Daily Safeguarding Update - Safer Schools NI

Instagram announce new ways to verify age in partnership with Yoti

In addition to uploading ID, Instagram have partnered with Yoti, a company that specialises in age verification software using artificial intelligence.
Users are asked to take a video selfie, which is then analysed by Yoti, basing age on facial features and age markers such as wrinkles or grey hair.
The third option is ‘social vouching’, where friends can confirm how old another user is.
For more on this update, visit the Instagram website.

A coalition of 7 charities found that children’s care placements were changed more than 220,000 times between 2018 and 2021.
This is an estimated 1,059 changes every week, with 64% of these as a result of abuse or neglect in 2021.
To mark ‘It’s Our Care Day of Action’, hundreds of young people with experience of being in care gathered at Parliament yesterday to urge MPs to fix the social care system.
To read more on this story, visit the Independent website.

In a tweet, the NHS warned followers to be aware of a text scam about ordering Omicron Covid-19 test kits.
The organisation confirmed that they never ask for bank details and to be aware of suspicious emails and texts.
In an interview with the BBC, The National Cyber Security Centre called cyber-criminals ‘opportunistic’ and that they are exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic for financial gain.
For further information on this story, visit the BBC website here.

This figure includes 91 children seeking a place in a special school, with the other 202 awaiting a place in mainstream schools.
The Education Authority has reported a ‘significant rise’ in the need for special school places.
According to the Department of Education, around 22,000 children of school age in Northern Ireland have a statement of Special Educational Needs.
For more information on this story, visit the BBC Website.