Welcome back to Parent Zone.

We’ve almost reached the end of January, and we’re sure it’s been a busy month for you and the families you work with. 

February brings fresh opportunities for you to help younger generations become happy and resilient internet users, including Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 8 February. 

To help you prepare activities to do with the children you work with on Safer Internet Day, and to engage their families, we’ve put together a selection of free resources and ideas to incorporate into your plans.

Discover them below, and let us know how you’ve used them by tagging us on Twitter (@TheParentsZone) or Facebook (@ParentZone1) using the hashtag #SaferInternetDay. 

We’re looking forward to seeing what will inspire you the most! 

Live virtual Safer Internet Day event for parents

If you’re looking to engage families around important internet safety issues, invite the parents and carers you work with to our free Safer Internet Day Special Event on Tuesday 8 February, 4.30-5.00 pm, live on YouTube.

What games are appropriate for children? What are the advantages and disadvantages of gaming? How can parents and carers make the right decisions for their family? Under the headline “All fun and games? Your guide to gaming”, our expert trainer, Sophie Linington, will explore some of the most frequent questions parents have about gaming. 

You can share our flyer with the families you work with, and write to us at members@parentzone.org.uk if you have any questions you’d like answered. 

Be Internet Legends: assemblies and teacher workshops now available to book!

Kick-start your pupils’ online safety learning this term by joining school communities across the UK for an exciting shared learning experience - with the first national assembly of 2022 taking place next week, on Thursday 3 February. Over 1200 schools joined one of our national assemblies in 2021, so book now to ensure your pupils can join in the fun this year!

Google and Parent Zone’s live, interactive assemblies are designed to engage 7-11 year olds in your online safety teaching and explore the key concepts underlying the Be Internet Legends programme - with parents encouraged to take part from home. With plenty of opportunities to get involved and interact with our presenters, this is an engaging and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

Dates are now available to book throughout the spring and summer term - we look forward to seeing you soon!

Our free CPD-accredited teacher workshops are designed to guide you through all the resources available from the Be Internet Legends programme, and help you find the best way to use them to bring online safety learning to life for your school community.

With the launch of the refreshed curriculum just around the corner, join one of our February workshops to be among the first to find out about all the new activities and content we’ve been developing. We’ll explore what the updates will mean for your online safety teaching this year, and how to make the most of all the opportunities the programme offers.

We also have sessions available to book right through to the Easter holidays, so there are plenty of chances for you to hear from our experts, and ask any questions you may have, to support your roll-out of the new curriculum. 

Last chance to have your say about Ollee

Have you used Ollee - the virtual friend designed to help 8-11 year olds explore their feelings - with the children and families you work with? We’d love to hear your feedback to help inform our future plans for development.

The survey that we’ve been sharing as part of the evaluation of the app will be closing next week. If you have a few spare minutes, we’d appreciate it if you could fill it in. You will also have a chance of winning a £100 Amazon voucher as a thank you for taking part.