On Tuesday 14th March 2017, we had our E-Safety Day presented by Karl Hopwood. Karl is an independent E-Safety consultant who advises for the UK Safer Internet for Children Council and had previously worked for CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre). As a parent himself and an ex-primary Head, he really has a vested interested in educating young people.
Karl spoke to girls from Year 6 to the Upper Sixth focusing on how they interact and communicate online. He also gave a whole staff INSET on E Safety.
In the evening, Karl provided a seminar for parents. Mrs C who attended comments “With children reaching the age where social media sites are a “must” I found the presentation to be very informative. Karl Hopwood soon made me realise that I only knew about a small percentage of apps that the girls are likely to come across. I came away feeling that I was not the only parent unable to keep up with today’s technology but there were websites out there to help keep a little control over which apps are appropriate. However, most importantly, he stressed good communication with our children about the risks and benefits of these sites so that if an issue does arise they have someone to turn to before a situation gets really out of control.”
The message which was clearly communicated was that children’s behaviour online is about education, and the girls form tutors will be doing follow up sessions in tutor time which have been prepared by Karl to really instil his message.
If anyone has any specific questions regarding the E-Safety Day, please contact Miss Nikki Donson, Assistant Head (Boarding & Pastoral).