January 2010 - Posts
European Safer Internet Day (SID) 2010 istaking place on Tuesday 9th February. SID10 is be supported by countries throughout Europe and during the week (from Monday 8th February – Friday 12th February 2010), a range of activities will be taking place across the continent to help protect young people online. The theme for SID10 is ‘Think Before You Post’ and it is hoped that the whole week will be a week of action across Kent and in the UK.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) are the official UK hub for SID activities and you can visit Thinkuknow’s Safer Internet Day 2010 website at http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk
CEOP hope that these pages can help to identify regional and national activities that schools and staff may wish to promote or get involved with, as well as highlighting various resources (from CEOP and other organisations) that can be used to help raise awareness.
For further information about international activities for SID please visit http://www.saferinternetday.org
Make sure your school takes part in Safer Internet Day 2010 by registering your event on the Thinkuknow activity map! You can also let the e-Safety Officer know by commenting below about any events and activities planned, or via email as the Kent Press Team are looking for schools and case studies with exciting plans to share experiences and ideas.
Microsoft UK are offering Schools the chance to offer and host free online sessions for parents on internet
safety to support Safer Internet Day 2010 on the 9th February and the launch of the new digital code for children
"Zip it, Block it, Flag it". Places
are limited and Microsoft are asking that schools register by the 28th January
if they wish to join
These virtual sessions offer schools the opportunity
to host a parents evening with a presentation led by a Microsoft volunteer to
inform and educate parents on the technology their children are using and how
they can keep them safe when online.
These sessions are free and all you need is to be able
to connect to the internet on a screen or whiteboard and parents will be able
to see the presentation and any questions can be submitted.
For more information and to see how to book please
follow this link or visit Microsoft's website directly here
For more information on SID 10 and to register activities taking place in your school visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk
Don't forget to let us know your plans for Safer Internet Day by commenting below or emailing the e-Safety officer: esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk
A collection of useful websites with curriculum guidance, which can be
used in Primary Schools to compliment ICT themes across Key Stage One and Two
has been posted on the new Kent ICT website. Key e-Safety issues are explored with some suggestions to
help staff overcome potential barriers in the classroom.
These resources and web links were gathered together by the Advisory
Service Kent's Primary ICT team and Kent's e-Safety Officer. If you have any suggestions
for useful e-Safety websites which you've used or seen used successfully in the classroom, which could
be added to the list then please comment below or email suggestions directly to
esafetyofficer@kent.gov.uk
e-Safety in Research and e-Awareness
e-Safety in Communication
It has been bought to Kent County Council's attention that many Local Authorities are blocking a teaching resource website: www.sparklebox.co.uk. Although this website is popular with schools, CEOP has issued a statement supporting both this action and the following statement from South West Grid for Learning:
“It is understood that a person who is on the record as an owner and director of Sparklebox Teacher Resources Limited (which appears to claim ownership of the SparkleBox web site and children’s learning materials) is a registered sex offender who has recently admitted a second offence, is on remand in prison and is awaiting sentence in January.”
For this reason we feel it right to block the site centrally until more information is available and review whether this site should be blocked permanently after consulting schools and other sources.
Failure to block this site may place Schools or Kent County Council in a difficult position regarding duty of care. Should staff wish to continue using the website there is nothing to stop its use from home. We
invite discussion from staff who may be concerned about this decision
to discuss this on the e-Safety Blog (please note that this blog is
moderated so your comment may not appear immediately).