Forge Students Lead The Way On Sharing On E-safety

Forge Students Lead The Way On Sharing On E-safety

The internet is an amazing place where we can play, learn, create and connect, but with the digital world changing all the time, how can we make sure our young people are staying safe? In response to this, Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT), who sponsor Ormiston Forge Academy in Cradley Heath, launched a competition on the theme of ‘Staying Safe on the Internet’ and invited all academies across the OAT network to submit a creative and inspiring short animated film to help spread awareness of e-safety to young people. OAT received over 40 entries and on 5 July the panel of experts and competition sponsors met to view and judge all the shortlisted entries and came to a unanimous decision. This week the winners were announced and awarded their prizes. Ormiston Forge Academy came joint first for their video “Cyber Bullying: e-Safety Superhero” by Dexta, year 9. In a clean sweep, the second place also went to Ormiston Forge Academy for their video “13th Birthday – Be Internet Smart” by Morgan, year 9. The competition was open to all OAT academies and students needed to include original work. An OAT spokesperson said: “Everyone involved was extremely impressed with the hard work and creativity that went into all of the entries, as well as their extensive knowledge of e-safety.” Head of the academy at Forge, Dr Lisa Mason, commented: “Keeping children safe online is incredibly important and we’re delighted that two of our students haven’t just taken the matter into their own hands but they’ve also been recognised nationally for their efforts. We’re very proud of Dexta and Morgan.We’ll use the videos that they’ve produced on our social media channels over the summer, we know that they’ll make a positive impact and contribute towards our e-safety work.” To view the Forge winning video entries, click the links: https://youtu.be/ZeuMM-y8f0s https://youtu.be/8Qu3Zmt9Qhc