Category Archives: Primary 5

How you can keep young people safer online over the Christmas period … and beyond!

No doubt you’ll be working with a young person who has asked for some form of technology that links to the internet for Christmas, be it a new smartphone, tablet or games console.

While their device will provide them with hours of entertainment, it can also present new risks. Here are 4 steps you can take to make sure that young people are safer online over the Christmas period and beyond.

1. Set up parental controls

Parental controls can be a great tool to help protect young people online, and should be installed on any new device that they use. Give parents and carers the information they need to use these controls effectively by signposting them to this Thinkuknow article.

Let them know that they’ll find plenty of further advice and support on how to keep their child safe online on our parents website.

2. Start a conversation about communicating safely online

A new device enables young people to gain access to new communities through online gaming and social media.

If you can, make time before the end of term to start a conversation with young people about how they use online technology and what it means to them. You can use this as a way to remind them of some key strategies for safer internet use, for example:

  • Be careful with what they share, including images, videos and personal information.
  • Take control of who sees what they post by using privacy settings.
  • Be mindful of who they are chatting to and gaming with – do they really know and trust them? If not, don’t share personal details or agree to meet them in other online spaces.

3. Remind young people how to report anything worrying

It’s important that young people know where to go if they come across something online that worries them or makes them feel uncomfortable – especially as contact with trusted sources of support may not be available over the holidays.

You should:

  • Help them to identify a trusted adult that they can approach during the holiday period, and encourage them to the speak to the adult immediately if they have any concerns.
  • Talk them through how they can make a report to CEOP if something has happened to them online or they’re worried about what a friend is doing online.
  • Remind them that they can contact Childline if they have any other worries, for example if they are being bullied.

 

Throughout, remember that your focus shouldn’t be to put young people off using their new device or encourage parents not to buy it in the first place. Scaremongering is not effective and makes young people far less likely to ask you for help if they encounter a threat online. A balanced view encourages them to share their thoughts and engage with new ideas about staying safe.

Supporting gender balance and equality

This page provides ideas to help ensure your child has equal opportunities to develop a range of skills and confidence regardless of their gender.

Gender stereotypes

Stereotypes are based on an assumption that all boys will be the same and like the same things, and all girls will be the same and like the same things.  This can lead to children being restricted in the interests, skills and behaviours they develop.

This page focuses on different expectations that can be placed on girls and boys.

Gendered messages

Children receive and absorb gender stereotyped messages about what they can and cannot do as a girl or as a boy from a very early age.

For example, toy manufacturers often market more aggressive toys to boys and more passive toys to girls, construction activities to boys and creative ones to girls. In picture books, women and girls are often portrayed as performing more domestic tasks while men are largely under-represented as parents. These stereotypes are unhelpful for both boys and girls.

Stereotypes suggest that girls and boys are very different and naturally like different things. For example, that girls are better at being carers and are not as good at maths, and boys are less emotional and are better at science or construction. Research suggests, however, that this is not the case. There is overwhelming evidence that there are no inherent differences between girls and boys which should limit a child’s interests or ambitions. Genders are more alike than different.

Gender stereotypes can affect:

  • The toys and games a child chooses and therefore the skills they develop
  • How children learn to express emotion
  • How important a child feels the way they look is
  • Whether a child feels they want to work hard at school
  • How a child feels about sport
  • What kinds of jobs a young person considers

 

There is, of course, nothing wrong with making choices along traditional lines, as long as those choices are not being limited by ideas about gender.

Challenging gender stereotypes

  • Talk with your child about how girls and boys, women and men are shown in books, TV shows or films.
    • What does it mean to be brave? Can girls be brave?
    • Is it ok for dads to stay at home and look after the baby?
    • Can women be firefighters? Can men be teachers?
    • Would the story change if the main character was a boy or girl? What would the story be like if you didn’t know what gender any of the characters were?
  • With older children, you could talk about how men and women are portrayed in adverts and social media. You might discuss jobs, roles at home, expectations of behaviour and appearance.
  • Look together at toy advertising:
    • How are they marketed? What messages are being given?
    • What makes something a girls’ or a boys’ toy?
  • Talk about different jobs and the skills needed for them. Few jobs can only be done by just men or just women.

Unconscious bias

We all have unconscious biases that can lead us to treat people differently without us realising we are doing it.

Research shows that adults tend to play differently with babies dressed as boys compared to those dressed as girls. Adults tend to offer ‘girl’ babies dolls and tend to hold them gently. They are more likely to offer ‘boys’ toy cars and balls and tend to play in a more rough and tumble way.

Things to think about

  • Praise: we often praise girls for appearance rather than their efforts or achievements. This can lead girls to thinking that how they look is the most important thing about them.
  • Crying: boys are often encouraged to stop crying quickly. This can lead to boys having difficulty sharing emotions when they are older.
  • Reading: research suggests we read to girls more than we do to boys. This can lead to girls being more likely to read themselves and having better literacy skills.
  • Chores at home: when you ask your child to help in the home, consider whether the tasks are reinforcing stereotypes.

Related links

Let Toys be Toys: Why it matters

Girls toys vs boy toys: The experiement – BBC Stories

MMR Campaign Summer 2019

There are outbreaks of measles in the UK, Europe and the USA. Measles is very infectious but can be prevented with MMR vaccine. MMR protects against mumps and rubella too. NHS Lothian is inviting S1-S6 pupils who have not been vaccinated to clinics this summer term and in the holidays. Look out in the post for your clinic invitation. Make sure to get vaccinated! Together we can stop the spread of measles! #VaccinesWork #NHS_Lothian

Dates for your diary – Blackburn Gala Day

Blackburn’s got talent : Friday 24th May 7pm in Blackburn Partnership Centre

(Children selected must live in Blackburn)

School relay – Sunday 2nd June 12 noon at Blackburn juniors park: 

Four pupils from P6 and P7 – relay race

Blackburn interschool quiz – Tuesday 4th June at 6.30pm at Murrayfield:

One child from P3, P4, P5, P6 and P7 to take part in the quiz

Gala day – Saturday 8th June 11.30am

Christmas dinner and Christmas jumpers

 

Just a reminder to wear your Christmas jumper on Wednesday 5th December if you have one and also to remind you that it’s that time of year again for a Jingle Bells walk down the corridor, followed by a delicious Christmas dinner, lovingly prepared by our wonderful team in the kitchen!

Always a treat!  What did you order this year?

Dyslexia Awareness Week

Did you know that 1 in 10 people are dyslexic?

Dyslexia ranges from mild to severe. 1 person in 10 is dyslexic and of those, 1 in 4 has severe dyslexia. It often runs in the family.

Dyslexia can affect reading, writing and spelling. 

If you have dyslexia you may –

  • Have difficulty matching sounds to letter combinations
  • Be confused by similar looking / sounding letters (for example p, b and d)
  • Have difficulty remembering common letter patterns in spelling
  • BUT
  • You may be able to cope well verbally – talking may be a strength.

Dyslexia can also affect:

  • short term memory
  • ability to follow directions or instructions
  • organisational skills

Everyone is different and dyslexia affects people in different ways.  Not everyone with dyslexia will experience the same things.

Dyslexia is not a sign of low intelligence.  Some of the most successful business people are dyslexic.

 

The process of identification of dyslexia involves the child, the class teacher, the parents and the Support for learning teacher. A profile of strengths and needs is developed. Targeted intervention and strategies are put in place, assessments carried out and an identification can be made dependent on progress made and the continuing needs of the child.

Log on to https://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/ to find out more about dyslexia

or if you are between 8 and 18, log on to https://unwrapped.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/

 

 

Safer Internet Day 2019

Safer Internet Day 2019 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 5th February with the slogan: ‘Together for a better Internet’.

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved and join a national conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively.

The day offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community. It calls upon young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers, and wider, to join together and help to create a better internet.

Each year for Safer Internet Day the UK Safer Internet Centre creates a range of resources to help educational settings and wider to celebrate the day. This includes:

  • Lessons plans, assemblies and films tailor made for all ages
  • Resources to support social media involvement on Safer Internet Day
  • Registration as a Safer Internet Day Supporter
  • National research looking at young people’s use of technology

The UK Safer Internet Centre invites everyone to join Safer Internet Day supporters across the globe to help create a better internet on Tuesday 5th February 2019, and throughout the whole year!

UK Safer Internet Centre

The UK Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of three leading charities – Childnet International, the Internet Watch Foundation and South West Grid for Learning, (SWGfL) – with a shared mission to make the internet a better place for children and young people.

The partnership was appointed by the European Commission as the Safer Internet Centre for the UK in January 2011 and is one of the 31 Safer Internet Centres of the Insafe network.

The UK Safer Internet Centre delivers a wide range of activity to promote the safe and responsible use of technology by children and young people:

  • coordinates Safer Internet Day in the UK, reaching millions every year. In 2018 Safer Internet Day reached 45 of young people and 30% of parents in the UK.
  • founded and operates an online safety helpline for professionals working with children in the UK, including teachers, police officers, GPs and more
  • operates the UK’s hotline for reporting online child sexual abuse imagery
  • develops new advice and educational resources for children, parents and carers and teachers to meet emerging trends in the fast-changing online environment
  • delivers education sessions for children, parents, carers, teachers and the wider children’s workforce, including free events across the UK
  • trains children and young people to be peer educators and champions for the safe and positive use of technology
  • shapes policy at school, industry and government level, both in the UK and internationally, and facilitates youth panels to give young people a voice on these issues.

For more information visit www.saferinternet.org.uk and the websites of the partners: Childnet, the Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL.