Ixworth Church of England VC Primary School
Crown Lane, Ixworth, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP31 2EL
Telephone: 01359 230228
6th November 2017
Dear Year 5/6 Parents/Carers,
Social media plays a growing role in today’s society, the benefits of which certainly outweigh the negative elements if we manage the risk. As a parent of a sixteen year old son, I always feel one step behind, however I am acutely aware of the need to know what he is up to and try to keep up to date.
Today children do not venture anywhere near as far from home as I did as a child, yet I had no means of communication with my parents. They gave me the skills to keep safe and trusted me too, but that did not mean they didn’t check up on my every move! Our children are lucky to have the means of keeping in touch at their fingertips but, we do have to give them the tools to keep themselves safe as well. I noticed that the majority of the children have access to phones which, if used appropriately is a good thing.
It has been brought to my attention that some children are communicating via texts and social media to their classmates outside school in a less than positive way. We have had reports of unkind and cruel messages being sent between classmates. We will be working with the children in school about how we communicate both face to face and virtually using the analogy THINK (is it True; is it helpful; is it inspiring; is it necessary; is it kind?).
Please can you support us at home by doing regular random checks of what your child is receiving, as well as sending and letting us know if anything untoward comes to light. If you could encourage your child to think about whether they would be prepared to say what they have put into a text or message face to face to the recipient (or you). It may encourage them to give a little more thought before pressing send.
Next week will see the start of National Anti-Bullying Week. We will be thinking about bullying in terms of phrase STOP, STOP- this allows the children to understand that bullying is Several Times on Purpose, Start Telling Other People! If unkind messages are being sent this can only be on purpose and several times would be considered cyberbullying.We should be encouraging all our children if they are aware of such behaviour, they should START TELLING OTHER PEOPLE!
Please encourage your children not to get involved in group messages they believe to be unkind and to the leave the group and start telling other people (be it you, teachers or other adults in school).
Further information about how to keep your child safe online can be found at:
Thanking you in anticipation of your support with this matter,
Louise Clark
Interim Headteacher