Online Safety with Mr Archer

Part of my new remit will be to embed a strong cyber safety education across the whole school. When it comes to cyber safety, there are the obvious dangers of being online: abusive comments, inappropriate comments and people who are not who they claim to be. However, a rigorous cyber safety education also teaches about the need to disconnect from the online world, and the associated physical and mental health risks of being unable to do so.

The second spring half term will see each class at Abingdon House focus on cyber safety in their PSHE lessons. Each class will be taught using tailored resources adapted from the people at Think U Know. Think U Know are the education branch of CEOP, (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command). CEOP works nationally, and internationally, as part of the UK’s National Crime Agency. I am fortunate enough to be a trained CEOP ambassador and, whilst the education for the pupils is a priority, I will be offering education evenings for parents, guardians and carers in the near future.

I look forward to working with all the Abingdon House community on cyber safety. If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email.

I’ll leave you with a statistic that I read only yesterday: ‘By 2020, the amount of personal data that the tech giants (Amazon, Facebook et al) harvest will reach 180 zettabytes. That’s 180 followed by 21 zeros’.

Mr Archer

Deputy Head and CEOP Ambassador