A new cyber safety award that is reportedly first of its kind in Northern Ireland will help tackle cyber risks and keep pupils safe online.
The Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety (CR-IS) Badge is designed to provide education professionals with the resources and support needed to help pupils stay safe in the digital world.
The initiative was launched this week with the help of young digital leaders from Ballyclare High School and Ballyclare Primary School.
It is backed by tech companies HP, Microsoft and RM Education with the support of C2K and the Department of Education.
The Badge has been developed by the Digital Schools Awards Northern Ireland, who stated that “as many as one in four children aged 8-11 are operating their own social media profiles”.
As the internet becomes further integrated and increasingly accessible to young peoples’ everyday lives, schools are being expected to provide pupils with more knowledge and confidence to operate online.
The stand-alone badge will be available to all schools that demonstrate a strategic approach to cyber resilience and internet safety. The initiative follows the successful integration of the Digital Schools Awards programme in over 70 nursery, primary and secondary schools throughout Northern Ireland, which encourages a whole-school approach to digital learning.
Digital Schools Awards Validator Dr Victor McNair said: “Schools are ideally placed to provide progressive and relevant activities that help pupils build enduring and adaptable cyber-resilient skills.
“Teachers will instantly recognise the language used in the self-review framework and they will benefit from the local and national resources provided to help them develop classroom activities, partnerships and professional learning opportunities.”
Speaking at the launch of the new cyber resilience and internet safety award, Karen Irwin, UICT Co-ordinator at Ballyclare Primary School said: “Pupils are very much at the heart of our internet planning and strategy and we encourage an open dialogue between pupils, teachers and parents. Our Digital Leaders group which meets weekly is represented by pupils from each year group and together we work on creative projects and ideas to help everyone stay one step ahead in an ever-changing cyberworld.”
The programme is open and free to all schools to participate. Schools can register online for the new Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety Badge at www.digitalschoolsawards.co.uk.
