On Monday 1st July 2024, Dr Virginia Franqueira – Director of the University of Kent’s Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) recognised by the UK’s NCSC and Deputy Director (Education) of the Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS), University of Kent – was present at the Open Day for Schools organised by Kent Police. The event was held at the Kent Police College in Maidstone, Kent from 9am to 3pm.
Around 75 schools attended the event, adding to approximately 150 teachers and over 2,000 students of Year 6 (aged 10-11). Teachers were given a free copy of the Ready, Get Set, Connect! activity book about online safety (published by Cyberlite Books Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, branded for and funded by iCSS), were introduced to other resources created by iCSS (such as this Cyber Superhero video and an illustrated Children’s book derived from the video), and were invited to join the Kent & Medway CyberSchools Network (KMCSN). The aim of KMCSN is to facilitate communication between iCSS and schools in the region to educate the next generation of cyber-aware citizens and cyber professionals of the future.
Dr Franqueira said: “It was an amazing opportunity to join the Kent Police team at the Cyber Crime stand and be part of such a lively event. Reaching out to so many school teachers to make them aware of the work we do at the University of Kent was really rewarding. Children, increasingly from a young age, use mobile devices to play, study and communicate and need to be aware of cyber security hygiene and of best practices to keep safe online. We can help schools, teachers and parents with this mission!”
DS Darryll Paulson from Kent Police said: “Kent Police were delighted to see so many schools, students, teachers, teaching assistants, parents and carers attend the Schools Open Day to learn about the many different aspects of policing and for us to give advice and guidance on how to be safe online. Having Dr Franqueira from the University of Kent with us was a fantastic chance to highlight more tools for educators to teach this vital life skill.”