From the Primary Pastoral Team ...
Learning and Behaviour Focus
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Our Primary Focus for learning and behaviour over the next two weeks is a review of all our previous areas of focus.
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Cyber Safety
Throughout Term 1 there have been some instances where students in Primary have had to be spoken to about the correct use of ipads/computers at home. This issue is an opportunity for parents at home to think about some key questions in relation to children and what they are accessing at home on an ipad, phone or computer.
- Are the games/social networks appropriate for your child’s age? Both the physical age of your child and their level of maturity and resilience can affect their ability to have positive experiences on social media. Each social media site and app has its own criteria for minimum age requirements. Most require users to be at least 13 years of age before they can register. Did you know that Instagram, Tiktok and other social networks are aged 13 and above?
- Do you know who your child is talking with or playing with?
Ensure your child knows that they should only make connections with people they know 'offline'.
- What content is your child putting online?
Is your child posting personal information that allows people to identify and locate them, for example photos of them in their school uniform.
- Do you check your child’s ipad use of messaging apps and emails?
It is important to be aware of the types and content of messages your child is sending to their friends. Children should work out how they want to be treated and treat other people the same for example, only leave positive comments. Parents should be monitoring what is said and done by their children online. - Is your child posting harmful content?
The harmful content could be a post, comment, text, message, chat, livestream, meme, image, video or email. It can be sent or shared via an online or electronic service or platform such as a social media service, email service, chat app, interactive online game, forum or website.
- Does your child have the right security settings on the apps or platforms they are using? Is your child’s privacy protected with the correct security settings selected?
- Have you set boundaries and rules around device use?
Does your child know when they can use it, for how long and where they should be using their device. - Have you reassessed device use now students are back at school?
Now COVID-19 restrictions have eased and students are interacting at school, is it necessary for them to message and chat after school on a device. Most interactions can wait until they see their friends the next day where a face to face conversation may be more appropriate.
A great way to guide primary aged students is through the use of parental controls. Parental controls are software tools available on your devices that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.
They can be set up to do things like:
- Block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions (like using a device’s camera, or the ability to buy things).
- Filter different kinds of content — such as ‘adult’ or sexual content, content that may promote self-harm, eating disorders, violence, drugs, gambling, racism and terrorism.
- Allow you to monitor your child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use, how often and for how long.
- Set time limits, blocking access after a set time.
We encourage students to “Speak Up” to parents, teachers or a trusted adult if technology use is affecting them in a negative way. Hopefully this is some food for thought and will open up some conversations between you and child about Cybersafety.
Primary STEM in Year 2
Inspired by the tadpoles growing in our drains and frogs found around our College, Year 2 are designing and building a frog habitat in STEM. Today the students got dirty, weeding the garden and turning over the soil. They also enjoyed taking a closer look at the creatures found in the garden using magnifying glasses.
