A SCHOOL in Hook is celebrating after a local company donated 100 mouse mats to help with a safety campaign.

Serco, based in Bartley Way, Hook, donated 100 mats, which show an image with five key rules to be safe on the internet, to Hook Infant School, in Church View.

The gesture came after pupils at the school created a poster about internet safety.

The poster illustrates key rules that children should follow whilst using the internet, including not sharing your password, never telling people your personal details, telling an adult if you think something is wrong, asking a grown-up before using the internet, and not opening messages from strangers.

Julian Hannan, the purchasing help-desk supervisor at Serco, presented the mouse mats to the school.

The internet safety scheme was launched by teachers at the school following the release of communications regulator Ofcom’s “Children and Parents: Media use and attitudes report” last October.

As part of the scheme, the school reviewed its e-safety and IT security procedures to reflect the latest technology and assess the potential risks connected with them.

The review also included an e-safety survey with parents, which showed 96 per cent of children had access to the internet and worryingly only 30 per cent of parents knew how to use privacy settings on their internet-providing devices.

Peter West, network manager at Hook Infant School, told The Gazette: “The mouse mats are going to embed the safety rules for the children and the staff and will keep driving the message home.”

Mr Hannan added: “The school is in the community where Serco work so it was just nice we were able to help them.”