Education Today Education Today Magazine
Childnet has announced that it is extending its innovative Childnet Digital Leaders Programme to all UK schools; putting young people at the forefront of educating their peers about staying safe online.
The new programme for primary schools was announced today, following a successful first year of the secondary schools programme that has seen over a thousand young people undergo training to equip them to educate their peers, parents and teachers about staying safe online.
This programme is delivered by leading internet safety charity Childnet as part of its work as one of three charities in the UK Safer Internet Centre, alongside its role coordinating Safer Internet Day which reached 40% of UK children in 2016.
Outstanding e-safety practice
School inspectors in the UK have set out that outstanding e-safety provision in schools involves the active involvement and leadership of young people. However, evaluation data from the school self-assessment tool 360 Degree Safe finds that while this is improving year on year, it is still one of the weakest areas of e-safety provision in schools.
To help schools harness the power of youth voice and make e-safety learning fun and effective, Childnet is inviting schools to join its youth leadership programme to train young people to be peer educators in their school community.
Power of community
The Childnet Digital Leaders Programme offers young people access to an exciting online community. In this community they will access training and support from Childnet’s expert team, record achievements and earn badges, and collaborate and share inspiration with schools across the UK.
This approach has been welcomed by the 13 primary schools involved in the pilot. Carolyn Ellis-Gage from Norwich Road Academy said: “My pupils are really enthusiastic about the training and love working through and gaining the badges!”
This programme will build on Childnet’s work placing young people at the centre of creating a kinder and better internet. As Childnet CEO Will Gardner said:
“Children and young people have the power to help create a kinder online community and we want to harness their passion and knowledge to enable them to be role models for their peers and younger generations. It has been inspiring to see the huge range of activities delivered over the last year by Childnet Digital Leaders in secondary schools across the UK. We are now very excited to announce the launch of the programme for primary schools which we developed and tested with the involvement of 13 primary schools across the UK.”
Find out more and register now at www.childnet.com/digital-leaders.