SHAWLANDS PRIMARY SCHOOL
SHAW STREET
BARNSLEY
S70 6JL
TEL 01226 287177
Headteacher: Mr L McClure
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.shawlandsprimaryschool.co.uk
IMPORTANT NEWS
eSafety, safeguarding and health concerns – Thursday 21st January 2016
Dear families,
eSafety
We have serious concerns about the safety of our children online. This is particularly
an issue in KS2 but I feel that it is important to communicate with all families. Our
children are growing up in an exciting age where they have instant access to so much
information and entertainment tools!
In recent weeks we have had children as young as 7 years old referring to highly
inappropriate content that has been seen on the internet, a small number of children
referring to sexual behaviours and using foul and abusive language from games/films.
Indeed, it is a constant feature of play with our young pupils who refer to 18 rated
computer games and inappropriate TV/film footage. The impact that these images has
on children is lifelong and it impacts their ability to learn and play in a safe and
comfortable environment. I am not here to challenge parental choice or individual
beliefs but I do feel that we should take collective responsibility. If one child accesses
such content then it can touch the lives of their whole class or key stage.
We will reorganise and intensify our eSafety programme in school through the PHSCE
curriculum, class discussion and assemblies. We will also offer, hopefully within the
next month, some opportunities for parents to improve eSafety in the home. We will
work with the Parent Council to plan these sessions to meet requested needs but we
would stress the importance of following basic controls like safety settings and age
restrictions.
In terms of the disclosures made and conversations captured in school so far we are
duty bound to log these and contact parents about our concerns. We also have to
refer some of these incidents to social care, and in extreme cases the police, for their
advice. Where issues occur out of school, e.g. unpleasant messages to other children
on social media platforms, we do not deal with these issues but if they start to impact
school work and friendships in the school setting then we will contact parents to make
them aware of the matter and urge them to seek help from the authorities.
Cyberbullying is a very real and serious threat to the safeguarding of modern children
and while I fully understand, with a 10-year-old stepson myself, the importance to be
part of the ‘crowd’ and to have the opportunity to connect with friends after school, we
must all strive to ensure that our children are safe from harm.
It is not our place to preach or patronise and any letter of this type can test the
boundaries of school and parent responsibilities, especially against our ethos of ‘Better
Together’ where we ask that school and home respect the role of each other and
collaborate to ensure that children are safe and thriving. I feel that the events of the
last few weeks have meant that I have no choice but to write to all parents.
Please could you help us to focus on our role as educators and take these matters very
seriously? If you would like any support in the meantime please feel free to get in
touch.
Safeguarding
Despite several reminders on newsletters we have many parents who do not update
their most recent contact details with the school office. This means that we cannot
contact parents in the event of an emergency. This presents as a safeguarding
concern and we would urge all parents to check with the office that we have at least 2
working contact numbers. Please ensure that other family members who may collect
children, grandparents for example, also keep their details updated.
Head lice
We have a recurring problem, especially in KS1, with head lice. Many parents are
treating their child’s hair on a daily basis at great cost to them and then children return
with lice again with a few days. Again, we must work together to ensure that lice do
not spread across a whole class of children. There are clear rules on how school can
and cannot communicate head lice issues and we cannot target individual children or
families. Please could you ensure that all children are thoroughly checked and treated
(where necessary) this weekend so that we can start the next school week positive and
monitor it from there.
Please ask at your local pharmacy for advice on the best treatments and ensure that
hair is well combed through each day. Many pharmacies offer free treatments or advice
for families. Please see below for images of the latest guidance, a copy can be
obtained from the school office if required. Please be aware that school is limited in
what we can offer beyond this information and that we contact school nursing regularly
to stress our frustration with these issues. These images are in better quality on our
Twitter feed on the website as they may not print in very large text!
Thank you for your support with these vital matters.
Kind Regards,
Mr L McClure, Headteacher