Tuesday next week is the annual Internet Safety Day.  This year the theme is Connecting Generations, inviting people of all ages to “discover the digital world together…safely.”

In school, as part of our commitment to the safeguarding of children, we will be talking to the children about internet safety in lessons and assembly, essentially reminding them how to stay SMART online:

SAFE – not giving out personal details, such as full name or addresses online
MEET – Never agree to meet with anyone without adult supervision
ACCEPT – Not to open emails, files or IM messages from unknown sources
RELIABLE – Information on the web or someone online is not always true
TELL – If anything makes you feel uncomfortable, tell an adult!

We will also be putting more resources online that hopefully will help parents and grandparents to connect and share experiences of the internet.  One of these is a picture of a foot which represents your own digital footprint.  Why not use it to discuss everyone’s internet use, including what, where, how and why.  As you do so, you could reinforce the SMART rules, sharing how you also use them to keep yourselves safe online.

As I’ve already said, there will be an e-safety section on our homepage with useful addresses and resources, but one really important one is www.thinkuknow.co.uk, which can be used to report online abuse to the police.  You can also download a Safer Internet Day app from iTunes and no doubt other app providers.
Should anyone have any other concerns regarding the safety and well-being of any child then they should report these concerns to either myself or Jane Ferguson as soon as is possible so that we can ensure that child’s safety.
We take our duty to work with other agencies, such as Children’s Services ( ECS ), Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Education Welfare Service, Educational Psychology Service and any other agencies/services coming into school to support individual pupils/groups of pupils, in protecting children from harm and in responding to concerns about possible abuse very seriously.  These reports can sometimes be the missing piece of a jigsaw and mean that support and help can be put in place to improve the situation.
Have a good weekend!
Mark

NUT ALLERGIES
We have several children in school with severe nut allergies. Please help us to keep them safe by being viglant when sending food products, suncreams or modeling boxes into school. Please take care to ensure that, wherever possible, these are nut free. Individual classes will be made aware of classmates' needs. Thank You