Trial resource - not yet verified for classroom use. This is a starting point to help you build your own lesson, not a finished or approved plan. Cyber Safe with Monkleton is new, and we are shaping this with teachers - please adapt it freely, use what works, and tell us what doesn't so we can improve it. Once it has been shaped and checked with teachers, we will mark it verified. Feedback: cybersafe-feedback@monkleton.io.
Keeping passwords strong and private
Printable - use your browser's Print (Cmd/Ctrl + P) to print or save as a PDF.
This is a starting point, not a script - take what is useful, change what is not, and shape it around your class. It brings a Cyber Safe with Monkleton lesson into the classroom: the behaviour, not just the rule.
The big idea
A password is only safe while only you know it. Make it long and unique, and never share it - not even with a best friend. Not because they are untrustworthy, but because secrets slip.
Learning intentions (adapt to your class)
- I can explain why I should not share a password.
- I can make a strong password I could remember.
- I know a password manager can remember my other passwords for me.
- I know what to do if a password gets out.
A suggested shape
Starter (about 5 minutes)
Ask: why is a password like the key to your house? What happens if you hand a copy to someone, even a friend?
Explore (about 15 minutes)
Compare strong and weak passwords. Share the passphrase trick: take a sentence only you would think of, use the first letter of each word, and add a number. Discuss why a name or birthday is easy to guess. Then introduce a password manager - like an encrypted pocket book that remembers all your different passwords, so you only have to remember one. It is how you can have a different strong password for every account without memorising them all.
Practise (about 10 minutes)
Pupils invent a passphrase privately - and do not say it out loud. Use that to talk about why saying a password aloud, or typing it where others can see, is risky.
Safe Check plenary (about 10 minutes)
Pupils state the rules in their own words: long, unique to each account, and secret. And if a password ever gets out, change it straight away and tell a grown-up.
Ready-to-use resources
- Background for you: our guides How can I create strong passwords I can actually manage? and Why should I never share a one-time code?.
- To send home: share the passwords guide with families.
- Teacher note: the passwords guide explains how a password manager works, including one point worth knowing - it stores a copy of each password, so to change a password you change it on the website first, then update the manager.
In the app
This lesson pairs with an in-app quest in Cyber Safe with Monkleton, so classroom time and screen time reinforce the same habits. The app is in its first previews now, and supporting media is coming soon. Until then, the discussion and activities here stand on their own.
Tell us how it went
This is a trial, and your classroom experience is exactly what will make it better. If you use it, we would love to know what worked and what you changed - email cybersafe-feedback@monkleton.io.
Trial guidance, shared early for teacher feedback - please adapt it before any classroom use, and let us know how it went. Product names are used only to describe their features; Monkleton Labs is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, them. No ads, no affiliate links.