At Farsley Westroyd in KS1, we use the Jessie and Friends animated series about online safety produce by Thinkukow. 

Thinkuknow is the national education programme from NCA-CEOP at the National Crime Agency. NCA-CEOP works to keep children safe from sexual abuse and exploitation.

About Jessie & Friends

Jessie & Friends follows the adventures of Jessie, Tia and Mo as they begin to navigate the online world, watching videos online, sharing photos and playing games. The friends learn that while the internet can be an exciting place where they can learn and have fun, sometimes they may encounter things online which may make them feel worried or sad.

The aim of the animations and accompanying activities are to give 4-7 year olds the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to help them stay safe from sexual abuse, exploitation and other risks they may encounter online. The animations and activities provide children with the opportunity to explore ideas like trust, false identity online, consent, and develop their confidence to ask an adult they trust for help if something online makes them feel uncomfortable.

The Jessie & Friends animations and lessons are age appropriate and are not scary. They do not depict any situations where adults communicate with children online. Instead, they show safe, non-scary situations between children to help young viewers identify ways in which people might sometimes try to pressure or trick others online. Learning how to identify when this is happening, and how to get help by telling an adult they trust, will help children respond safely in many risky situations, including if an adult tries to pressure or trick them online.

The resource has been awarded the PSHE Association Quality Mark. This demonstrates that Jessie & Friends supports effective teaching practice, and meets the PSHE Association’s ten principles of effective PSHE education.

How you can get involved

To find out more you can watch the video for parents and carers and all three episodes of Jessie & Friends at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/jessie-and-friends.

After your child has watched an episode in class, you can also read the associated storybook with them at home to reinforce key messages and help start (or continue) conversations with your child about online safety. Please refer to the attached Jessie & Friends parents and carers helpsheet which provides further guidance about:

• Ideas for starting conversations about online safety with your child
• Things you can do at home to further support your child
• Links to more advice and support on how to keep your child safe online
• Information about how to get help if you are worried about your child

You will also find plenty of additional advice and support about keeping your child safer online at the Thinkuknow parents and carers website: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents . Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like further information or if you have any concerns about your child and/or online safety.