As we recruit for a new Childnet Education Officer we look at what a typical week looks like from the view of the people who know the role the best.
Ellie, a Senior Education Officer at Childnet, joined the Childnet team in September 2015. In this blog she looks at the responsibilities of an Education Officer and outlines what a typical week looks like in the role.
Visiting schools
The role of an Education Officer is as varied as it is rewarding. As Education Officers a large part of our time is spent in schools. Each week Education Officers will visit up to 3 schools to deliver online safety sessions to pupils, staff and parents. These school visits could be anywhere in the country, meaning that we get to do a lot of travelling in this job. In order to make these sessions as engaging and productive as we can time management and organisation is vital to the role. When out at schools our main focuses are delivering presentations as well as answering questions from pupils, staff and parents.
Creating innovative educational resources
As the Education Team we create resources which are used by teachers across the UK to educate young people about online safety. These resources include the Crossing the Line PSHE toolkit and the Safer Internet Day Education Packs.
To be able to create these popular and original resources we have to be abreast of new online safety trends and topics. This knowledge is developed both through school visits and our own research.
Gaining knowledge
Training is important in this role – we attend several conferences throughout the year, often in different countries, to keep up with the latest trends in internet safety and we collaborate with key stakeholders globally. Childnet is one of three partners in the UK Safer Internet Centre, and we are in the unrivalled position of being able to sit on different advisory boards where we can feed in what young people think about different services.
Giving youth a voice and training peer educators
Youth voice is essential to Childnet’s work. The education team regularly hold consultations with young people, run focus groups and organise youth events.
The Childnet Digital Leaders Programme is another important part of Childnet’s work that the Education Team contribute to. The programme trains young people in primary and secondary schools to be effective peer educators and is delivered through an innovative gamified digital platform. The Education Team are responsible for providing up to date and engaging online learning modules for young people across the UK, helping them to be online safety experts within their schools.
You wouldn’t be able to do this role without an interest in current online issues and a strong commitment to Childnet’s mission and values. We are a small team with a passion for helping make the internet a great and safe place for children, and will go above and beyond to help make this a reality. Being an Education Officer gives you the opportunity to support this mission, whilst also learning and contributing to the ever-growing field of online safety.
Find out more about the team: Meet our team
Find out more about applying: https://www.childnet.com/vacancies
