Dear Parents

We would like to highlight our concerns to all pupils and families about the inappropriate use of social media and online platforms out with school hours on their personal or family devices.

 The problems which pupils and families are highlighting are:

• The use of private or direct messaging to send abusive, threatening and intimidating messages

• Sending photos and or videos, copied from other social media accounts, to cause humiliation and distress

• Sharing of gossip and misinformation

As these problems occur out with the school day, there are limits to what we can realistically be expected to deal with, so your support is invaluable therefore we ask that you closely monitor your children while they are using all of their mobile devices, tablets and consoles. Please bear in mind that all social media and messaging apps have a minimum user age, none of which are below 13 years old, so primary school aged children should not be using them. Typically used platforms for negative behaviours are Snapchat, TikTok, Fortnite etc.

If you have any concerns about your child’s online activity, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) website contains useful information: www.ceop.police.uk

Thank you in advance for your continued support.

We are delighted to share with you that some of our pupils poems, written whilst taking part in a recent competition, have been chosen for publication in one of the Young Writers 2022 publications. Young Writers aims to encourage young people to engage in creative writing and poetry by working with schools to run competitions across the UK.

If your child has entered the competition and their work has been chosen for publication, a letter will be sent to you in your child’s bag in the coming days. Families are asked to check their child’s entry for any spelling or grammar errors and make any changes as they see fit. You can make any changes to your child’s work in two ways –

1. By visiting www.youngwriters.co.uk/online, entering the username and access code attached to the letter in your child’s school bag and making any changes online.
2. By making any changes on the copy of the poem, which you will find in the letter sent to you in your child’s school bag, and returning via post to – Young Writers Acc, Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Woodston, Petersborough PE2 9BF

 For pupils work to be published Young Writers also require permission from a parent/carer to publish. You can give permission in two ways –

1. By visiting www.youngwriters.co.uk/online and entering the username and access code attached to this letter.
2. By completing the permission sheet, which you will find in the letter sent to you in your child’s school bag  and returning via post to – Young Writers Acc, Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Woodston, Petersborough PE2 9BF

Children who have taken part will be awarded a certificate in school. We will share pictures of pupils with their certificates on our Twitter page in due course. If you don’t already follow us on Twitter you can find us @HillingtonPS

In the letter you will in your child’s bag you will also find details on how to purchase a copy of the book your child’s work has been published in. Please note families do not need to purchase a copy of any publication. The school will receive a free copy of each publication and pupils will have access to these in our school library. Families should not feel any pressure to purchase copies of any publication. If you do not wish to purchase a copy of a publication please leave that section of the letter in your child’s school bag blank.

We are sure will agree that this is a fantastic achievement for our young people. Well done boys and girls.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the school. Thank you for your continued support.