YHGfL - Making the most of your broadband
Safeguarding Conference
Safeguarding Conference 31st January 2008
95 attendees spent a very valuable day engaging with a wide range of significant issues around the area of eSafety in schools and other educational settings. The programme for the day is available here:
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The discussion time available towards the end of the conference allowed delegates from each authority to spend time discussing the issues - for some, it was the first time that they had had the chance to discuss the issue with their colleagues.
From the details on the feedback forms, it is clear that the conference has already had a significant impact on what is happening in authorities across the region - many delegates wrote that they were going back to their authorities to set up meetings, discussions and activities designed to develop and take forward their own eSafety agendas.
By the end of the conference, it became very clear that YHGfL has an important role in coordinating activities across the region - if for no other reason than providing economies of scale. YHGfL has therefore started working with its member authorities to identify productive ways forward.
This first event has, therefore, kicked off a number of coordinated activities around the region - keep watching here for details. We already have some valuable links to resources and websites which can inform and provide access to useful resources - it's here: www.yhgfl.net/e-safety/
The speakers at the event brought the issues into sharp focus for all those who attended. A brief description of their sessions, and access to their presentations, follows.
Jim Gamble, CEO CEOP
Jim explained the work of CEOP and the challenges it faces. He spoke forcefully about the means employed by those who seek to exploit children sexually - especially as they relate to the use of new technology. He talked about some of those who have been apprehended and the fact that there is little to distinguish them from other people - except that they sometimes employ incredibly subtle techniques to entrap children.
He showed a number of videos which set out many of the issues. These videos are available in a number of places including:
If you are unable to view YouTube content, you can also view the video here
We would recommend registering at the latter site as, once you have registered, you can access all of the resources used by Jim, as well as many others.
Ruth Hammond, Becta
Ruth looked at the role of local authorities and schools in safeguarding children from a wider perspective, including cyberbullying and other forms of victimisation of children using technology. She set out a variety of sources of information and support, much of it available from localauthorities.becta.org.uk/index.php
One slide she showed, in particular, prompted a great deal of reflection for delegates - it set out a number of real examples of situations which can arise in schools and asked whether we were confident that our schools had the policies, strategies and skills to deal with them (this is in the presentation, see below).
Her presentation is available as a pdf:
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2.5 M |
Stephen Carrick-Davies, CEO, Childnet
Stephen started by reminding us that the Internet and the other technologies available to children are incredibly valuable tools for teaching and learning and for enriching their lives. He talked about the problems facing many parents in understanding the technologies which their children find so easy to use - and, therefore, how difficult it often is for parents to be aware of the dangers.
He talked about how schools might try to engage with parents to explore the dangers and provide support for parents in dealing with their children's use of technologies. He described many of the resources available from www.childnet-int.org which could assist this task.
His presentation is available as a pdf:
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2.5 M |
Julia Codman and Sue Finnigan, Sheffield CLCs
Julia and Sue talked about the developing programme of work around eSafety in Sheffield. They were able to explain the issues that they have faced in developing policy and strategy across a local authority, as well as describing what they have been doing with schools.
They identified training which is available for teachers and other professionals, and talked about the school assemblies, staff training and parents' meetings which they have been running. They also raised a number of key issues to do with the sustainability of such programmes in local authorities.
Their presentation is available as a pdf:
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2.0 M |