and violent extremism are well-known, and these are mirrored online. Terrorists and violent extremists exploit the internet for both operational purposes and as a tool for radicalisation and recruitment. This represents a serious risk to vulnerable individuals using the internet.

The Office for Security and Counter Terrorism in the Home Office has produced a document "Safeguarding online - Explaining the risk posed by violent extremism" which explains the risks posed by violent extremist material on the internet. The leaflet provides case studies, highlights legal issues and offers advice to individuals and schools on how to protect vulnerable individuals from this type of material.

An opportunity from CEOP for Young People (or those who work with them) aged 14-18:

The Attorney General's Youth Network encourages young people to understand and respect the law, and contribute to citizenship education (including increasing understanding of the justice system and of an individual's rights and responsibilities).

 A competition is being launched to encourage young people to explore issues on citizenship and the rule of law. The competition and development of an Attorney General's Youth Advisory Council, as part of the Youth Network activities, is designed to involve young people aged 14-18 in the processes of government and law. Through the Attorney general's Youth Advisory Council, young people will be encouraged to share an open dialogue to discuss opinions/ideas on relevant matters within the state and their local communities.

 The competition closes at midnight on 16th September.  A panel will select up to 30 top entries selected, the winning entrants will be invited to become members of the Attorney General's Youth Advisory Council. The first meeting of the Youth Advisory Council will be held by November, and those selected will be announced on the 22nd September at a launch event in London. The top three entries will receive an Attorney General award. This is the chance to be recognised and to make a real difference. The Attorney General will write to those selected for the Attorney General Youth Advisory Council, their head teachers and local MP's congratulating them on their achievement.

 (Please note that if you are short listed for the top entries your entry may be featured on the website or other publicised material.)

 Youth Advisory Council role and key aims

Key Aims: ‘Leading and Influencing Change'

• To involve young people in the processes of government and law, and facilitate and promote dialogue, bringing a real and fresh perspective about youth issues.

Role:

• To consult with young people and local community groups on legal issues and policies that concerns young people.

• To collect, analyse & provide the Attorney General with information on issues and policies in law concerning young people.

• To consider methods to resolve youth-related conflicts

• To partner with local organisations on shared issues

• To prepare for youth leadership through participation

• To propose recommendations to improve the lives of young people

• Meetings will be held with the Attorney General at least twice each year.

Young people can visit www.youtube.com/agyouthnet<http://www.youtube.com/agyouthnet> for more information and to submit their entries.

 

Kind Regards,

 CEOP Education Team

Please note and mark the following e-Safety events in your diary!

 8th September 2009: Insafe Back-to-School campaign

 Insafe will celebrate the entry to the new school year and mark international literacy day with a brand new portal for increased interactivity. At its launch, the portal will feature information and activities for students and pupils and guide them to the national language websites of the 27 countries that make up the Insafe network. A blog and forum will provide a new platform for teachers to share their ideas and concerns, and the "safety issues" on the current site will be revamped to provide customized information and resources. Watch the Insafe site for more news.

 The e-Safety kit will go online in September 2009 after the success of Insafe's e-Safety toolkit (with over 320,000 copies disseminated across more than 15 countries), this resource for families and primary schools will become available online at http://www.esafetykit.net/ or directly through the Insafe portal. Initially the toolkit will be available in 6 languages, but the online version will gradually become available in more languages to provide monthly safety tips and fun activities as well as printable work sheets for teachers.

22^nd and 23^rd October: Safer Internet Forum 2009

This will take place in Luxembourg on 22nd and 23rd October and its main theme will be "Promoting internet safety in schools". The Forum will be open for stakeholders from NGOs, governments, researchers, industry representatives, including Internet Service Providers, mobile network operators, social networking sites, software developers. The Safer Internet Forum will be preceded by the INSAFE Pan-European Youth Panel and a Teachers' Panel. Both meetings will take place on 21 October in Luxembourg and will be closed to the public. The main conclusions of both the Youth and the Teachers' Panel will be presented during the Safer Internet Forum. For further information and registration to the Safer Internet Forum visit http://www.ec.europa.eu/saferinternet 

January 28th 2010: Data Protection Day 2010:

"Think Privacy" is the title of the 2nd annual DPD competition which encourages young people to reflect on their rights to privacy and data protection in today's information society. The challenge is for 15 to 19 year-olds to create a multi-media poster (anything from a talking poster to a video or powerpoint) illustrating their viewpoint; the prizes include trips to Brussels for the DPD award ceremony. Places are available at the event for school classes wishing to organize a visit to Brussels to coincide with the event which will be held in an EU institutional venue. For further information visit www.dataprotectionday.eu

9^th February 2010: Safer Internet Day:

Under the theme "Think before you post", SID 2010 will focus on how we're managing images online and consequently, how we deal with privacy in digital environments. Insafe will be launching a pan-European quiz on 1st February, targeting two age-groups: 5-11 and 12-15 year-olds. The quiz will be open to individuals or school classes who will compete with the objective of becoming increasingly aware of their role in protecting themselves and others online. An online SID Fair will showcase participating organizations across the world, and schools are invited to register the events they will be running to mark the day. .Information on Safer Internet Day will gradually become available on www.saferinternet.org from September. 

 

 

A collaboration of the world's leading communication providers including Buongiorno, Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, Google, GSM Association, Microsoft, MySpace, Orange FT Group, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone have re-launched the Teachtoday website at http://www.teachtoday.eu.

Teachtoday is specifically designed to help teachers manage the challenges, both inside and outside the classroom, presented by online technologies such as Facebook, YouTube, mobile internet services and services such as Twitter. The website has been designed closely with UK government and professional agencies including Becta, National Association of Head Teachers, teacher unions, local authorities and independent educational experts.

The Teachtoday website builds on the issues outlined in the 2008 Byron Report and the work of the DCSF Cyberbullying Task Force. It has a particular focus on problems that affect teachers directly; for example, where they are subject to malicious comments, videos or fake profiles posted on social networking sites by pupils.  These can all be instantly uploaded and shared virally using mobile technologies such as Bluetooth or internet access. The website also provides professional guidance for teachers' use of personal devices from using a mobile in the school environment, to blogging and social networking.

Teachtoday.eu provides teachers with valuable information and resources needed to manage the safe and responsible use of new technologies within the classroom.  It considers a wide range of issues that can affect children and young people today, such as cyberbullying, privacy, health concerns such as self harm and sexual grooming.

"Teachtoday.eu has been developed to ensure that teachers and the whole school workforce have the information and resources necessary to ensure they can deal with the ever changing challenges of new technologies," said Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of ATL, the education union. "We all recognise that changes in the way people share information online have happened so quickly it is almost impossible for teachers to keep ahead of their pupils so we felt, as the sector which works most closely with young people, that it was important to help them address this".

"The National Education Network welcomes the release of Teachtoday.eu. Online and mobile technologies offer astonishing opportunities for learning.  Teachtoday.eu considers both the personal and professional safety of Teachers alongside resources that can be used in the classroom.  Effective and safe use and navigation of the Internet is a valuable life skill for all," commented David Wright, National Education Network (NEN).

Teachtoday.eu is part of a wider industry collaboration which will see further sites launched across Europe.  It is developed in partnership with European Schoolnet (EUN), a not-for-profit consortium of 28 European Ministries of Education. EUN provides major European education portals for teaching, learning and collaboration

Childnet International are currently running the Youth IGF Project to capture the voice of children and young people to take to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) a UN mandated meeting in the Autumn. The IGF is a four day international gathering that gives governments, the internet industry, organisations and individuals the space to debate what should happen to the Internet in the coming years thinking specifically about Access, Openness, Diversity and Security.

Historically the IGF has had little or no input from young people. Childnet's Youth IGF Project aims to capture the voice of young people so that they can be represented at the forum in November. To reach the widest possible audience in a short space of time, Childnet have created Primary and Secondary project packs for schools who want to get involved in the project and would welcome as wide participation as possible.  They have also created a film to support the secondary lessons.  This can be viewed and downloaded from our Youth IGF Project YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/YouthIGFProject )

All schools returning survey material will be entered into a free prize draw for a free e-safety session to be held in January 2010. Youth responses that particularly stand out will be featured in a video to be presented in Egypt and young people may also be asked to consider contributing to discussions in Parliament on this topic.

 The project packs contain lesson plans and instructions for running lessons - and are a perfect afternoon activity in the run-up to the end of term.

 We hope that many Schools will engage in this project and Ellen (ellen@childnet.com) and Lucinda (lucinda@childnet.com ) in the Childnet office or the e-Safety officer (esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk) will be happy to answer any further questions.

The Children's Charities Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS) has launched its "Digital Manifesto", which it is sending to all the political parties represented in the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales. The manifesto asks the parties to commit themselves to supporting the policies and recommendations which the children's charities have made in the document and indicates that details of all responses received will be published.

The document contains many insightful ideas which make recommendations for government around issues such as child abuse images, policies, the use of mobile internet technologies, social networking, support for professionals and ideas for future developments. The manifesto was written by John Carr, from UKCCIS and the Sectary of CHIS and Dr Zoe Hilton, Policy advisor on Child Protection for the NSPCC. It strongly supports the recommendations made in 2008 Byron Review such as "Reducing availability, "Restricting access" and "Increasing Resilience"

To view the manifesto itself, and other CHIS documents/consultations view here

 

The EU Kids Online Final report (Sonia Livingstone and Leslie Haddon) has been released.  The report offers a balanced picture of issues in e-safety and promoting online opportunity for young people across Europe.

 The EU Kids Online project (2006-2009) examines European research on cultural, contextual and risk issues in children's safe use of the internet and new media across 21 countries. It is funded by Safer Internet plus Programme).

 You can find the final report here: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/EUKidsOnline/

 The site also includes second editions of What do we know about Children's Use of Online Technologies? A Report on Data Availability and Research Gaps in Europe and  Comparing Children's Online Opportunities and Risks across Europe: Cross-national Comparisons for EU Kids Online

On 12 March, Lord Laming published his report The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report. The Government accepted all of his recommendations and has now published an action plan, setting out its detailed response.

Schools should be aware of Ofsted's response to both Lord Laming's inquiry and to Sir Roger Singleton's report Keeping Our Children Safe, a review of safeguarding arrangements in independent schools, non-maintained special schools and boarding schools in England.

The Laming inquiry made recommendations that have direct implications for Ofsted: "Recommendation 10: Ofsted should revise the inspection and improvement regime for schools giving greater prominence to how well schools are fulfilling their responsibilities for child protection"

As a result of this Ofsted have accepted the recommendation and will be making revisions to their inspection framework for schools. The new school inspection framework which will apply from September 2009  will have a stronger focus on safeguarding. The current inspection framework already includes a judgement about whether safeguarding arrangements in schools are satisfactory but this will be strengthened in the new framework with a grading on a scale from 1(outstanding) to 4(inadequate) for a school's safeguarding arrangements.

Ofsted have also designed that any school which receives a grade of 4 will be likely to be awarded an inadequate grade for its overall performance and will need therefore to make urgent improvements. These arrangements will hopefully 'raise the bar' about the importance of safeguarding in schools and will also facilitate the identification and dissemination of best practice.

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has written to schools to highlight the importance of this action plan and of the role that teachers and other staff have in keeping children safe from abuse but it is important that all schools are aware that e-Safety is considered under the Safeguarding umbrella and therefore schools must have policies and procedures in place to ensure they are able to meet the aims of the new framework when it is released. More information will be posted as soon as the new framework is released

To read the full response from Ofsted click here 

For more advice and information click here

Beatbullying is asking every every person in the UK, young people and adults, to stand up at 10am on Thursday 14 May, as a national sign of defiance against bullying and cyberbullying and in solidarity with the millions of young people being bullied and cyberbullied.

 A free lesson plan and worksheet, along with other information, is available on the Beatbullying website. Schools can also sign up to take part, and can purchase stickers highlighting Cybermentors, a website for children and young people who have been bullied or cyberbullied.  

 

The Internet Watch Foundation reports that the number of websites showing and selling images of child abuse has fallen by 10%  in the last 12 months.

"These websites, although reducing in number, represent an extremely serious problem," said Peter Robbins, chief executive of the IWF.

Of the 1,536 unique domains known to the IWF as hosting images of child abuse, 74% were run for profit. The remaining sites were places abusers shared or swapped images.

In its report, the IWF said: "1,536 domains represent a problem of a scale which can be seriously targeted and significantly disrupted through international efforts." It said that about 69% of the children depicted in the images it saw were between zero and 10. About 24% involved children aged six or under. About 58% of the images seen showed the most serious sorts of abuse - involving *** or torture.

The IWF has said it and its international partners would target these key domain sellers in the next year to get abuse sites delisted and removed from the net.

The report also noted the increasing sophistication of the methods used by site owners to escape detection and avoid being shut down. Many sites scramble domain names, hide payment systems and split images across sub-domains or remote servers to evade law enforcement agencies.

To read the full report click here

A new resource from Childnet International is now available:  Know IT All for Primary Schools. This  resource has been produced specifically for the primary sector with support from Becta, the TDA and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety; KIA for Primary Schools aims to engage with primary aged children and all those working with them.

The resource has 2 main components:

1) A DVD for children with a film animation, 'The adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART crew'. The five episodes feature the latest technologies, updated e-safety advice and seek to empower all children to make good decisions online. The resource has been designed so that as many children as possible can get the most out of it. There are optional subtitles, a BSL version of the SMART rules, the SMART rules in Widgit Symbols, and the animation will soon be made available in Clicker (an inclusive writing and multimedia tool, which offers curriculum access and a high level of support for children with a range of diverse needs).

 2) A Selection of Video tutorials for school staff form the content of the second resource, a CD ROM made up of 5 chapters designed to support the development of effective e-safety knowledge, policies and practice. We all know how important it is for everyone to have the opportunity to really understand the importance of internet safety and these tutorials seek to educate and provide useful links for schools looking to build on their internet safety provision.

This resource is available to order from The DCSF for FREE, (Tel 0845 60 222 60 Reference number: 00321 - 2009CDO - EN) Or alternatively you can view the content online here www.childnet.com/kia/primary

On the 15th April, 2009 Childnet International and the DCFS launched new guidance on Cyberbullying in relation to ‘Supporting School Staff'. This new document builds on the 2007 Safe to Learn Cyberbullying guidance, and provides advice for employers of school staff - Local Authorities and governing bodies. It also offers advice for school staff about keeping themselves and their personal information safe. This important advice was written in consultation with the DCSF Cyberbullying Taskforce, and with the support of the leading school employee unions and professional associations.

"Every individual has a right to be respected at their place of employment and bullying of any kind is a violation of that right, so I hope that this guidance is used by all staff members and schools to prevent cyberbullying of staff and reduce the harm and hurt it can cause.

Bullying of any kind is harmful and, as it evolves alongside technological advances we see new forms, such as cyberbullying, making their mark. I know children are not the only victims of this humiliating form of bullying, school staff are too. That is why this guidance has been produced specifically to help and support school staff tackle cyberbullying. It provides straightforward advice and will help school staff know their rights and the powers they and schools have to deal with cyberbullying"  Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families

This new Guidance adds to a range of other resources Childnet have produced for schools to help tackle cyberbullying, including the Let's Fight It Together DVD, the Digizen Interactive Programme, the "Safe to Learn - Cyberbullying" guidance, and the summary document - "Cyberbullying: A whole-school community approach".

The new guidance and Childnet's Cyberbullying resources can be found here

This new guidance comes after a recent survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the Teacher Support Network which found that one in seven teachers say they have been bullied by pupils and colleagues through text messages, emails and social networking sites and almost one in five teachers said they knew of colleagues who had become victims.

The survey of 539 school and college staff found that of those who had suffered cyberbullying personally, 63% had received unwelcome emails, 26% had offensive messages posted about them on social networking sites, and 28% were sent unwelcome text messages.

Most of the reported cyberbullying - 44% - was done by pupils, but 28% of staff said a manager or colleague was behind it. The survey also highlighted the effect cyberbullying has on its victims, with 39% saying their confidence fell, 25% saying it made them a less effective teacher and 6% saying they were forced to take sick leave because of resulting illness or stress. Nearly two thirds (62%) were not aware of any cyberbullying policy at their school.

The majority of parents say that they don't know as much about their child's day at school as they would like too, according to the "Oh, Nothing Much report" commissioned by Becta to support its Next Generation Learning campaign.

The survey of 1,000 children aged between 7 and 14 years and 1,000 parents in the UK, reveals that 43% of parents admit they find it difficult or very difficult to extract information from their child about their day at school.

 Other important findings of the report include:

• A third of parents feel excluded by their children
• Only 16% of children proactively talk about their school day
• Children admit they want to keep ‘hassling' parents away from school life
• 82% of parents want schools to keep them better informed

However, parents are not alone in dealing with this communication challenge: almost half of children (44%) don't like sharing information with their parents; they like to keep their school day private, and over a third (37%) of children say they find it quite or very difficult to speak to their parents about their education.

As part of the "Oh, nothing much" area of the Next Generation Learning website Dr Tanya Byron (author of 2008 Byron Report) is writing a blog to share insights from Becta's research into how parents and their children discuss learning. Topics will include practical parenting tips on how to maximise communication with their children exploring uses of technology at home and in the classroom and how parents can get more involved with their child's education and have fun along the way! For more information visit Tanya's blog here

Parents and Educators can also follow the Next generation learning site here on Twitter