At the TDA, we take children's online security very seriously. Keeping our children safe is a shared concern, therefore we are committed to equipping teachers and the wider school workforce with the necessary skills to create a safe online environment for children and young people. We provide funding for e-safety resources for the whole school workforce and training for trainee teachers.
The Byron report and UKCCIS
In September 2007 Dr Tanya Byron was asked to lead an independent review to help parents and their children get the most from new technologies while protecting children from inappropriate or harmful material. The focus was on the internet and video games.
Her report Safer Children in a Digital World (PDF, 2.8MB), which was published in March 2008, set out a number of recommendations for the Department for Education and its key partners including the TDA.
All Dr Byron's recommendations were accepted and published in the Byron Review Action Plan in June 2008. One of the recommendations was the launch of the UK Council of Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) to bring together organisations from industry, charities and the public sector to deliver the recommendations from the report.
The Executive Board of the council agreed that neither the Government nor council members have the capacity to deliver on all of the recommendations of the Byron Review immediately and so has prioritised key areas of work to be taken forward by four working groups. We are a member of the Better Education Working Group which aims to ensure that children, families and the children's workforce have access to consistent and comprehensive support and information that improves their knowledge, skills and understanding of internet safety.
On 29 March 2010, a progress report The Children's Plan: Two Years On was published. It takes the opportunity to chart the progress that has been made so far and share next steps.
CEOP and ThinkUKnow
We work closely with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, funding e-safety resources and promoting them. CEOP is dedicated to eradicating the sexual abuse of children. They are part of UK policing and are involved in tracking and bringing offenders to account, either directly or in partnership with local and international forces.
That approach is dedicated to building up intelligence that in turn drives the business, informs our operational deployments, steers our CEOP Academy programmes to law enforcement, child protection and educational sectors and drives our dedicated ThinkUknow programme for children and parents of all ages.
CEOP provides e-safety resources within the ThinkUKnow programme for teachers and all other professionals working with young people. There are films, presentations, games, lesson plans and posters covering a range of issues from grooming by child sex offenders to cyber-bullying. All of these resources encourage young people to have fun with new technology, whilst staying in control of the risks. Importantly, they also teach young people where to go if they have any concerns.
Childnet International and Know It All
We also work closely with Childnet International, funding e-safety resources and promoting them. Know IT All, Childnet's multi award-winning suite of education resources, is designed to help educate parents, teachers and young people about the safe and positive use of the internet.
Currently there are four Know It All resources:
- For Parents and Carers
- For Secondary Schools (this used to be called Know It All for Teachers)
- For Primary Schools
- For Trainee Teachers
Know It All for secondary schools covers a wide range of e-safety issues, including the viewing of inappropriate content, plagiarism and bulling by mobile phones.
The Know It All resource for primary schools includes a unique 3D teaching animation about e-safety suitable for very young children called 'The Adventures of Kara Winston and the SMART crew'.
EPICT and e-safety CPD module
The Eurpoean Pedagogical ICT (EPICT) Licence is a proven staff development programme in the practical integration of ICT within everyday teaching. Reflecting recognised competency standards, EPICT ensures optimum returns on investment from the extensive amount of technology now deployed within schools, colleges and training organisations.
The EPICT e-Safety Awareness Certificate was developed in partnership with the TDA and Durham County Council; this certification offers practical recognition for educator's efforts and practice in e-safety.
NQT survey results regarding e-safety
The newly qualified teacher (NQT) survey is a voluntary exercise carried out in February each year to collect and analyse NQTs' perceptions of their initial teacher training (ITT). The survey is used to gauge NQTs' views on the quality of their ITT and how well it prepared them for their first year in teaching.
The survey includes two questions about the level of knowledge and understanding of e-safety issues. Preliminary analysis of the survey conducted in February 2010 shows a significant increase in e-safety awareness (77% to 85% and 74% to 83%).
If you have any questions about the TDA in the area of e-safety, please e-mail ictsupport@tda.gov.uk.