Your child’s online safety education this year

Teaching online safety is vital to help keep our children safe as they navigate their digital world. In order to keep your child up-to-date on the most important parts of online safety, this year, your child’s class will be studying a unit of work based on Play Like Share, an animated series about online safety produced by Thinkuknow.

Thinkuknow is an award-winning education programme from the National Crime Agency’s child protection command, CEOP. It aims to keep children safe from abuse, both online and off.

Thinkuknow education resources are age-appropriate, non-scaremongering, and give children the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to stay safe online. They are used by over three and a half million children across the UK each year.

About Play Like Share

Play Like Share follows the adventures of Alfie, Ellie and Sam as they form a band and enter their school’s Battle of the Bands contest, taking on the mean but ‘cool’ Popcorn Wizards as they go. The three friends learn that while the internet can help, they need to use it wisely and safely.

The aim of the films is to help 8-10 year olds learn how to stay safe online. In particular, the films and activities teach them to spot the early signs of manipulative, pressurising and threatening behaviour by people they might meet online, and develop their confidence to respond safely and get help.

The resource has been awarded the PSHE Association Quality Mark. This demonstrates that Play Like Share supports effective teaching practice, and meets the PSHE Association’s ten principles of effective PSHE education.

How you can get involved

You can watch a short trailer and all three brief episodes of Play Like Share at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/playlikeshare.

It is a great idea for you to watch each episode with your child after they have viewed it in class (to avoid spoiling any surprises!) and to have conversations with them about the subjects covered. To help you do so, I attach the Play Like Share Parents and Carers Helpsheet, with:

• Ideas for starting conversations about online safety with your child
• Links to more advice and support on how to keep your child safe online
• Information about how to get help if you are worried about your child

You will also find plenty of advice and support about keeping your child safe online at the Thinkuknow Parents and Carers Website: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents.