Working with two key partners, the University of Kent’s Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS) and The STEM Hub managed by the Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), KMCC co-founded the KMCSN (Kent & Medway CyberSchools Network) to build a local community of schools, teachers and other stakeholders to promote pre-university cyber security and online safety education and awareness raising activities in Kent and Medway in November 2023. We are recruiting local schools and pre-university colleges as organisational members, (current and former) teachers/school staff as individual members, and everyone as supporters, so please read further and join us!
What is KMCSN?
KMCSN is a local network of stakeholders (organisations and individuals) who are interested in pre-university cyber security and online safety education and awareness raising activities for children and school pupils of all ages up to 18 years old, with a geographical focus on pupils attending a local school or pre-university college in Kent and Medway.
KMCSN is a major initiative of iCSS at the University of Kent, forming an essential part of its recognition by the UK Government as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) with a Gold award status (2023-29). KMCC is currently playing a supporting role, on recruiting members and supporters, and providing volunteers for activities of KMCSN’s activities.
Why is KMCSN necessary?
Educating children including those below 13 years old is more and more important because the percentage of children using the Internet is now very high (Ofcom, Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2023). This trend has led to increasing concerns among many people such as parents on online safety issues, therefore calling for the urgent needs to education children and young people about cyber security and online safety skills. The recently passed Online Safety Act 2023 by the UK Parliament is a reflection of such urgent needs.
What does KMCSN do?
KMCSN will support local schools/colleges, teachers and other school staff, university researchers and educators active in school outreach activities to better develop and deliver pre-university cyber security and online safety education and awareness raising activities. It aims at making all children in Kent and Medway more cyber ready and resilient future citizens, no matter what career path they will choose in the future.
A major area of activities of KMCSN is to coordinate development of reusable resources for all stakeholders, and another is to “train the trainers” to scale up pre-university cyber security and online safety education and awareness raising activities to benefit more children and school pupils. KMCSN will leverage a CyberChampions scheme to encourage non-experts to help advocate and support its activities, and to train some of them into competent trainers. KMCSN will also organise events and provide free consultancy services, and will raise funding and sponsorships to make itself more self-sustainable in the longer-term future.
The University of Kent is a member of CyberFirst, the programme of the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ) in cyber security skills development for school pupils in the UK, so KMCSN will be able to benefit from CyberFirst-branded activities organised by iCSS of the University of Kent. KMCC will explore the possibility to become a CyberFirst member in the future, too.
Who can join KMCSN and how?
There are two types of members:
- Organisational member: local schools and pre-university colleges in Kent and Medway
- Individual members: individuals with the relevant skills and knowledge on pre-university cyber security and online safety education and awareness raising.
For the second membership type, we particularly welcome (current and former) school teachers and staff with relevant skills and knowledge including headteachers and other senior school leaders to join.
If your school/college as an organisation or yourself as an individual are interested in joining KMCSN, please fill one of the corresponding forms below:
- Organisational members: https://forms.office.com/e/dw0xJ6FYKb
- Individual members: https://forms.office.com/e/2wxaxpay7x
How to contact KMCSN?
If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to contact the iCSS Outreach Lead who is chairing the Executive Group of KMCSN. This role is currently held by Professor Shujun Li, Director and Outreach Lead of iCSS.
KMCSN’s Executive Group can be reached via email kmcsn-admin@kent.ac.uk. If you prefer calling us via phone or visiting us in person, please find Professor Shujun Li’s contact details on his web page.
More about KMCSN
To find out more about KMCSN, including some example resources already available, the history behind its establishment, and the draft Terms of Reference, please visit the dedicated web page for KMCSN on iCSS’s website.
A Flyer about KMCSN
We have designed a flyer for recruiting members into KMCSN. We give the permission for anyone to use the flyer to promote the KMCSN. Please click the following image to download the PDF version of the flyer.
