Support during school closures for you and your child
23rd March 2020
Dear Parent/Carer
Re: Support during school closures for you and your child
We hope you are and your child/ren are well during this time of school closure.
We wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that there are still staff at school during this time and where you need advice on anything, we are available on 01604 833900, to try and support you and your family during this time.
We want to especially alert you to national reports of fraud and scams in relation to aspects of the Coronavirus emergency such as:
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/coronavirus-scammers-trying-to-dupe-free-school-meals-families/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51964507
Please be wise to these awful scam attempts and be assured that nothing in relation to schools will ever come from anyone other than us directly at school.
We also want to advise you to maintain the balance between your child being online and working, using their mobile phone and being physically active. The daily Joe Wicks workout at 9am is particularly good to start your child’s day in an active way.
Each day your child should be accessing the work we are posting on various learning platforms and completing at least a few hours of this per day. Routines are extremely important for teenagers. Please do refer to our latest newsletter for guidance on mental health support, further details can be found at: http://www.campion.northants.sch.uk/230/safeguarding
With regard to keeping your child safe online we have posted below some guidance, which we would ask you to look at. Do try and limit the amount of time your child spends on their phone.
Staying Safe Online During the School Closure
During the school closure, we understand it can be tempting to allow your children to spend increasing amounts of time online but there are a few things to concern about safety online. If you have a concern about online content, the way a user is communicating with your child/you or about another child's online usage, click on the link below and click 'report to CEOP' to report it.
Top Tips
- When children are playing an online game - especially one that involves an open forum - ensure your child is appropriately dressed and in a suitable, shared space in the home so you can keep an eye on what they are looking at.
- Set time limits for screen time. Although the online world will be used for learning over the coming months ensure you as the parent are in control of how long your child is looking at a computer screen. Too much screen time can be detrimental to a child's mental health. It is much easier to set this limit before they start using the device then, encourage your child to get some exercise and move their body.
- Use PEGI ratings and user reviews to check the suitability of a game or website before allowing your child use or play it.
- Keep personal information private.
- Remind your child to online communicate online with REAL LIFE friends.
- REmind your child to #bekind online. Talk about how the words they use online can either hurt or uplift someone, just like in real life.
TikTok (Age Rating 13 years old)
Many of our children tell us about their enjoyment of using the self videoing app 'TikTok' even though this app requires all its users to be a minimum age of 13 years old. Unfortunately, since its release, there have been many incidents of child grooming. With this in mind, the makers of 'TikTok' have been working hard to develop further safety measures within the app.
Please see the update from the BBC website below.
Online safety
Source: BBC
Date: 19 February 2020
The BBC reports that TikTok, a social video app that allows users to share short videos, is introducing a family safety mode designed to give parents tighter control over how their children use the app. The safety feature will allow parents and carers to link their account to their child's and have direct control over the safety settings.
Read the news story: TikTok 'family safety mode' gives parents some app control
See also on NSPCC Learning
> Online safety training
Useful Websites For More Information
Below are some websites which can provide further information for parents about keeping safe online. REMEMBER: Always make sure you are aware of what your child is looking at and doing online and ensure they are playing age appropriate games.
Parent Info Zone on 'Think You Know' website - https://parentinfo.org/?utm_source=Thinkuknow&utm_campaign=11c85df25c-TUK_GLOBAL_MAR_2020_MESSAGE&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b54505554-11c85df25c-64892841
Gooseberry Planet advice for parents during the school closure - https://gooseberryplanet.com/safeguarding-during-school-closures-due-to-the-corona-outbreak-parent-advice/?fwd=cd&data=%7B%22email%22%3A%22headteacher%40greenhammerton.n-yorks.sch.uk%22%7D
Childline -
NSPCC -
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Learning and Wellbeing
Of course given we cannot get out at the moment, please do consider using the new online museum sites that are springing up as a way of getting your child to experience the world of culture and art from the comfort of your own home:
https://secretldn.com/virtual-tours-museums-galleries/
Finally, we ask you to check the daily Government briefing on Covid-19 and guidance for social distancing etc (https://www.gov.uk/email-signup?link=/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response).
It is important that you do not let your child socialise with others outside of the home, and where this is not possible, that they follow the 2 metre distance restriction.
We hope some of this information has been of use and ask that you regularly check our website and national websites for further information.
In the short term, please keep you and your family safe at this time and please follow national guidance so we can all get back to school and normality as soon as possible.
Thank you
Yours sincerely
Mr S King
Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead
