Parent and pupil e-safety workshop - you said, we did!

Bitterne Manor Primary hosted another very successful e-safety workshop; this time for parents and pupils to attend together, following your suggestions from the last session.

We ran through scenarios that children may face when going online or using mobile devices; including unwanted or unkind online messages; what to do when someone shares a photo without your permission and how to avoid ads and pop-ups within apps.

Parents and children acted out what would happen in different situations, then we shared suggestions and advice on how to handle that situation. It is hoped that once these subjects and situations have been talked about in a role play environment, it will be easier to discuss if the situation were to become real.

Here are some of the comments from the workshop:

What did you find useful?
"Children listening to the advice so it could back up what we’ve learned before"
"All of it! Really useful to have children with us in discussions"
"Everything; hand outs were great."
"The bit about WhatsApp (age limit) and children using certain apps for bullying"
"Starting conversations about online safety, “Go home” concept (Internet like a city), recommended apps"

What you said you wanted next time:
"More scenarios to go through with children"
"How to help children use the internet critically; like how to verify sources of information on the internet, how to spot fake news, virus alerts, etc."

There will be a date for the next workshop coming soon, watch this space. In the mean time, please do not hesitate to ask any questions; ask for Phil Wickins, the E-Safety Coordinator.

Helpful websites:

Think U Know - A website for parents, carers, teachers and children all about online safety, run by the National Crime Agency. Some great educational games and clips for kids!

Keeping our young people safe online - You said, We did!

Important: Change of date, now on Wednesday 7th March 2018

We held a very successful e-safety parent’s workshop on Wednesday morning and evening, where we explored child protection laws, helpful websites and ways to keep an open dialogue with your child about their online activity. The feedback you gave us was overwhelmingly positive; almost all of you who attended requested more sessions like this - with the majority wanting a session you could attend with your children.

In the light of this, we have decided to run at least one session each term where we can join together to discuss new situations and issues, learn how to use parental restrictions on devices and software and have meaningful discussions with our children. Therefore, the next workshop will be a join parent-child session (suggested by you!), where we will be encouraging discussion and learning through fun activities and websites, exploring together scenarios and situations that you and your child may find yourselves in.

There will be a KS1 (YR - Y2) session from 3:30pm until 4pm, followed by a KS2 (Y3 - Y6) session form 4 - 4:30pm on Wedensday 7th March 2018. There will be a letter coming out to you with a reply slip so we can get an idea about numbers. This session is for you and your child/children to attend together.

Need a reminder? Add this to your google calendar:
E-Safety Parent and Child Workshop, 3.30pm, Wednesday 7th March 2018

Here are some of your comments from Wednesday’s workshop:

What did you find useful?
“All of the session – particularly being informed about the resources we can use to find out more & educate ourselves & the children. Opportunity to ask questions was great.”
“All of it! Very useful to learn about a ‘safe’ search engine for kids and the illustration of the safe and unhelpful places in a city was also helpful.”
Other comments:
“Really useful – Main danger is peer pressure of not being able to contact friends if you don’t have app, so the wider we can spread the word, the better”
“Great that this is being offered to parents and definitely an area of concern that I don’t currently feel equipped for.”

Helpful websites we explored in the workshop:

Think U Know - A website for parents, carers, teachers and children all about online safety, run by the National Crime Agency. Some great educational games and clips for kids!

Kidrex.org - A customised Google search engine that returns child-freindly results and eliminates the image search.

Please make sure you save the date!

Class Welcomes - this week!

We would like to invite parents to attend our ‘Class Welcomes’ after school on the  20th and 21st September at 5.00pm. These are great opportunities to meet your child’s new class teacher for the first time and to learn a little more about what the year ahead will look like for your child. You will hear about the daily routines, expectations around homework and what topic areas the children will be studying. The session should take around 30 minutes. We would encourage attendance for all parents but for those pupils in the key national curriculum assessment years, 2 and 6 (Swallows, Swifts and Kestrels), please note that we will be looking at what’s involved with the statutory assessment procedures or SATs as well.

All information will shortly be on school website here: www.bitternemanor.co.uk/class-pages/

Don’t forget you will get a chance to have an individual consultation later in the term with class teachers. These dates are on our calendar already and appointment letters will be sent out shortly before.

20th Sept Class Welcome Evening: 5.00pm Swallows, Rooks, Owls, Robins

21st Sept Class Welcome Evening: 5.00pm Kestrels, Swifts, Nightingales

Kingfishers don’t require a session just yet! We look forward to seeing you then.

Special performance!

Year 5 put on a very special performance today to their friends and family.  In teams of 6, they wrote the script for one scene of the Anglo Saxon legend 'Beowulf'.  They prepared the props and costumes for their scene and performed it beautifully! They really thought about the tone and expression of their voices, and after watching the film back, they decided that they need to work on the volume of their voices to make sure that all of the audience can hear.  Well done Owls!