Internet and Social Media Awareness

Over the past two weeks, the topic of cyberbullying and its impact on others has been a key focus. Miss Baxendale (Head of KS3) and Mr Westmoreland (Deputy Head) led assemblies exploring the topic of bullying and in particular cyberbullying, highlighting the impact that this can have on an individual’s wellbeing. Students have also been exploring the topic further in their PSHCE  and citizenship lessons.

Cyberbullying across the country has risen by 88% over the last five years and has a huge impact on the wellbeing of young people (Ditchthelabel.org, 2022). At Trinity we do not allow the use of mobile phones during the school day, however, we accept that social media is a part of modern society.  As a school, we accept that many pupils will use it outside of school. However, we also expect everybody to engage in a positive manner on social media, in the same way as we expect when face to face.  This positive behaviour can be summarised as not making any posts which are or could be construed as bullying, aggressive, rude, insulting, illegal or otherwise inappropriate. This applies both to public pages and to private posts.

Trinity Together focuses on our five values: Living Hope, Being Inclusive and Accepting, Celebrating Diversity, Feeling Safe and Respected, and Having Empathy and Compassion. It is these values that students should reflect on when interacting in the online community, whilst also ensuring that they follow our school verse, ‘Everything we know about God’s word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself’. (Galatians 5:14).

A short video has been made to highlight the impact of cyberbullying and you can watch below:

We also encourage you to look at the below documents and informative website where you can find comprehensive resources, information and support to keep children safe online:

Helping parents keep children safe online | Internet Matters

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