PARENTS are being invited to a session aimed at demystifying the online world as experienced by their children.

The free session takes place at Okehampton Primary School on Tuesday, December 5 at 6.30pm.

Organised by IT lead teacher Matt Smith, it will be run by experts from the South West Grid for Learning.

The session is also open to parents from other primary schools in the villages surrounding Okehampton and youth and church workers in the area.

Mr Smith said it was an ‘essential’ session for parents, who often had no idea what their children were up to on their smartphones.

‘Children use technology in different ways to their parents, they have grown up with it. Smartphones have been around since they were born so the ways they use them are not even understood by their parents. They play games, use social media and invest a lot of their personality in the online world. As a school, we teach the skills to enable children to navigate it safely, it is a very important part of our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) curriculum, but in order to help everyone understand – parents, local clubs – we decided to put this on.’

He added: ‘It is not an evening to worry parents, it is an evening to explain things to them, to reassure them and give advice.

‘We have done sessions before but this time, to maximise the impact, we have decided to involve not just the parents but people working with children across the area. There will be a free crèche on the night, which needs to be booked, and there will also be light refreshments.’

‘I think in this day and age, it is an essential thing for parents to come along to. I would come as a parent if I wasn’t already doing it and I would recommend that all parents come along.’

To book a place at the crèche, call the school on 01837 52866 or email [email protected].