e-Safety Month

During February, learners at Thornbeck College celebrate e-Safety Month by participating in a range activities, aimed at developing their knowledge and awareness of staying safe online. As part of this, learners celebrated Safer Internet Day, with this year’s theme being “Too good to be true”, increasing learner’s ability to protect themselves from online scams. Learners participated in activities including:

• Accessing a workshop facilitated by the local police community support officers (PCSO’s), discussing the risks of online grooming and social media activity
• Creating e-Safety posters for a college competition, showcasing their knowledge of the topic
• Participating in a vote, to identify the winner of the poster competition
• Accessing tutorials sessions highlighting the SMART Rules and online abuse
• Accessing a workshop facilitated by staff, with the focus of identifying spam emails and online scams, supporting them to identify when a deal appears ‘too good to be true’ in line with this year’s Safer Internet Day theme
• Participating in an online lesson on Safer Internet Day, with activities pitched at the theme

The celebration of this event has promoted learner’s functional ICT skills, as well as their independent living skills. The planned activities have also promoted British Values including democracy. Learners have also increased their knowledge on how they are protected by the law even when spending time online and broadened their awareness of online scams. These skills will support learners throughout their adult lives, providing them with the ability to better safeguard themselves should the need arise in the future.