ICT

End of Term 2 2017 ICT update

Semester one has been action packed in the computer lab. In fact, we haven't spent that much time on the computers at all!! We still introduce all lessons up to year three with typing practice as the children in these year levels will all have to complete NAPLAN online in 2019. We also use the computers to access the coding website code.org. This is a fantastic free resource that children in years one to six use on a weekly basis. It helps students learn about the fundamentals of different types of coding in a fun and interactive way. We also regularly discuss safe online behaviours and attempt to help our students become positive digital citizens.

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The Bee Bots have arrived!!!

We recently purchased some Bee Bots for children in the younger grades in our school. These are small programmable floor robots that teach students the basics of programming. They are especially suited to the younger year levels and we have used them from Pre Primary up to Year Three. Students always love to see the Bee Bots coming out and are really enjoying using them.

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Constable Care Child Safety Foundation to visit in Term Three.

The Constable Care Child Safety Foundation provide schools with free interactive plays that deal with relevant issues such as bullying, well-being and cyber safety. We are fortunate to have been able to secure a booking for week 4 of term three. Students from years 4 to 6 will take part in two interactive plays on the one day. The first, called ‘Frenemies’ encourages students to think about how their behaviour can affect other people and helps them build confidence in social situations, make friends and develop resilience. The second, called ‘Screen Name’ teachers young people about the more serious danger of the cyber world and how to make safe decisions online. We look forward to having Constable Care at our school and hope it will increase our students’ awareness of bullying and cyber safety issues. We believe that this will be a very effective follow on from our "Surf Online Safe" presentation that took place in term one. Our students are very internet savvy and many of them from year three upwards are using social media websites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Live.ly and Musical.ly so it is important for us to remind them of the need for sensible use of the internet.

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Family Zone Blog

The Family Zone Blog is an awesome resource for parents of primary and secondary aged children. In a world where parents find it difficult to keep up with the ever changing landscape of the digital world, blogs like this one are very useful. This blog will assist in learning about the latest apps, social media sites and trends and also provides tips on how parents can monitor their child's online activity. You can read the blog here https://www.familyzone.com/blog .

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Sphero Success

The Sphero robots that were purchased at the end of last year have been a massive success. The children in years four to six have been working on programming them around a "city" themed floor mat. This has been challenging but fun. The Spheros can be coded to do lots of different things, can move in any direction, can have different speeds, can change colour and are waterproof. They are a very versatile little robot and are lots of fun to program.

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Here are eight easy ways to help your kids stay out of trouble in cyberspace.

1. Keep computers out in the open
   Your child may think twice about looking at inappropriate websites and won't be able to chat to their friends all night while you think they are doing their homework.
2. Mind your business
   Remind your child to keep information such as their name, address, phone number, school and even your credit card number to themselves.
3. Just because it's on the internet, it doesn't mean it's true
   Make sure your child uses multiple sources for research, and is careful not to plagiarise.
4. Stranger danger is online, too
   Ensure your child never organises to meet up with any strangers they have met online.
5. Get a filter
   Internet filters can help block inappropriate sites for children.
6. Encourage your child to talk with you about their online experiences – good and bad
   This will make it easier for them if they see something inappropriate or are emailed something unsuitable.
7. Good manners also exist online
   Talk about this with your child and it may lead to a decline in bullying behaviour, not to mention the many disagreements that children have with each other.
8. Forever is a long time
   A lot of blogs and websites maintain information as part of cyberspace forever. By publishing without thinking of the future, your child's innocent work online may be something that comes up later on and may negatively impact their career and personal life.

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Internet Usage

Glossary of Internet Terms
Internet Safety - Tips for Parents
Computer Internet Agreement Years 4 - 6
Computer Internet Agreement Years 1 - 3

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