Safer Internet Day
Safer Internet Day is a great opportunity for children and young people, school staff, parents and carers and businesses in Wales to get involved in a truly global campaign.
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The aim of Safer Internet Day is to inspire a UK wide conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively.
Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.
Schools have a major role to play in generating excitement for Safer Internet Day within their communities; as education practitioners, we know that supporting learners as best you can to make smart choices in their online lives is already a top priority.
Safer Internet Day: Tuesday 6 February 2024
This year the UK theme was ‘Inspiring change? Making a difference, managing influence and navigating change online’. This offered a great opportunity to reflect with learners on the ways technology has changed our lives and what we can do to help make the online world a better place.
Safer Internet Day Planning Event
In November we launched plans for Safer Internet Day with a virtual event bringing together education stakeholders from across Wales to discuss the collaborative plans for Safer Internet Day 2024. Here are the slides from the event in case you missed it.
- Slides from the event pptx 10.71 Mb This file may not be accessible. If you need a more accessible version of this document please email digital@gov.wales. Please tell us the format you need. If you use assistive technology please tell us what this is
Resources
We offered a range of activities and events for schools to get involved with.
Assembly
For Safer Internet Day 2024 we developed a bespoke assembly to help you kickstart conversations about safe, positive and responsible use of technology in your school. It includes a message from David Wright, Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, and some fun activities.
Safer Internet Day Education Packs
We worked with the UK Safer Internet Centre again this year to publish bilingual education packs.
These packs are full of fun activities for all ages and can help you explore with your learners:
- What influences and changes the way children think, feel and act online and offline?
- How can we use the internet to make changes?
- What do we think about new and emerging technology?
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Education packs full of online safety lesson activities for 3 to 11 year olds.
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Education packs full of online safety lesson activities for 11 to 18 year olds.
Share your Safer Internet Day activities
Across Wales there were opportunities for everyone, including schools, youth groups and families to get involved in Safer Internet Day celebrations on Tuesday 6th February. Schools were invited to tell us what they were doing.
Contributions were moderated and then published on our ‘Safer Internet Day celebration 2024’ page.
Webinars
Throughout Safer Internet Day week we hosted a series of interactive virtual events for schools with our expert partners including Estyn, Childnet, SWGfL, North Wales Police and Adobe.
Creating the right school culture and approach to keeping learners safe online
During this 1-hour webinar on 7 February, Assistant Director of Estyn, Dyfrig Ellis, outlined the importance of creating the right culture and approach to keeping learners safe online and enabling children and young people to speak out when they need support. Dyfrig provided an overview of Estyn’s recommendations for schools, including effective and relevant professional learning for teachers, the need to create a safe and comfortable environment for children and young people and the importance of improving the way schools record, monitor and respond to safeguarding concerns.
- Slides from the event pptx 19.91 Mb This file may not be accessible. If you need a more accessible version of this document please email digital@gov.wales. Please tell us the format you need. If you use assistive technology please tell us what this is
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Aimed at 8 to 13 year olds, Adobe hosted virtual online safety themed lessons on 6, 7 and 8 February (13.30 - 14.45pm).
In the lessons learners used Adobe Express to create incredible pieces of digital media themed around Safer Internet Day.
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In this virtual cyber awareness training session on 1 February, colleagues from North Wales Police as part of the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, explored how to:
- have an increased awareness of cyber crime
- recognise and avoid common cyber threats and scams
- protect your personal and professional data and devices
- support your learners to recognise unlawful activity
- identify when you need help and support.
There was also information about the range of CyberFirst programmes that can help learners develop their skills for a career in Cyber.
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In this webinar on 5 February, the Digital Resilience in Education Team provided an overview of the range of resources, advice and guidance available through the Keeping safe online area of Hwb to help keep children and young people safe online.
There was also be an opportunity for participants to share views on current online safety practices in their schools.
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Reviewing and improving your online safety policies and practice with the 360 safe Cymru self-assessment tool
The 360 safe Cymru tool provides a self-review framework for school improvement in online safety and digital resilience. This 30-minute webinar demonstrated the features of the tool and how it can be used to assess your school’s online safety policies and practices as well as your current preparedness for online safety incidents.
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Created by leading online safety charity Childnet, this free 2 hour training session has been designed for schools and colleges in Wales to help staff understand, prevent and respond to incidents of online sexual harassment within their setting.
The first session was delivered on 8 February.
The second session was delivered on 22 February.
In-school sessions
The Wales Police Schools Progamme offered online safety sessions to schools in Wales on and around Safer Internet Day 2024.
The sessions were on the following topics:
- Cyberbullying
- Sexting
- Grooming
- Online Child Exploitation
Other ways that you can show support for the Safer Internet Day campaign
Support the campaign on social media
To find out what other organisations in Wales are doing for Safer Internet Day, search #SIDCymru on social media.
You can also join the global conversation with #SaferInternetDay
Register as a supporter
Show your organisation’s support and commitment to a better internet by registering as a Safer Internet Day supporter.
This page is updated regularly with Safer Internet Day news so please keep checking.
Previous campaigns
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Date: Tuesday 7 February 2023
Theme: Making space for conversations about life online
Activities: The Welsh Government, in collaboration with the Welsh Rugby Union, ran a film competition which invited children and young people to create a short film that communicates their views, opinions or stories of using social media, gaming or apps. In their own words, we wanted to hear about the benefits and the concerns they experience using these apps. The winners were announced at a celebration event for finalists at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, on Safer Internet Day:
- Primary Winner – Ysgol Bro Teifi
- Secondary Winner – Ysgol Nantgwyn
- Primary Runner Up – Ysgol Dyffryn Cledlyn
- Secondary Runner Up – Haverfordwest High VC School
- Highly Commended – Griffithstown Primary School
- Highly Commended – Cadle Primary School
- Highly Commended – Ysgol Y Deri – ‘Class 5FN does gaming’
- Highly Commended – Ysgol Y Deri – ‘The need for speed’
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Date: Tuesday 8 February 2022
Theme: All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online
Activities: The Welsh Government, in partnership with the BBFC, ran a film competition which aimed to encourage children and young people to express their creativity and share their understanding of showing respect online. The winners of the competition were announced by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles MS, on Safer Internet Day:
- Primary Winner – Ysgol Dyffryn Cledlyn
- Secondary Winner – Ysgol Ty Coch
- Runner up – Ysgol Bro Pedr
- Highly commended – Cadoxton Primary School
- Highly commended – Ysgol Bro Teifi
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Date: Tuesday 9 February 2021
Theme: An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world
Activities: The Welsh Government, in partnership with the UK Safer Internet Centre, ran a ‘Tackling misinformation digital storytelling’ competition calling on children and young people to use their creativity either through film, a written story or by recording an audio clip to explain what misinformation is, why it might be a problem, how we can recognise it and what we can do to protect ourselves and stop its spread. The winners of the competition were announced in a virtual event on Safer Internet Day.
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Date: 11 February 2020
Theme: Together for a better internet
Activities: The 2020 Safer Internet Day competition in Wales challenged children and young people to create a public announcement style advert aimed at friends and family based on the theme ‘A better internet: how to look after yourself and others’. Winners of the competition were announced by the Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams, at a VIP screening of the finalists’ films in Cardiff.
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Date: 5 February 2019
Theme: Our internet, our choice: Understanding consent in a digital world
Activities: Safer Internet Day 2019 focused on how consent works in an online context. The Welsh Government, in partnership with the UK Safer Internet Centre, published education packs on Hwb containing activities for schools in Wales to get involved with. These activities encouraged young people to explore how they ask, give, and receive consent online.
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Date: 6 February 2018
Theme: Create, Connect and Share Respect
Activities: The Welsh Government held an event in the Pierhead, Cardiff, to celebrate Safer Internet Day, where Kirsty Williams AM, Cabinet Secretary for Education, announced the winners of the Safer Internet Day 2018 competition, which asked children and young people to describe how they feel when they are online through words, film, art or music.
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Date: 7 February 2017
Theme: Be the change: unite for a better internet
Activities: Model Church in Wales School and Portfield School created photos show the impact online images have on their lives, as part of ‘The Power of Images’ photography project.
A Safer Internet Day event was held in the Senedd which was attended by over 150 children, young people and adults from across Wales. Kirsty Williams, Cabinet Secretary for Education, formally launched the Online Safety Zone on Hwb and announced the winner of the Online Safety Zone logo design competition.
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Date: 9 February 2016
Theme: Play your part for a better internet
Activities: The UK Safer Internet Centre in partnership with the Welsh Government ran a competition calling for Welsh schools to design an app to help make the internet a better place.
The winners were Cornist Park Primary School with the ‘Safe eExplorers’ app, containing a collection of information, links and advice about keeping safe online and Ysgol Y Preseli with My Username Generator. This app allowed young children (aged 5-11) to generate a Welsh or English username that is easy to remember and that doesn’t reveal any sensitive information about them.
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Date: 10 February 2015
Theme: Let’s create a better internet together
Activities: Many young people around Wales took on the challenge of creatively sharing a smile via social media to promote the theme of creating a better internet.
Safer Internet Day events took place around Wales including one in All Saints Primary School, which was attended by the Deputy Minister for Technology and Skills Julie James and another in Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg, which was attended by the Deputy Children’s Commissioner.