e-safety

Just to let everyone know that we only have 18 spaces left at E-safetyLIVE London and bookings close on Friday. Looking forward to meeting you all there...

Hi - numbers are good (we still have space for a few more) - Edinburgh marginally more popular than London although this changes week on week. Price drop was in response to feedback from Schools that cost was an issue (delegate fee plus school cover costs plus travel etc) - sponsors were kind enough to be a little more 'generous' in order for us to attrat a variety of delegates across the professional scope (as previous to the price drop the demographic was mostly LA and Child Protection). We now have a good mix.

Can your digital footprint mean the difference between getting a job and not? Who else is looking at your Friday girls-night-out snaps? Parent? Pupil? Boss? Any reputation, be it online, personal or professional precedes you, the only difference being that in an online environment, once a comment, photo or rumour has been posted it will ALWAYS be there! We are becoming savvier as regular ‘social networkers’, ensuring that we are employing the privacy settings provided for us but unfortunately so are the people who are maliciously trying to damage our reputations. We have all heard of fake-celebrity tweet accounts and Facebook pages but have you considered that it is just as easy for your profile to be faked? Students having a ‘bit of fun’, parents with an agenda, colleagues who want that promotion over you, bitter exes destined on tarnishing your good name – all have motivations for damaging your reputation. A form of ‘cyberbullying’, this kind of activity should not be taken lightly. The work place is supposed to be safe, fair and enjoyable. There are laws and policies that protect the employee and the organisation from potential harm. Harassment in the work place, sexual discrimination, health and safety – all policies that we are widely aware of but how aware are we of our organisations ONLINE safety policies? How much training have we received in order to be able to implement them knowledgeably and fairly? How important are they to you, your employer and the organisation in comparison with the more traditional policies? - In schools particularly, it is the children who tend to be number one priority, what happens when it is the teacher who becomes the victim? Negative online reputations can damage careers, lives and the good name of your organisation – if you are not prepared to deal with potential incidents. ‘Protecting your Professional Identity’ is a topic of great importance in today’s digital age and will only become more significant in the fast-paced years to follow. Ken Corish, Online Safety Consultant for SWGfL comments; “Children’s professionals have a particular vulnerability when it comes to online reputation. Whether they are avid users of online technology or not, it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to separate social and personal lives from their professional roles. However, a modicum of awareness of where the real risks lie is often enough to mitigate much of that risk; reduce their online visibility and hence their vulnerability. Organisations too need to be aware of their responsibilities towards their staff, not only how to keep them safe but how to manage incidents effectively.” Want to know more about the subject? Are you a potential victim? Is your organisation prepared to deal with this sort of incident? Want to protect your good name? Then join us for a workshop by Online Safety experts Ken Corish and Laura Higgins at E-safetyLIVE 2012 – London on Tuesday 20th March and Thursday 22nd March in Edinburgh. For more information about the events and to book your space go to South West Grid for Learning Trust - Home

Thanks to all those who are helping spread the word - we are uploading the confirmed workshops on a daily basis - some examples are; 'Protecting your Professional Identity' - 'Empowering Children's Organisations', ‘Playing it Safe - keeping children safe online with games at home & in education' and 'Engaging Parents'

Annual esafetylive events to be held in London and Edinburgh for 2012... bookings now open!! - aimed at all who work with children and young people - workshops by Facebook, OFSTED, Childnet and CEOP amongst many others. As they are normally only run in the South West, I would really appreciate any help in spreading the word to schools across rest of UK - updates will be tweeted on a regular basis at @UK_SIC If anyone wants further info to distribute amongst their schools, please contact me - events are 20th / 22nd March 2012!!! Many thanks in advance Gemma

Hi there - hope you don't mind me using this to get a little help - I work for the UK Safer Internet Centre and we're holding our esafetylive event in Edinburgh for the first time this year - I'm looking for some willing peeps to help me get the message out to schools / anyone who works with young people. The events are in March so up against it. Would very much appreciate it if anyone could send on some info for me (a wee poster perhaps?? :-) All legit - check out the website South West Grid for Learning Trust - Home Gemma

Annual esafetylive events to be held in London and Edinburgh for 2012... bookings now open!! - aimed at all who work with children and young people - workshops by Facebook, OFSTED, Childnet and CEOP amongst many others. As they are normally only run in the South West, I would really appreciate any help in spreading the word to schools across rest of UK - updates will be tweeted on a regular basis at @UK_SIC If anyone wants further info to distribute amongst their schools, please contact me Many thanks in advance Gemma

Annual esafetylive events to be held in London and Edinburgh for 2012... bookings now open at http://www.esafetylive.com - aimed at all who work with children and young people - workshops by Facebook, OFSTED, Childnet and CEOP amongst many others. As they are normally only run in the South West, I would really appreciate any help in spreading the word to schools across rest of UK - updates will be tweeted on a regular basis at @UK_SIC If anyone wants further info to distribute amongst their schools, please contact me at [email protected] Many thanks in advance Gemma