This week, many of our Year 5 pupils learnt to ride their bikes safely on the road, through Bikeability cycle training. Pupils learnt new skills, gained a better understanding of road safety and (despite the cold weather) enjoyed learning how to ride their bikes, with greater confidence. Well done Y5!
All pupils attended online safety workshops, on Wednesday. Sessions were tailored to the knowledge and understanding of each year group and covered issues such as sharing personal content, online bullying and gaming. Online workshops for parents and carers will be offered later this half term, to reflect the content of the pupil sessions and support families to keep their children safer online.
There have been several situations already this term, involving pupils being unkind to each other over social media and messaging apps, outside of school. These conflicts can then be brought into school, causing continued upset and bad feeling but we are not alerted to them until days, sometimes weeks after. Some of the content can be really unkind and inappropriate, making others feel upset and uncomfortable. Pupils are also often reluctant to block, leave or report unhealthy online conversations and, very worryingly, see the language as normal and acceptable ‘banter.’
We will continue to reinforce this message to pupils – it was discussed during the workshops on Wednesday – and we would encourage you to have those conversations with your child. Please monitor what your child says and sees online – they are often too young to be accessing some of the content that they come into school and discuss and we know that often, adults are unaware of the language and images that they are accessing. Some of the language they use towards and between each other is shocking.
If pupils are witnessed using homophobic, racist, misogynistic or threatening language online, they can face the same consequences as if they had said it at school. Content will be shared with parents and carers and can also be reported to the police. We will not tolerate abusive language or behaviours from or between pupils.
We have a CEOP red button on the home page of our school website and most apps and sites that your child might use, also include buttons to block, remove or report. Pupils must learn to take responsibility for their own online behaviours and we will continue to discuss and remind pupils of this.
This term’s Herts for Learning online safety newsletter provides information, resources and reviews, coving a range of topics, including: ‘Squid Game – What parents need to know,’ online grooming and keeping under 5s safe online.
We continue to build and publish curriculum content on our school website, to support your child’s education at Bowmansgreen. The maths and English pages include curriculum overviews, showing progression in knowledge, skills and understanding for each year group. The pages also contain links to resources that support learning and progress in specific curriculum areas, such as phonics, maths fluency and reading. Oxford Owl, Numbots, Times Tables Rock Stars and MyMaths can be used to practise key skills, especially as part of your child’s remote learning, if they have to self-isolate.
Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans visited Bowmansgreen, yesterday. She met with our school council, to talk about her role and responsibilities as an MP and answer a range of really thoughtful questions. A report from our school councillors will follow. It was a fantastic opportunity and experience for pupils to meet their local MP and we would like to say a huge thank you to Daisy Cooper, for taking the time out of her very busy schedule, to visit Bowmansgreen. Thank you also to Ms Smith for organising the visit.
Dates for the diary…
Crazy Hair Day – this Friday, Jan 21st
Enjoy your weekend.