It's Been a Week Full of Activities For Pre-Prep, Read Miss Strugnell's Round Up of the Week Here!

On Tuesday, we raised pupil’s awareness of keeping safe online with the annual Safer Internet Day, which is celebrated globally and promotes the safe and positive use of digital technology. 

This year the theme was “Want to talk about it?” with the aim to inspire a national conversation about using technology responsibly and respectfully.  E-safety is incorporated into our Computing curriculum throughout the year using Somerset eLIM, and Safer Internet Day further enables us, as a school, to support the children in recognising how to stay healthy and safe online. 

In assembly we played the game “Can you help me please?” where the children role-played different scenarios, allowing them to practise asking for help. The scenarios included, “Your friend wants to know your password”, “You get a message from someone online, asking what school you go to”, “You hear about a new game that all your friends are playing, but the age rating is much older than you” and “You see something in a video that frightens you”. The children were great at suggesting who they could talk to (a trusted adult) and what to say, and understood why we do not to share any personal details with anyone online. Year 1 discussed playing games and watching YouTube programmes and films which are appropriate for our age, so that they are not too scary and Year 2 explored the importance of asking before taking and sharing someone’s photograph. If you would like to continue conversations at home about keeping safe online, the Safer Internet Day website has some great top tips, specifically for parents of children under 7 years of age, which can be found at https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2023/top-tips-for-parents-and-carers and childnet.com/parents-and-carers.

This week has also been Children’s Mental Health week “Let’s Connect!”, which ties in nicely with online safety and how we can keep our minds and bodies healthy when online. We discussed the importance of taking regular breaks from using electronic devices, spending time outside and connecting with other people in person. We also incorporate mindfulness into our school day and through our PSHE curriculum.  By teaching the children strategies to relax and have a moment of calm reflection, we are supporting their wellbeing now and in the future.

I wish you all a fun-filled half term and look forward to welcoming you back into school on Monday 20 February.

With best wishes,

Hannah Strugnell

Click here to see all the photographs on Flickr