‘Safer Internet Day 2017’ has been a huge topic of discussion within St. Anne’s, not just for Tuesday 7^th February but over the last number of weeks. This year’s campaign theme, ‘Be the change: unite for a better internet’ was explored through a wide range of classroom-based activities, building on the existing learning experiences within the UICT and PDMU curriculum. These included quizzes, artwork, educational games and producing their own film animations, to name but a few. Special assemblies were delivered by Mrs O’Carroll to highlight the positive uses of technology in our world and to explore the role we all play in creating a better and safer online community. These assemblies also provided the opportunity for the pupils to showcase their work and to educate their peers.  One of the key messages being, ‘Think before you post online!’

We all have a shared responsibility to make the internet a better place; parents and carers, schools, policy makers, government, industry and young people themselves. With this in mind, St. Anne’s are hosting a parent/carer information session on Thursday 2^nd March at 7.30 pm. During this session we hope to explore the risks to children from online activity and how we can protect our children and enable them to protect themselves. This meeting is for adults only and pupils should not attend.

Belfast City Hall are also hosting a free ‘Cyber Safety’ event on Wednesday 8th March. This online safety event delivered by the organization ‘Children in Northern Ireland’ and in partnership with the PSNI, will commence at 6.30 pm  and finish at 9.00 pm. Issues such as cyberbullying, social media risks, inappropriate and illegal material, gaming and online grooming will be discussed. If you wish to book a place, visit www.ci-ni.org.uk/cybersafety or call 028 90 401290.

Remember, everyone has a role to play. The change begins with each and every one of us!