From the Head of Primary 20.05.2023
This week, in our assembly, I discussed the importance of digital resilience with the students. We talked about how amazing the Internet is and what a big part of our lives it is. How it can be used to help us communicate, learn and have fun. However, we also talked about how there can be risks to using the Internet which can sometimes impact us in a negative way.
I also highlighted the importance of taking time away from the screen. That having a balance in our lives is really important for our health and happiness. Just like we might balance healthy foods with sweet treats, we need to balance the time we spend online with other activities.
Some top tips for you as parents are:
- Take time to join your children in the digital activities they enjoy. This helps you to understand what it is they are doing on the internet and also helps them to see that you understand.
- Keep tabs on how the digital landscape is shifting – particularly the apps and social networks that your children may be using.
- Discuss, negotiate and agree upon time allowed on devices, what for and when.
- Explain clearly why boundaries are important – that it is for their wellbeing and their health.
- Encourage and model downtime.
- Remind the children that their online reputation is and will be increasingly important – and that they have little to no control over content that they do share.
There’s a wide range of parent control programs you can use to lock down the device’s in your family. This should be embedded into the regular discussions you have about agreed upon screen time.
You can find more information here:
www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/
Check out our Stars of the Week and our Bronze, Silver, Gold and Headteacher House Point Certificate winners!
This week’s Trashless Class winners were 3S, well done to them.
The Spotlight is on…..Year 3!
Silk screens, scanning and storytelling was the name of the game in year 3 this week. They have been reading quite a complicated text in English which has been excellent for their vocabulary acquisition. To help them embed some of this new vocabulary, we have worked on choral reading of a section of the story – see the videos and prepare to be impressed. In groups, the children tried out different techniques and then decided together on who would say what, working on their pace, expression, pitch, volume and synchronisation.
To make sure that our upcoming showcase is Dino-rific, the children have been exploring silk screen printing. They have created many dinosaur prints which will be revealed at the showcase. Finally, not a dull moment in data handling, as they hunted the corridors for QR coded time problems. Using our advanced IT knowledge, they scanned the codes and answered a whole variety of problems, reading information in charts, filling in tables and much, much more. The children then designed their own word problems about the information they collected. What a blast!!
The Y3 Team
Next week, the Early Years students will have their Superhero Sports Day on Wednesday 24th May and Y4 will host their Assembly and Showcase. Find out more on the year group Class Dojo pages.
Finally don’t forget to sign up for the Fun run on the 28th May.
Sign up before Monday, 22nd May 2023 here
Have a wonderful weekend.
Take care.
Karen Hitchen
Head of Primary
