News: Online Safety

A huge thank you to North Wales Police

We would like to say a very special thank you – diolch yn fawr iawn – to Detective Inspector Sofiah Valentine and Detective Sergeant Rhys Rushby from North Wales Police, who visited Park CP today to share important information with our parents and carers about keeping children safe online.

The feedback from those who attended was incredibly positive, with the session described as a real “eye-opener.”

The Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) shared some particularly important messages for us all:

• Think carefully before posting photographs of children online. Once an image is shared on social media, it can be copied, saved and shared much further than we may ever expect.

• Supervision really matters. Take an active interest in what children are doing online, the platforms they are using, who they are communicating with and the content they are viewing.

• AI has changed the risks. Technology is now so advanced that ordinary photographs can be manipulated extremely easily and potentially used to exploit children. This makes careful consideration of what we share online more important than ever.

A huge thank you to all the parents and carers who joined us today. Keeping children safe online requires schools, families and professionals to work together, and we really appreciate your engagement and support.

We know that the afternoon session was not accessible to everyone, so we will try to arrange a further session after school. We do, however, ask for your understanding that the demands and time constraints on the police team are significant, so this will depend upon their availability.

Finally, our sincere thanks go to DI Sofiah, DS Rhys and the whole OCAIT team. The work they do to protect children and young people, often dealing with incredibly difficult circumstances, is hugely important. We are very grateful for your time, expertise and commitment to helping us keep our children safe.

Diolch yn fawr iawn!