Primary and secondary pupils from across Cardiff attended an exclusive online safety training event led by Childnet’s expert team.
Last year, following requests from young people on the programme, Childnet introduced Regional Events. These have been successfully run across the UK as an opportunity for young people to share ideas about educating their peers on online safety, and to learn more from the Childnet team.
We held our fourth Childnet Digital Leaders Regional Event at St John’s College, Cardiff on 25th November. It was a great opportunity for Digital Leaders and other young people from across Cardiff to meet and discuss online safety topics, as well as receive some exclusive training from the Childnet team.
Young people learn about reporting online
At the Regional Event, the main topic covered was reporting. The Childnet Education Team prepared an interactive session with lots of activities for the primary and secondary pupils in attendance to help them to engage with and understand this sometimes tricky issue.
The day started with some quizzes and activities to help everyone get to know each other and to start thinking critically about different aspects of online safety. The rest of the day was focused on the important topic of reporting and the ways we can support our friends and share what we know about reporting with them. This took the form of a session led by Amy and Marie from the Childnet Education Team on the most important things to know about reporting.
The Piranha Pitch
The day built up to the final activity, the Piranha Pitch, which involved groups of young people pitching ideas to the judges (the Piranhas – or the not-so-scary teachers!) about how they could share their knowledge on reporting with their peers at their own schools.
We were really impressed with the excellent pitches and creative ideas, including plans for workshops where young people would match the report buttons with the services they are found on and drama activities where young people would explore in which circumstances to make a report. After much deliberation, the Piranhas chose the yellow group as the winners! The judges really enjoyed their idea for an interactive workshop with multiple elements including a quiz, poster and video.
Take a look at the winning group with their certificates below.
Testimonials
Danielle Antha, Project Manager of the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme, said:
“The Childnet team were delighted with the engagement of Cardiff pupils at our fourth Regional Event. They provided thoughtful and unique contributions to the event, and their presentations were full of character and of such an excellent standard that the judges had a very difficult job in choosing a winner. The young people present should be proud of the work they have done; they are all shining examples of how seriously young people in Cardiff take this issue within the online safety space and how hard they are working to help others be safe online as well.”
Aneira, a Digital Leader from Cathays High, said:
“I thought it was really fun and it’s nice to know that adults want to know children’s opinions instead of always asking the other adults. It was nice to engage with students who are younger than me and teach them a little bit about what I know and them teach me things that I don’t know.”
A massive thank you to St John’s College, Cardiff for hosting and to Mrs Howells for being so helpful in the organising of the event.
Thank you to all of the schools that attended, the Digital Leaders that were in attendance for being such great examples of the programme, and all of the teachers at the event who supported the young people throughout the day – we would not have been able to run the event without you!
We have an exciting opportunity for qualified Digital Leaders to join our team of Digital Champions! Digital Champions are a group of Secondary Digital Leaders from across the UK who act as ambassadors for the programme.
The Digital Champions support the Childnet team with programme development, ensuring that the programme is youth led, they also represent Digital Leaders at events and in consultations. Our current Digital Champions have been involved in many aspects of the programme, from presenting at Regional Events to advising on platform developments and new modules!
If you are a Secondary Digital Leader and would like more responsibility in your role and to contribute towards the development of the programme, then don’t hesitate to apply to be a Digital Champion for 2019-20!
The information and application form to apply can be found here. If you have any questions about applying to be a Digital Champion then please email leaders@childnet.com.
How have our current Digital Champions found the experience?
We asked our current Digital Champions how they have found the experience and whether they have any advice for Digital Leaders interested in applying to be a Digital Champion. See their answers below:
What has been the best part of being a Digital Champion?
Jess: The best part of being a Digital Champion for me has to be being able to reach a wider audience and feeling like you’re actually making an impact. There are so many opportunities and so many thing to be a part of that you may never have thought you would do. Plus, the fact that you can reach so many more people with your message empowers me and my Digital Leaders team to try even harder to spread the word of positive Internet use.
Bella: Definitely the sense of responsibility, and the ability to impact the community in a meaningful way. Your responsibility for your Digital Leaders in your school, on top of the general oversight of others across schools internationally, produces better leadership qualities and consideration for others’ opinions, and an appreciation for the value of perspectives unavailable to you on issues we all face.
Erin: Getting to know new people and to be able to see the structure more clearly in the internet.
Maryam: Reaping the smiles that come from it! I’m a sentimental person and love more than anything, when other’s find happiness in something that I’ve helped them in. Such as growing in my role as a Digital Leader and even helping others with their own queries.
What is the biggest skill you have gained from being a Digital Champion?
Bella: The ability to listen to others’ perspectives, and really hear them. The exposure to different groups of young people’s opinions on issues you’re already comfortable with are so diverse depending on their personal circumstances, and being able to construct resolutions to issues by visiting schools and by speaking to various DLs online really means you’re able to produce an effect greater than the sum of everyone’s parts.
Maryam: I’ve been able to grow in my confidence and public speaking. It even helped me to perform a speech to people a lot older than me! I can speak to audiences without feeling scared and do it with a smile!
Erin: I understand social media more and what I should keep in my head rather than on screen.
Jess: I think the biggest skill I have gained from being a Digital Champion is Communication Skills. Having to communicate from my Digital Leaders team to Childnet and back again really challenged my Communication Skills and I believe that I have become a more organised, persistent and skilled person because of it.
What would you say to someone thinking about applying to be a Digital Champion?
Jess: If you’re thinking of applying to be a Digital Champion, my advice is to just go for it. But be prepared to work hard and commit to the position because it is a lot of work, but trust me. It. Pays. Off. It has been one of the best experiences of my life and you feel like you really can change something. You never know where this programme may take you, and what you can achieve while doing it so I say that there is no time like the present to get started. Princess Diana quoted “Young people can change the world” and, being part of the Digital Champions team, I have started to believe that’s true.
Bella: Do it! If you’re thinking of applying, you are already comfortable with the idea of being in a position of responsibility – but I would say the role does require a lot of communication interpersonally with DLs and the Childnet team. If you’re like me, someone who started out quite uncertain, it is difficult to go forward with a risk like that, but I have developed immensely from the experience in a way unparalleled by other methods of overcoming fears of public speaking, communication etc., and I would encourage those people who would love to do it and are passionate about digital safety, but who are maybe intimidated, to go and apply the most. If you think you have an opinion or a perspective that you don’t see much elsewhere on digital safety, that makes you especially valuable.
Erin: Make sure its something you want to do! (…) It is a great experience and it makes you a better person online. It also teaches you a new structure to the format.
Maryam: I’d say go for it! Even if you have any doubts, what’s the harm in applying? The worst that could happen is nothing compared to what you’ve been through. Who knows? You might become one of us and be able to help others just like you!
As a Digital Leader at Sarah Bonnell School, I spread the message of online safety within my school community educating my peers about its importance. During my 4 years as a Digital Leader in my school I have been involved in many events and workshops. When we began the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme our workshops were quite small and not many people came. However throughout the years it has grown and we have become so much more influential in our school community.
When I first joined the Childnet Digital Leaders Programme I had to complete the online modules on the Digital Leaders platform. This helped me to expand my knowledge of the online world, allowing me to help advise others on how to use the internet in a positive and safe way. I enjoyed the modules a lot especially the one where we were tasked to do an event in our school. We held our first workshop later that year where we created many activities for students to enjoy at lunch.
In my second year of being a Digital Leader our team created a huge workshop in the assembly hall at lunch where we had many activities around the room. Students were invited to complete these activities and when they did they could personalise their own badge which was then made by the Digital Leaders. We also held many assemblies during the school year with presentations for all age groups which were very interesting and interactive.
Through the rest of the years I have gained more experienced in holding events, creating informative and interactive PowerPoints and spreading the message of online safety has become easier.
Successfully leading events
In my third year of being a Digital Leader our school held a day dedicated to teaching Year 7’s the importance of the online world which of course was led by us, the Digital Leaders! At the start of the day we led the lessons with PowerPoints we created based on the education packs provided by Childnet. At the end of the day the different classes created a drama role play based on the theme of Safer Internet Day 2018. This was a huge success and we were later informed that we had a surprise visit from Ofsted who saw us in action and praised our leadership! On the same day we were also invited to the SID 2018 London event as guests. This was an amazing experience! This was such a great success and we have continued these activities every year.
Sessions for students who are in trouble
We also created a new idea of holding sessions for students who are in trouble for misusing the internet. We created PowerPoints and activities for afterschool sessions where we informed the students of the consequences and encouraged them to reflect on their actions, explaining to them the benefits as well as risks of the internet. This had a great impact as we have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of students who have been in internal exclusion for misusing the internet.
Getting involved in Safer Internet Day
This current year we have been busy, we held a SID event in our school for Year 7’s again based on this year’s theme of consent, where we taught students about the meaning and the importance of it. We have also been holding many more sessions and workshops for students which have had such a brilliant impact. This year we were again invited to the London SID event, not as guests but as students delivering the activities! This was an amazing experience and I was so excited. I also got the opportunity to be part of the youth panel presenting on stage and giving our opinions on different ideas around consent which was amazing.
The future of online safety in my school
Now in year 10 I have enjoyed every moment of being a Digital Leader and due to my strong passion I applied to become the senior leader for online safety in my school which I was then chosen for! This was really exciting and means I can have more of an input in online safety within my school. Next year I plan on holding amazing workshops, recruiting new Digital Leaders and creating an even bigger legacy. The experience of being a Digital Leader has been such a great one and I definitely recommend it to all of you who want to make a positive impact online.
But of course, none of this could have been possible without our amazing online safety teacher, Ms Adel at Sarah Bonnell School and of course the Childnet Digital Leaders team! Thank you for all the hard work and effort you put in.
I hope to carry on creating a positive impact on the online world and remember a safer internet starts with you!
