Staying safe online: Lincolnshire pupils celebrate Safer Internet Day competition win  

The winner of Lincolnshire County Council’s Safer Internet Day competition has been crowned at a special award ceremony in North Hykeham this week.

Pupils at more than thirty primary schools across Lincolnshire were inspired to get creative and record a short film that explored the theme of fake news.

Cllr Patricia Bradwell OBE, executive member for children’s services, presented the awards to delighted pupils and teachers at the Terry O’Toole Theatre on Tuesday 11 February.

The winning schools were:

• Nocton Community Primary, Lincoln – first place
• Stamford St Gilbert’s CofE Primary School – second place
• Pinchbeck East CofE Primary School – third place
• Boston Endeavour Academy – special mention award

Cllr Bradwell said: “This year’s Safer Internet Day highlights a really important issue: protecting yourself and others from scams online.

“We tasked Lincolnshire students to produce a film which would help children, young people and parents or carers in identifying one form of online deception – the risk of fake news – and share their top tips to combat disinformation.

“The judges had their work cut out deciding between dozens of great entries; it was clear just how thoroughly the pupils investigated the topical issue of fake news. A huge well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to the winning school, Nocton Community Primary.”

Cllr Patricia Bradwell presents an award to pupils from Nocton Community Primary School

The competition was organised by the county council’s Stay Safe team, who deliver hands on workshops to help children aged between seven and 18 across Lincolnshire develop the skills they need to navigate the online world safely.  

In the last academic year alone, almost 50,000 students benefitted from the workshops, receiving top tips on protecting personal information, cyberbullying, digital wellbeing, and more.

Workshops are free for schools to access and can be booked on our website.  

The winning films will be available to watch on the Stay Safe Partnership’s YouTube channel.