Six Villages students crack the e-safety code at the University of Portsmouth

Ormiston Six Villages Academy 

Pupils from Ormiston Six Villages Academy attended University of Portsmouth for this month’s second installement of the #WeWill Be Cyber Safe project.  Over 90 year 8 students took part in the all-day STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and e-safety event. 

The students were divided into small groups, where they were tasked with real-life scenarios – such as mirroring a CEO of a company to  identify data breaches and advise on next-steps.  

Lily, a Year 8 student at Ormiston Six Villages Academy said: “It was great to research about real life data breaches that have affected large business. I was working in groups with people I don’t normally work with so it also built on my confidence.”

Displaying great fortitude could be seen throughout the day’s activities, especially during the ‘hotseat’ challenger. Where students answered questions on the breach in a news style conference. 

Paul Slaughter, Principal at Ormiston Six Villages Academy described the day as an “excellent” trip. 

He said: “It was an opportunity for students to learn some really important skills, not only in relation to e-safety, but also around working as a team and handling challenging situations.” 

This was echoed by Grant Aldred, Senior IT Technician & WeWill Cybersafe Lead at Ormiston Six Villages Academy, he added : “It is so vital that students get to learn about the intricacies of cyber safety, which is a expertise that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. It has been great to see how engaged in the topic they have been, and this brilliant opportunity has helped to build on that.”

Alongside the e-safety activities, pupils had the opportunity to go on a tour of the campus and attend a lecture in the main hall.  Providing the 12-13-year-olds, with an inspiring taster into a day in the life of a university student. 

Dr David M. Williams, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security, School of Computing at University of Portsmouth said: “We value the relationship with the academy that this outreach activity has strengthened. University of Portsmouth is committed to being one of the UK’s leading civic Universities through promoting the city of Portsmouth, widening participation and making a difference locally.”