What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying can happen via text, email and on social networks and gaming platforms. It can consist of:
- threats and intimidation
- harassment and stalking
- defamation
- rejection and exclusion
- identify theft, hacking into social media accounts and impersonation
- publically posting or sending on personal information about another person
- manipulation
The best way to keep your child safe online is to take an active interest right from the start. They need your love and protection online as much as they do in the real world. What your child is exposed to will depend on how they’re using the internet – social network users are more likely to experience cyberbullying, see sexual or violent images, or have contact with strangers.
Your child might be reluctant to tell you that they are worried about cyberbullying so it’s important to look out for the signs:
- stopping using their electronic devices suddenly or unexpectedly
- seeming nervous or jumpy when using their devices, or becoming obsessive about being constantly online
- any changes in behaviour such as becoming sad, withdrawn, angry, or lashing out
- reluctance to go to school or take part in usual social activities
- unexplained physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach upsets
- avoiding discussions about what they’re doing online or who they’re talking to
If you become aware that your child is being cyberbullied, there are a number of things you should aim to do straight away:
- create opportunities to talk to your child in a relaxed environment, sometimes it can be less intense if you go for a walk or a drive rather than sitting face-to-face
- stay calm and ask them how you can help
- ask open questions and listen without judging
- praise them for talking to you
- don’t take away their devices unless this is what they want, it’s likely to make them angry and increase feelings of sadness and isolation
If your child is upset by something they’ve experienced online but seems to be handling the situation then advice you can give includes:
- it may be tempting but don’t retaliate. This can have unpredictable consequences, can make arguments last longer and make it harder to see who’s in the wrong.
- shut down arguments online before they take hold. Try not to involve lots of others in online arguments. This includes being careful what they post, what they share, and knowing when to leave a group chat or change the conversation.
- ask people to take down hurtful or offensive content. Your child may be successful by simply being honest about how they feel, particularly if the perpetrator didn’t meant to cause them harm.
For more information please take a look at www.internetmatters.org where there is a great deal of information and advice. If you have any concerns, please come and talk to us at school, we may be able to help.
Anxiety in young people
As we approach the break, Halloween seems to have come early, with the ‘clowns’ craze around the country. Many children find Halloween a terrifying time in any case, particularly young people on the autism spectrum. You might find these resources useful in helping children manage their anxiety:
Anxious Child (Mental Health Foundation)
Anxiety and Phobias (Young Minds)
Worries and Anxieties (Royal College of Psychiatrists)
The underwear rule
The NSPCC has launched the second phase of the Underwear Rule campaign, designed to encourage and empower parents of 5-11 year olds to talk to their children about keeping safe from sexual abuse. The Underwear Rule is an easy way to teach children that their body belongs to them and to talk to a trusted adult if they ever feel scared or upset.
The aim of the campaign is to reach even more parents to increase their confidence and knowledge in how to broach this tricky subject in an age appropriate way using the Underwear Rule.
NSPCC research shows that the proportion of parents who had spoken to their children about keeping safe from sexual abuse rose significantly from 46%, before the first phase of the campaign last summer, to 64% afterwards. They now want to build on that progress and reach even more parents, giving them the tools to have simple conversations with their children about keeping safe from abuse.
Ensuring that parents and carers teach their children the Underwear Rule, and that keeping safe from abuse – like the Green Cross Code – becomes an integral part of parents’ conversations about safety with their children, is vital in the fight against child abuse.
Results from the 2016 annual survey
Thank you to all the parents / carers who responded to this year’s annual survey.
This year, we used an online survey which is used in our other Sphere Federation schools. This has meant looking at the results and communicating them to you is much easier (although it might have contributed to the slight drop in respondents to). We’ve removed some statistical information about the mean, the variance etc, and we’ve removed children’s names, but nothing else. Read all the results and comments here. This contains our responses, too; we’ve not responded to every single comment – just a selection.
The results are overwhelmingly positive – perhaps more so than ever before. 100 % of respondents agreed with the following statements:
- My child is happy at Moortown Primary School.
- My child feels safe at Moortown Primary School.
- My child is taught well at Moortown Primary School.
- Moortown Primary makes sure its pupils are well behaved.
- Moortown Primary is well led and managed.
- I would recommend Moortown Primary School to another parent.
All but one respondent agreed with the following three statements. This might be the same person, or different people. Either way, we encourage you to get in touch if unsure.
- My child makes good progress at Moortown Primary School.
- My child is well looked after at Moortown Primary School.
- Moortown Primary responds well to any concerns I raise.
It was around homework, bullying and learning updates that we got more varied responses.
- For homework, some people want more and some want less – we’re pleased that 87% agreed that homework was pitched about right.
- Regarding bullying, responses often indicate people are unsure of how we tackle it – the comments this year (as in previous years) explain that this is because their child hasn’t encountered it.
- Finally, around receiving updates about their child’s learning, 11% (just four respondents) were unsure whether this was valuable or not. This might have something to do with the move away from levels that were so familiar to both parents and teachers, and it might have something to do with a move towards teaching for greater depth. Whatever the reason, we remind the four respondents, and all parents / carers. that teachers will be happy to see you pop in for some informal, quick chats, and for you to arrange a longer meeting if you’d like one.
Moortown Primary continues to be a happy and healthy place to learn. Parents and carers are an important part of our close and supportive community. Thank you, again, if you responded to the survey.
Staying safe in sport (and other clubs)
It’s important that you check that any sports club or activity that your child attends has your child’s safety as its priority. Even if the club seems professional, there are four key questions that you should ask to make sure that they have all the necessary safeguarding measures in place:
1. Can I see your safeguarding policy?
A good organisation or club should have up-to-date safeguarding procedures in place and be happy to show you copies.
2. Who is your Welfare Officer?
The club should have a designated Welfare Officer who is responsible for dealing with any safeguarding concerns that may arise.
3. Do you follow safer recruitment procedures?
Every organisation providing sporting activities to young people must ensure they have the correct recruitment processes in place which includes interviews, references and have undertaken the appropriate police checks for their volunteers and staff.
4. How do you promote the welfare of children and young people?
The club should be able to demonstrate how they actively promote safeguarding. This includes listening and responding to the views of children and young people.
Don’t be afraid to question. A good and professional organisation will already have procedures in place and will welcome the chance to demonstrate that they are providing a safe environment for your child. Download this leaflet for further guidance on safeguarding in sports.
Improving your child's reading skills
The Department for Education recently released measures showing how children have progressed from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2. Expected progress is zero, with anything above that being better than expected and negative numbers showing less than expected progress. Overall, we’re happy that Moortown’s progress remains better than many schools. In Writing and in Maths, the progress measure is 1.4 and 2.0 – this is really quite secure progress.
In Reading this year, progress was also positive, but by less than Writing and Maths: 0.3 – a little above the expected level. We’d like it to be higher. We think the Reading test was extremely hard this year – something widely reported and commented on in the media and social media. It also raises the importance of reading and discussing what is being read at home. Some of our children struggled for three main reasons:
Some children struggled to read the whole text. This flags up how important regular reading at home is to build up fluency.
Others struggled with how difficult the texts were to read. One was an extract from a newspaper, whose intended audience is adults, not 11 year olds! This flags up the importance of encouraging your child to read often, and to read a variety of texts, from fiction to non-fiction, comics to newspapers (but always prioritise reading for pleasure – far more important than a snapshot of reading skills that is the SATs test).
Third, the actual test questions were tough. They testing children’s knowledge of quite tricky words and ability to infer ‘impressions’, a word used more than once in the test. Teachers always encourage parents and carers to be listening to their child read and talking about what is being read, even when a child is quite a fluent reader.
For your awareness, here are a couple of questions from the test, about warthogs and dodos:
“…milled around in bewilderment” (page 8) Explain what this description suggests about the baby warthogs.
What does “rehabilitate the image of the dodo” mean? Tick one. a) restore a painting of the dodo b) rebuild the reputation of the dodo c) repair a model of the dodo d) review accounts of the dodo
Some of the words and phrases used in the texts included ancestors, impressions, inscription, ‘parted company’, ‘offered themselves up’, oasis and parched – not impossibly hard to work out, but perhaps a step up from what your child might be reading at home.
(It’s not all about a Year 6 test, though! Previous news posts have noted that research shows children who read lots develop into adults with greater social and emotional skills.)
Local press
Our new multi-use games area (MUGA) featured in the Yorkshire Evening Post this week.
Scoot the Route
We’ve had a great response to the Scoot the Route scooter promotion this week with lots of names in the draw for one of our five prizes tomorrow. There is one more chance tomorrow.
We’d love to see the children continue to use their scooters, alongside walking and biking to school, to prevent congestion, improve safety and have a happy, healthy and active start to the day!
Yorkshire's Rio Heroes
Welcome back Yorkshire’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes with a special homecoming parade! On Wednesday 28 September, a carnival atmosphere will take hold of Leeds as the athletes are welcomed home in true Yorkshire style.
A host of athletes have confirmed their attendance, including triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee; World, European and Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft, MBE; diver and gold medallist Jack Laugher; and rowers Andy Triggs Hodge and Paul Bennett who both claimed gold.
There will be a lively parade, with samba bands, brass bands, colourful performers and of course open top buses and vehicles carrying the athletes. Parade celebrations will start at 5.15pm, and we would love to see the people of Yorkshire come out in force to line the city centre route and cheer on these inspiring men and women.
Wonderful website
A really thoughtful email arrived in our in-tray over the weekend…
Just want to say thank you for a great school website with lots of learning resources.
I came across your website when I was searching for spelling tests for my 5 year old daughter. I am very impressed with the extensive range of learning tools on your site. This will help me teach all my children.
I am from London and will be sharing your school website with my children’s school, hoping they can improve their current webpage.
Thanks once again and keep up the good work.
We’re happy that children, parents / carers and sometimes teachers benefit from using what’s on the website, whether they have a direct connection with our school or not.