Renfrewshire Council

School staff and parents play a central role in helping to keep children and young people safe when using the internet. To help them gain the knowledge they need to do this well, Pam has been facilitating online learning sessions through RenSafeOnline - a partnership between Renfrewshire Council and online safety organisation GetSafeOnline.

She said, "GetSafeOnline offer lots of advice and training, and thanks to my colleagues, cyber security architect, Carol Peters and digital strategy policy lead, Diane Webb, we've been able to make good use of this resource.

"My focus is on getting colleagues who work in schools and local parents involved to learn how they can help protect children and young people on the internet.

"The threat is very real and it's growing all the time. Cyber criminals are ready to pounce as soon as they see an opportunity and sadly, children and young people are vulnerable to that."

During Cyber Week Scotland back in February, Pam arranged virtual learning sessions that equipped staff and parents with the know-how to recognise online risks as well as the key signs when someone needs help. The sessions covered effective ways to support children and young people to interact safely online and what to do if they are concerned about someone.

"Feedback from the sessions was excellent with 100% positive staff feedback and parents commenting that the session was very informative and 'mind blowing'.

"Since then, I've organised training sessions to recruit schools' colleagues as online safety ambassadors. It's going really well, and we are planning to open up more training opportunities after the summer holidays."

For lots of help on staying safe online and to keep up to date with local GetSafeOnline campaigns, visit the RenSafeOnline webpage.

Don't forget to complete the following mandatory courses on iLearn so you can protect yourself and our council network from criminal activity:

• Cyber Security: Top tips for staff
• Passphrases and security
• RenTalks: How to spot a phish

Published on Wednesday 8 June 2022