International schools provide feedback on the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme

Published: 15th February 2019

Over 700 schools have enrolled on to the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme throughout its history, and we currently have 12 international schools enrolled. The programme was developed with the UK national curriculum in mind and is suitable for most international schools, providing they are English speaking and are following the UK curriculum. We recently invited the international schools who are part of the Digital Leader community to take part in a survey to feedback on their experiences of running the programme in international educational settings.

All international schools surveyed claim to have an excellent experience of running the programme in their educational setting. They said it gave them a structured approach to internet safety education in their school, and they described the resources and advice as “superb.”  Teachers said that it gives their students a voice when it comes to online safety and their peers are more likely to listen to the students on this topic than their teachers. They believe this to be particularly important in some of their respective countries “where expat teachers have very different online habits” to young people.

Surveyed teachers remarked that the gamification of badges and leadership board are a great incentive for their Digital Leaders who are working extremely hard to raise awareness, educate, and deliver practical sessions for other students, parents and the wider community. One international school’s Digital Leaders have even created a website with information on how to be safe when using a device. They said that their students are discerning learners and that they know when to “filter out aspects that are not relevant to them and their peers.” Students feel positive about the programme and those who aren’t Digital Leaders enjoy receiving education and key messages about internet safety from other students rather than their teachers.

Furthermore, they detailed how the programme has been adapted in different countries to increase the relevance to their learners.  Referring to the guidance on the training platform concerning how to use safety measures on different apps and platforms, they have modified the guidance to include apps and games more commonly used by the young people in their respective countries.

Overall, all the international schools surveyed said they were satisfied with how the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme is running in their school and would recommend it to other international schools.

“Really excellent programme [that] motivates the students to share their experiences.” –

“It has been great and has the potential to leave a lasting legacy.”

We are delighted with the positive feedback we have received from our international schools. If you are an international school, or you would just like some more information on the Digital Leaders Programme, please visit our How it Works page. Additionally, if you are interested to see where our international Digital Leader schools are located, please have a look at the Digital Leaders map at our Impact and Reach page.