CATEGORIES
Education BulletinsA welcome from Laura-Anne Brown
Welcome to the Winter 2024 Learning and Skills Bulletin! This is my first bulletin since taking up post as the Cyber Resilience Unit’s Lead for Learning and Skills earlier in the year. I am delighted to have this opportunity – cyber resilience cuts across all aspects of everyday life at home, work or study – and I am looking forward to working with you, our key stakeholders in the CyberScotland Partnership, as well as the individuals and organisations in the wider education and skills landscape who contribute to deliver the Government’s Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland.
This bulletin aims to bring together and share all the important work you do and some, or perhaps all, of it helps us deliver on our Learning and Skills Action Plan.
I’ve already met some of you but please get in touch if you would like to talk about any aspect of our work or even if you just have some ideas about the bulletin. I can be contacted at Laura-Anne.Brown@gov.scot and look forward to hearing from you.
Schools
S2 GIRLS – CyberFirst Girls Competition open for registration
The CyberFirst Girls Competition is now open for registration! This exciting initiative, aimed at encouraging young girls to explore the world of cybersecurity, offers a unique opportunity to develop valuable skills in a fun and engaging environment. Teams consisting of up to four girls in S2 can participate in a series of challenges which are designed to inspire and educate the next generation of cybersecurity experts. Don’t miss out on this chance to be part of a transformative experience that could shape your learners’ future in cybersec! Find out more.
Introducing simple cyber security to P1s – The Bongles and the Crafty Crows
Since 2023, the Scottish Government has been supporting the development of The Bongles and the Crafty Crows a storybook for young people which focuses on learning outcomes relating to security, passwords and passcodes. The book will be included in this year’s Primary 1 Book Bug bags in November 2024 and copies have also recently been distributed to all Scottish libraries. Education Scotland will be running a series of webinars for educators during Book Week Scotland in November 2024 and you can find out more here.
Truth About Youth Survey 2024
CyberScotland Partner, Young Scot’s annual youth insight survey is now open! The Survey covers a range of issues facing young people, including for the first time, online threats and cybercrime. The survey is open to young people aged 11-25 years old, and participants can choose to be entered into a draw to win Apple Air Pods.
Cyber and Computing Conference – 9 November 2024
Education Scotland’s annual cyber and computing conference for Early Years practitioners, Primary school teachers, and Secondary school teachers who teach computing, will take place on 9 November 2024. For more details on how to sign up click here.
Colleges and universities
UK Cyber Team Competition
The UK Government has launched the UK Cyber Team Competition, which gives 18-25 year olds the chance to win a place on the UK Cyber Team and the opportunity to represent the UK in international cyber competitions as well as access to training, support and networking opportunities. The application process is open until 20 November 2024 on the competition website.
CyberFirst Bursary open for applications – for undergraduates
The CyberFirst Bursary is an exciting opportunity for students passionate about cyber security. It offers financial support, valuable work placements, and the chance to develop skills essential for a career in cybersecurity. Applications for the CyberFirst bursary are now open, so don’t miss your chance to apply and kickstart your journey in this dynamic and crucial field! Find out more.
Cyber 9/12 – for all HE and FE students
The Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge takes place on 13-14 November 2024 and is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience managing a fictional national cyber crisis. Although registration has now closed, organisers thank those who have signed up to take part or to be judges and the winners will be announced on the day.
Police Scotland Student Online Safety Guide
Common frauds that students are experiencing today can range from the more recognisable face-to-face fraud to those carried out by someone anonymously online. The new Police Scotland Guide will equip students with information and advice to increase their awareness, prepare them to identify potential frauds and prevent the loss of valuable data.
Abertay – UK cyber university of the year
Congratulations to Abertay named the UK Cyber University of the Year at the National Cyber Awards. The University’s excellence in teaching, research and knowledge exchange was recognised during the ceremony in London, which celebrated achievement while also supporting continuous improvement and adoption of global best practices.
Businesses and other organisations
Bringing real life cyber security expertise into the classrom
If you work in cyber security you can help inspire young people to consider cyber security as a career. To find out what’s involved check out Skills Development Scotland’s Tech Industry in the Classroom and Tech Industry in Schools Guide.
Virtual Engagement – Best Practice Guide. Want to support schools in a virtual way? This guide will help you to host an online session. Learn by Doing Toolkit. This will support employers who want to take on a young person for work experience or a Foundation Apprenticeship.
Community learning and development
Dot Magazine – for older people
Dot Magazine is a new publication for people aged 50+, showing them the best ways to protect themselves from online scams, and how to improve their digital wellbeing. As well as being available online, 20,000 copies have been shared with community groups across Scotland.
Digital Youth Work Conference – 11 February 2025
YouthLink’s annual digital youth work conference will take place
on Safer Internet Day 2025 and will bring together youth workers from across
Scotland and further afield to network, learn and develop their practice.
Further details will be released soon but click here to hear participants
talking about the significant themes from last year’s event.
YouthLink Research Report
Published in May, YouthLink’s research report Youth Work and Cyber Resilience – What Young People Said illustrates the key role youth workers have to play in supporting young people to stay safe and supported online.
Careers
Scottish Careers Week
Scottish Careers Week returns from 11-15 November! Coordinated by Skills Development Scotland to shine a light on the support that’s available to people of all ages across Scotland. Review the toolkit on how you can get involved at Scottish Careers Week | My World of Work.
A Career in Cyber Security Article
Read about those who have switched careers into cyber-security here.
Learning and training
Cyber Bite – Ransomware
The Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland are running a free, 1-hour lunchtime session on 31 October focusing on a simulated ransomware attack to help organisations develop and refine their response strategy, test crisis communication plans, evaluate backup and recovery procedures, practice decision-making under pressure, and review post-attack recovery and lessons learned to strengthen the organisation’s resilience.
Cyber Essentials Knowledge Hub launched
The Cyber Essentials Knowledge Hub provides a central, up-to-date source of reliable information on the certification scheme. While the resource will continue to evolve, the Knowledge Hub includes information that aims to educate and explain all aspects of cyber security.
Workshop – staying safe online
Digital Skills Education is running a free online workshop Stay Safe Online, on 31 October from 2pm – 3pm. Refresh your knowledge of the most important cyber security topics. Open to all workers in Scotland, this is ideally suited for people who have been on this course before and want to keep themselves up to date. To book a place click here.
Cyber Skills Live
Cyber Skills Live is an award-winning education programme featuring fun and engaging games inspired by real-life tech jobs. There are exciting sponsorship opportunities available, and you can find out more here.
