Surf Smart Sleepover

On Friday 10th February, girls from 1st and 2nd Downham Market Guides were very lucky to be able to have a sleepover in St Edmund's Church.  We love a sleepover in this District and we are always looking for new places to spend the night, so we were very pleased to sleep in the Church, which is an incredibly old and incredibly beautiful building.  Some of the Guides thought that sleeping in the Church might be quite creepy - especially with the tombstones just outside - but it was actually very peaceful and we all got more sleep than we expected.

Whilst on the sleepover, we worked towards our Surf Smart Badge, a resource produced by WAGGS.  The resource had loads of fantastic games and activities which clearly illustrated some of the risks of being online.  We weren't trying to put anyone off of using the internet but wanted everyone to think a little more carefully about their security online.  Here's what some of the girls said:

Anna G "I found sleeping slightly weird at first but once I had been asleep and rested I enjoyed it.  I liked being where we were and we were all nice and snuggly"

Lauren "At first it was a bit creepy but once I got used to it, it was quite nice because there was lots of things to look at, so eventually I fell asleep.  It was super cosy"

Katie "It was actually really warm once you got into your sleeping bag.  I really liked the blindfolded 'follow the leader' because it was a fun way to show how little you know about the dangers of a website"

Eden and Savannah "We enjoyed Block It, where everyone was blindfolded and held onto a piece of string.  The person in front sent directions to you.  We enjoyed the Church because it was clean and cosy.  We got to play games such as the toothpaste game and we wrote about the positives and negatives of the internet.  We made safe passwords.

Anna R, Katie C and Mia F "It was very cosy but quite cold even though the heating was on.  It wasn't creepy at all but some Guides wouldn't stop talking through the night.  We talked about internet safety and what happens when you are not safe online.  The badge was really fun!  We learned a lot of things in a fun, productive way and without scaring ourselves."

Connie, Caitlin and Anya "The activities were fun and quick so we could move onto the next one quickly.  It was cold but luckily we had lots of blankets.  We tried to get to sleep but people kept waking us up by talking"

Holly "I enjoyed sleeping in the Church because it was clean and well looked after.  We played lots of games and made a poster about the positives and negatives of the internet"

Lucy, Katrina and Megan "It was chilly but fun and beautiful.  We met new(ish) people"

Stephanie, Amber and Emma A "It was squished and freezing!  Noisy but exciting and enjoyable"

Georgina and Erin "Thank you to leaders and Father Mather for a good night and for letting us sleep in the Church.  We laughed very much, the badge was fun"

All in all, it was a huge amount of fun and at the end of the sleepover we made our internet promises - we all pledged to stay safer online by doing different things for example checking our privacy settings, improving our passwords and spending less time on our phones.

Of course, that doesn't include reading the Clack Close Blog... :)

See you next time x