Sessions focus on building the pupil's own digital resilience and reporting confidence, rather than a generic 'internet safety' lecture the pupil has likely already heard. The course is grounded in DfE's National Behaviour Survey, which found 29% of bullied pupils experienced at least some of it online, and is statutory under Keeping Children Safe in Education, which requires schools to address online safety as part of safeguarding. It also reflects the Online Safety Act 2023 and DfE's 2026 guidance on mobile phones in schools.
Objective: Pupil can describe the pupil's typical online habits and identify what feels good or uncomfortable about them.
Check-in: Open, low-pressure question: 'What apps or games do you spend most time on at the moment?' Build rapport through genuine curiosity, not assessment.
Input: Introduce the idea that our online life is a real part of our life, what happens there matters just as much as what happens in person, and it's normal for it to feel good sometimes and uncomfortable other times.
Activity: Pupil maps a typical day's online activity (apps, platforms, who the pupil talks to) and marks which parts feel positive, neutral, or uncomfortable using a simple colour code.
Reflect: What's one part of your online day that feels genuinely good? Agree to simply notice one uncomfortable moment this week, without needing to act on it yet.
Watch for: Pupils often minimise how much time is spent online, or how much online interactions affect mood, this is common and not something to challenge directly in Week 1.
Parent/carer take-home: Show a genuine, non-judgemental interest in what the pupil enjoys online this week, this builds the trust needed for harder conversations later in the course.
Objective: Pupil can define cyberbullying in the pupil's own words and recognise at least two common forms of it.
Check-in: Review the uncomfortable moment noticed last week, if the pupil is willing to share.
Input: Explain that cyberbullying includes things like exclusion from group chats, nasty comments, sharing embarrassing content without consent, and impersonation, and that it can feel just as serious as in-person bullying, sometimes more so because it can follow a pupil home.
Activity: Pupil sorts a set of scenario cards into 'cyberbullying', 'unkind but not bullying', and 'not sure' categories, discussing the harder-to-classify ones together.
Reflect: Has anything like this happened to you or someone you know? Agree there's no pressure to share details yet.
Watch for: Pupils who are experiencing online harm may downplay it out of fear of losing device privileges, reassure that the goal is support, not confiscation.
Parent/carer take-home: Avoid reacting strongly if the topic comes up this week, a calm, curious response makes it much more likely the pupil will keep talking rather than shut the conversation down.
Objective: Pupil can demonstrate how to block, report, and save evidence on at least one platform the pupil uses.
Check-in: Check how the week went since discussing cyberbullying scenarios.
Input: Walk through practical safety steps: adjusting privacy settings, blocking and reporting on common platforms, and taking screenshots as evidence before blocking (since blocking can sometimes hide the original message).
Activity: Using a practice account or printed screenshots, pupil walks through the steps of reporting and saving evidence on a platform the pupil uses regularly.
Reflect: Which of these steps did you already know? Which was new? Agree to check one privacy setting this week.
Watch for: Some pupils feel reporting will make things worse (retaliation, being seen as 'snitching'), validate this concern honestly rather than dismissing it, and discuss how reporting privately differs from confronting someone publicly.
Parent/carer take-home: If comfortable, sit with the pupil for five minutes to check privacy settings together on a device the pupil uses, this works best as a shared activity, not an inspection.
Objective: Pupil can rehearse telling a trusted adult about an online concern, using the pupil's own words.
Check-in: Review the privacy setting checked last week.
Input: Introduce the idea that telling an adult early, before something escalates, gives more options for resolving it, and that this is a sign of good judgement, not weakness.
Activity: Role-play telling a trusted adult (mentor, form tutor, parent) about an online concern, using a simple opening line the pupil chooses (e.g. 'something's been bothering me online, can I show you?').
Reflect: Which opening line felt most natural to you? Agree to keep it in mind, even if nothing's happened recently.
Watch for: The goal is a rehearsed, low-stakes opening line the pupil can reach for under pressure, not a perfect script, since real disclosures rarely follow a script exactly.
Parent/carer take-home: Let the pupil know you're always a safe person to come to about anything online, without needing a 'big enough' reason, this lowers the barrier to speaking up early.
Objective: Pupil has a personalised plan covering online safety steps, screen time balance, and who to tell if something happens.
Check-in: Review the five weeks, what feels different about the pupil's digital day map from Week 1?
Input: Summarise what's been covered: recognising cyberbullying, staying safe online, and speaking up early.
Activity: Co-create a one-page digital wellbeing plan: privacy steps to keep in place, a screen time or bedtime boundary the pupil chooses, and the name of the trusted adult the pupil would go to.
Reflect: What's one thing you feel more confident about now? What would help most going forward?
Watch for: Screen time boundaries work best when the pupil sets them, not when they're imposed, a self-chosen boundary is far more likely to stick.
Parent/carer take-home: Read through the plan together and support the screen time or bedtime boundary the pupil has chosen, rather than adding new rules on top.