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Launching Childnet and Nominet Digital Leaders Plus, Childnet’s new initiative in partnership with Nominet

Published: 21st September 2020

Today Childnet have launched a new online safety education partnership with Nominet, which will amplify and increase the reach of Childnet’s existing Digital Leaders Programme, allowing more young people across the UK to learn about online safety and take leadership roles in educating their peers.

Childnet’s existing Digital Leaders Programme empowers children and young people to champion digital citizenship and digital creativity within their settings and to educate their peers, parents and teachers about staying safe online. The programme aims to make online safety learning fun and effective and helps settings work towards an outstanding whole school community approach to online safety. Childnet are working in partnership with Nominet to develop Childnet and Nominet Digital Leaders Plus, taking the programme further than ever before and reach settings across the breadth of the UK by offering at a significantly reduced rate.

70% of the schools or organisations that have tried Childnet’s guest login have not gone on to subscribe to the programme, saying that whilst that they think it would be a fantastic addition to their curriculum, cost is a barrier. In response, Nominet is providing £125,000 of funding for a new bursary scheme, to expand the reach of the programme and support programme-wide updates of core materials.

Will Gardner, CEO, Childnet says: “Young people tell us that they want to be actively involved in online safety education, and that it is more effective when they can learn from each other. The Childnet Digital Leaders Programme is all about peer education, and we are thrilled that Nominet shares this vision and is getting behind this pupil-powered initiative to help it reach new parts of the country, and help those who haven’t yet experienced it. Building on our successes to create Childnet and Nominet Digital Leaders Plus we’ll be able to reach thousands more children across the UK and ensure our resources are working as hard as they can be. We know Childnet Digital Leaders keeps kids safer online, and we are excited about the impact this partnership will have.”

Ellie Bradley, MD Registry & Public Benefit at Nominet says: “We strongly believe that finances should never be a barrier to learning about online safety. 59% of 11 to 12 year-olds are on social media, and over one in three internet users is a child. High levels of usage do not necessarily translate to high levels of skill or capability in using online platforms safely though, and that’s where our support can help established and credible programmes to amplify and broaden their reach with existing, high-quality resources with proven social impact. What’s key is that our partnerships in this space avoid further crowding of the online safety environment with new resources, and that we enable more children to access high quality guidance from trusted sources.”

Take a look at the new Childnet and Nominet Digital Leaders Plus programme website to download an information pack and submit an application to join the programme.