School opens doors to parents for internet safety lessons
Parents of children attending all schools in Warwick came together for a lesson on internet safety at Aylesford School, highlighting the dangers posed to young people by aspects of the internet and what parents can do to raise awareness of the dangers that their children face.
Joanne Sheehy, from the Safer Schools Partnership – Warwickshire Police and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre ambassador gave a talk and a practical demonstration which served to bridge some of the gap in technological knowledge between children and parents, and increase parents’ confidence in their knowledge of potential dangers online.
The event was arranged by Warwickshire County Council’s Extended Services cluster co-ordinators. This delivers courses to parents through groups of schools known as clusters, where schools in an area share resources and work together to provide increased opportunities for further educational activities for families.
This is a further example of a cross cluster event, a recent trend which has brought the Warwick and Warwick South West clusters together. As well as making services more efficient and cost-effective by reaching so many more people at one time, the scheme has brought different communities together.
Approximately 40 parents attended the event, held at Aylesford School, which was the first in this year’s series of parent information sessions to be run at Aylesford School and its partner school in the cross cluster, Myton School, giving advice and practical support on key issues affecting parents such as supporting teenagers, managing friendships in school and drugs awareness.
Sharon Hall, cluster co-ordinator for South West Warwick, said: “We were delighted with the attendance at tonight’s event. Many parents are concerned by what the internet can expose children to but don’t know how to get the information they need. Bringing together the clusters of schools enabled us to put out vital information to many more parents.
“Because this is a rolling programme in which schools across the locality host parent sessions, we aim to give opportunities across the district to work alongside fellow parents from other communities to make the most of the extended services that are available through schools.”
Sharon Carr, whose son is in year 7 of Aylesford School, found that she was left better equipped to address her concerns about the internet. She said: “I got a lot out of tonight’s event. I have been concerned at how I can protect my son from unsuitable sites and things like online bullying as this is all quite new to me.
“I’m pleased that Extended Services opens the school to the whole family. It’s not just where the kids go to learn nowadays and I will be looking at what else is on offer for my own learning.”
For details of further parent information sessions at Aylesford School and Myton School, call Extended Services on 01926 742242.