Last Updated on 15th October 2026
Welcome Back to Your October Newsletter!
Educate – Empower – Protect
🎃 October Newsletter 🍂
Happy October! We’re here to make sure your Spooky Season is scare-free with Safer Schools. Read below to check out our most updated and relevant resources including on Com Networks and the Horror Genre. Check out the schools we visited as part of our Certified Safer Schools tour and how you can play a part!
News and Alerts ℹ️
Key updates and alerts as seen on your app’s news
Understanding Com Networks Article
The topic of Com Networks is back in the news and we’ve made sure to cover any new updates, risks and guidance in our newly updated Understanding Com Networks article. Read vital information to make sure you’re equipped to support children and young people who may face these dangerous groups online.
Com Network Shareable
To help tackle this difficult topic, we’ve made our Com Network shareable accessible to parents and carers too. You can find it on the Teach Hub and parents and carers can download it within the article. This one-page resource helps facilitate conversations with children and young people while also providing key information in an accessible format.
✨Read more within your Online Safety News section of the App.✨
Community News and Updates 📢
The latest in the locality
Just a few months ago, our Safer Schools team had the pleasure of visiting schools across Northern Ireland, delivering Certified Safer Schools certificates. A total of 20 schools reached the status for the academic year 2024-2025. We can’t wait to see which schools obtain the award for the year 2026-2027!
If your school is keen to receive the award, we would love to hear from you. Encouraging your whole school community to complete the Digital Proficiency Course allows for pupils, staff and parents/carers to be better protected on the online world.
Remember all your results carry over from last year if you’ve already rolled out the Digital Proficiency Course. But if not, it’s never too late to start! Find out more on our website and get in touch.
Resource Highlight ✨
The ready-to-use, relevant resource you need
The Friend Ship
Did you know that within your Safer Schools App, you have the perfect bedtime story? By logging into the Web or Mobile app and navigating to Stories, you’ll find the exciting adventures of Jack and Freddie, navigating through Cyber Space on their rocket ship, ‘The Friend Ship’. They’ll come across challenges like who to allow onboard and when to call for the Mother Ship. Plant seeds of safety on topics like friend requests and trusted adults by exploring the eBook together or you can order a physical copy by clicking the button below:
Media News 🗞️
Safeguarding and Online Safety News
📱 Children cut down on social screen time for trial – Born in Bradford’s six-week “IRL” trial is restricting social media access for 4,000 secondary school students to study its impact on youth wellbeing.
📢 Ban school uniforms in porn, says pupils – Teenage students from an Oxfordshire school have launched a petition urging the UK government to ban school uniforms in pornography, arguing that the imagery sexualises children and makes young girls feel unsafe in public.
💬 New Controls to Help Parents Guide Their Teens on WhatsApp – WhatsApp has introduced optional, PIN-protected parental controls that allow parents to manage their teens’ privacy settings, monitor group activity, and restrict features like Meta AI, without compromising the end-to-end encryption of their personal messages.
License, Links and Logins 🔑
All the information you need to access the world of Safer Schools NI at your fingertips!
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