Just before half term, Year 10 took part in the first of 4 Natwest workshops that we will be hosting across school this year. The workshop was called ‘Crime Scene Investigation’ and the main objective was to raise awareness of the importance of keeping yourself and your private information safe online.
All students in Year 10 worked collaboratively to solve a fraud case, similar to those that the bank handle every day. Students had to critically analyse bank statements, emails, adverts and social media snapshots to determine how and when an act of fraud had been committed. We were all thoroughly impressed by the students’ ability to recognise suspicious information and by the end of the workshop, most groups had correctly used the resources provided to solve the crime.
After the session, we asked students to feedback on the session. Here are just a few of the responses from our students about what they had gained from taking part in this enrichment opportunity:
“I have learnt all about how to stay safe using a bank account and I’ve learnt new ways to prevent myself from getting scammed. I have also found out more information on how easy it is for people to use your social media to get information about you or your details and I now know what not to put on social media.”
“I enjoyed the NatWest investigation and learned things I didn’t before. I learned that in the future, I should clearly check bank statements to see if there is anything unusual. However, I did already know about not oversharing information or putting it online but it was a good recap. The lesson was fun and had useful and interesting information.”
“I have learnt that we have to be careful about what we put online, such as your location. We also shouldn’t have the same passwords for many things because if the scammer knows one of your passwords they are most likely going to try that password for other things.”
“I learnt how fraudsters can easily access your information from social media so we need to be careful on what we publish online. I also learnt how to look at a bank statement to find unusual activity and how to spot a scam email.”
“Before this session, I was not fully aware of what fraud was and what types of fraud there are. I now understand that fraud is criminal deception which could cause financial/personal issues in your life and it could happen in many ways. Some examples of fraud that I now recognise are internet fraud, mail fraud, debit card fraud and bank account fraud. Thank you so much for the amazing lesson. I absolutely loved it! It was fun, interesting and fascinating. Even though NatWest couldn’t come, I still found the session really cool and it has helped me a lot, so thank you! :)”
Mrs Walsh, Curriculum Leader for Maths