Mansfield pupils design new 'e-safety mascot' to help protect them online

Children at Flying High Academy in Ladybrook, Mansfield, were set the challenge by computing teacher Will Burke.

The pupils came up with various ideas and one design was chosen to be the mascot.

Mr Burke said: “We wanted the winning design to be something personal to the school and one that the children could relate to.

“This sense of ownership of the mascot will lead to increased engagement with e-safety.

“It is so important that the safety lessons associated with the mascot are known and understood by children who are growing up in an ever-changing world and one where they must learn to operate safely online.”

The prize for the winning design was an Amazon Fire tablet and the newly-adopted mascot, ‘Appleon’, designed by year four pupil Marcelina Lamch, is now displayed in all classrooms at the academy.

Mr Burke added: “The winner was chosen for its design quality and the mascot’s character, which can ‘catch’ sentences that should not be written online and has its own report and approve button in case something is inappropriate.”

Winning pupil Marcelina said she enjoyed working on the project.

She said: “We came up with the idea of the name Appleon because it is an app and chameleon, and we combined the words. I felt surprised and wasn’t expecting to win. I will probably use my new tablet to do my school work.”