Three Wrexham primary schools benefitted from Digital Hero training sessions recently, led by Cwmpas and Digital Communities Wales at Borras Park Primary School.
The sessions took place on October 6, 2023, and three schools to receive the training were Borras Park Primary School, Victoria CP Primary School, and The Rofft Primary School.
What is a Digital Hero?
Digital Heroes are children and young people who are confident users of tech and can support others who might not be as confident to get online, including those who are living with dementia.
It has been proven that people living with dementia have a higher level of positive engagement when interacting with children.
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Digital Heroes can be school children, members of scouts or guides, cadets or college and university students. To learn more, take a look at the Digital Communities Wales page.
The sessions were arranged by Kate Evans and Vicki Lindley-Jones from our Commissioning Team for Adult Social Care and we will be looking to provide sessions to all Wrexham schools over the next 12 months.
Cllr John Pritchard, Lead Member for Adult Social Care, said: “We’re keen to work with all of the schools in Wrexham to promote Digital Heroes to enable children to help others in the community, as well as raise awareness of dementia and the signs of dementia. Everyone benefits from this integrated approach. For example, the children get to sing, entertain or play games, as well as share some digital skills, and the older generation can teach important life lessons and the importance of working, as well as telling lots of wonderful stories.”
Cllr Phil Wynn, Lead Member for Education, said: “This is a really positive initiative that encourages children and young people to share their digital skills with others in the community, and in turn get to learn important values as well. We’re delighted that pupils from the three Wrexham primary schools were shown the value of being a Digital Hero, and look forward to other schools benefitting from this training.”
Borras Park Primary School told us: “The children really enjoyed the training and wear their badges proudly around school. Since the training, we have discussed different ways we can put their new skills to use with community members and parents. It was a pleasure to host the event. We have worked with Digital Communities Wales for a number of years and we have always found the projects we have participated in very rewarding.”
Victoria CP Primary School told us: “Pupils said they really enjoyed learning new skills and are looking forward to supporting children in our school, parents and members of the community. They have asked to start working on a presentation to share with pupils in assembly, an afterschool drop in for parents, and visit the local care home.”
The Rofft Primary School told us: “The digital training workshop was an excellent, most informative, productive session which certainly clarified many points on both digital coaching and safety for now and our children’s future. A big thank you for squeezing so much useful, purposeful and relevant content into an afternoon where children were able to interact in a variety of ways. They left the session highly motivated and enthused.
“So far, the children have produced well organised, very clear posters on the three rules of digital safety to help educate younger children in the school. They have been displayed in the hall for all to see the importance we place on this area of their learning.
“We are hoping to team up with our local care home and luncheon club in the Café to help support and enhance digital skills after Christmas.”
Linzi Jones, Digital Inclusion Advisor for Digital Communities Wales, posted on X: “Wonderful to have @BorrasPark& @rofftschool and Victoria CP School come together today for a #DigitalHeroes session with @DC_Wales.
“The children are learning how to support older people to use technology safely, with trainers @EmaDCW & @MikeOHaraDCW.”
