Our overall aim is for children to leave our school being able to stay safe online, be equipped with the skills they will need for their future and to have the confidence to know how to apply these skills effectively in different situations in the wider community. In addition to children enjoying and achieving well within computing lessons, we provide them with opportunities for computing to be used in other subjects to enhance their overall learning experiences.

We use Purple Mash to teach our Computing Curriculum.

The 2Simple Computing Scheme of Work provides a breakdown of what the National Curriculum Programme of Study means in practice, but it also suggests the applications in Purple Mash that you can use to help them do so.

The scheme overview is colour-coded, ensuring that, a glance, full curriculum coverage is identified across all year groups. They contain the lesson aims and success criteria for the year group, and, individual lesson plans to ensure coverage.

Wombridge Primary School has bought a subscription to Purple Mash for us all to share!

PARENT INFORMATION

Purple Mash is a creative educational website for children. Used by thousands of schools, it is is a cross-curricular resource covering art to science and all subjects in between. Our pupils can access Purple Mash from home on a laptop, desktop or a tablet.

All pupils have a login and a password. These should remain confidential and allow you and your child unique access.

Purple Mash is a safe environment that does not require any downloading or allow interaction with people online and children cannot make any financial transactions. We will be using Purple Mash in school to support the curriculum and will be encouraging the children to continue their learning at home – Purple Mash is a great resource for this. It is also just a great resource for your child to explore and enjoy when they have a bit of spare time! It is a huge and growing resource and there are some parts that the children will just enjoy exploring themselves. However, you may want to take a few minutes to explore it yourself so that you can help them with their learning. Most apps have a video guide to support use.

Mini Mash:

Mini Mash is the area of Purple Mash specifically designed for children in the ‘Early Years’. Inside, you’ll find a virtual classroom packed full of activities for children aged 5 and under.

Creative Tools:

There are 20+ open-ended tools inside Purple Mash. They range in complexity from simple painting programs to sophisticated coding tools.

Topics:

Purple Mash has over 1,500 ready-to-use writing and painting projects. They cover everything from aliens to the Victorians. You can use the ‘Topics’ tab to browse by subject or, alternatively, use the search bar at the top right of the screen to look for something specific.

Games:

There are a variety of games that are really fun to play but also help children practise their maths and English skills. They are a great way to re-enforce learning outside of school hours.

Serial Mash:

Serial Mash is all about getting children to read for pleasure. New books are released over the course of a half-term in the form of a weekly serial. The chapters come with a range of fun and educational activities. Serial Mash is great for solo or guided reading and can be read on tablets.

Saving and Sharing Work

Purple Mash lets your child save their work online. It’s very easy, just look out for the floppy disk icon on the toolbar and follow the simple instructions. To access saved files, go to the ‘Online Work’ tab. Once saved you can also ‘share’ work. Just look out for the globe icon on the toolbar. This will share work to one of our school’s “display boards” or create a link so your work can be viewed online by people that don’t have Purple Mash.

Purple Mash on Tablets

The vast majority of Purple Mash is accessible when using iPads or Android tablets. Use Purple Mash via your tablet’s browser.

Please do not hesitate to contact school if you have any questions (or lose the password) and we will be happy to help.

School Login in for Purple Mash : https://www.purplemash.com/sch/wombridge

E SAFETY OVERVIEW

National Curriculum

Key stage 1
Pupils should be taught to:

use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private; identify
where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on
the internet or other online technologies.

Key stage 2
Pupils should be taught to:

use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise
acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about
content and contact.

Teaching online safety in school.

The 4Cs of online risks of harm are content, contact, conduct and contract risks.

What is E-Safety?

Online-Safety-Progression-in-the-SoW

E-Safety overview

E-safety is the safe use of information systems and electronic communications, including the internet, mobile phones and games consoles. It is important that children and young people understand the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology.

e-safety concerns safeguarding children and young people in the digital world.
e-safety emphasises learning to understand and use new technologies in a positive way.
e-safety is less about restriction and more about education about the risks as well as the benefits so we can feel confident online.
e-safety is concerned with supporting children and young people to develop safer online behaviours both in and out of school.

E-safety forms part of our curriculum and pupils are regularly reminded of how to stay safe online.

If you have any concerns speak to any member of staff.

Using the Internet safely at home

Whilst many Internet Service Providers offer filtering systems to help you safeguard your child at home, it remains surprisingly easy for children to access inappropriate material including unsuitable texts, images and movies. Parents/guardians are advised to set the security levels within Internet Browsers with this in mind.

Locating the device to access the Internet in a family area will enable you to supervise children as they use the Internet. However, don’t deny your child the opportunity to learn from the wide variety of material and games available on the Internet. Instead, set some simple rules for keeping them safe and make sure they understand the importance of these rules.

Simple, suggested rules for keeping your child safe

ask your permission before they use the Internet
only use websites you have chosen together or a child friendly search engine
only email people they know (perhaps an address book would be useful)
ask permission before opening an email sent by someone they don’t know
do not use Internet chat rooms
do not use their real name when using games on the Internet (perhaps encourage them to create a suitable nick name)
never give out a home address or personal contact details
never tell someone where they go to school
never send an image of themselves, their home or school
never arrange to meet someone they have ‘met’ on the Internet
only use a webcam with people they know
ask them to tell you immediately if they see anything they are unhappy with

Using these rules

Go through the rules with your child and ensure they understand what you suggest. It is also a good idea to regularly check the Internet sites your child is visiting e.g. by clicking on History and Favourites. Please reassure your child that you want to keep them safe rather than take Internet access away from them.

Below is a link to some free online expert advice specifically for parents on supporting their child in the digital world. They offer ideas on a range of ideas for staying safe online:

http://parentinfo.org/

Other links that you may find useful are:

www.thinkuknow.co.uk www.ceop.gov.uk

ChildLine

ChildLine 08001111: get help and advice about a wide range of issues, talk to a counsellor online, send ChildLine and email or post on the message boards on the link below:

https://www.childline.org.uk

Cyber-bullying

Cyber bullying is any form of bullying which takes place online or through smartphones and tablets. Social networking sites, messaging apps, gaming sites and chat rooms such as Facebook, XBox Live, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and other chat rooms can be great fun and a positive experience but they can be used as platforms to upset and bully individuals.

Tips and advice

If you post abuse about anyone else online or if you send threats, you can be traced by the police without any difficulty. Every time you visit a website or make a posting, your internet service provider, Sky, BT or Virgin, has an electronic note of your activity. Even if you create an anonymous email address like, you can still be traced.
Keep safe by using unusual passwords. Use a combination of letters, lowercase, uppercase, symbols and numbers. Don’t use any part of your name or email address and don’t use your birth date either because that’s easy for people who know you to guess. Don’t let anyone see you signing in and if they do, change the password as soon as you can.
If you are using a public computer such as one in a library or computer shop, be sure to sign out of any web service you are using before leaving the computer so that you can protect your privacy.
Being bullied online can affect someone enormously. Being bullied can impact on a person’s self-esteem, confidence and social skills. Try to consider the impact your words may have and think twice before posting.
Think twice before you post anything online because once it’s out there you can’t take it back.

The documents below provide further information on cyber-bullying.

Cyber-bullying – Top tips for parents

Cyber-bullying – Factsheet

Cyber-bullying – Grooming factsheet

Cyber-bullying – Inappropriate websites

If you have any concerns speak to any member of staff.

Social Media

The more you know about the kind of social networking sites your children belong to and what information they like to share, the more likely you’ll be able to keep them safe:

The age limit to join most social networking sites is 13
The most popular social networks include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat; sites aimed at younger children, like Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters, also have a social networking element
Many sites include an instant message function that allows private conversations between site members
You can create ‘privacy settings’ on most social networking sites, so only close friends can search for your children, tag them in a photograph or share what they post
Most social networking sites have an app, which means your children will have access to the social network from their (or your) smartphone or tablet
Information shared between friends can be easily copied and may spread widely
It isn’t easy to take back information once it’s online, and it can be impossible to recover after someone has shared it
Not everyone your child meets online will be who they say they are
Chat rooms and forums are one of the places that online groomers visit to connect with children; they can also be places where people use a lot of sexual language and engage in online flirting

The documents below provide further information on social media.

Tik Tok safety poster for parents

Instagram safety poster for parents

Instagram safety checklist

Social media guidance for parents UKCCIS