News Archive
For past news go to the news archive
Contacts
If you have any concerns about internet safety please contact: Ann Layzell eSafety Adviser Email: ann.layzell@ hertscc.gov.uk Chris Seviour ICT Technical Adviser Email: chris.seviour@ hertscc.gov.uk
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News, Events & Meetings

E-ngage: Online eSafety, Anti-bullying & PSHE Sessions New

E-ngage Live offer exciting, interactive learning sessions around Online Safety, Anti-Bullying and PSHE topics, through online collaboration with experts in these fields. For more information:

• e-engage sessions available for teachers and learners

Are You Clicking Safely? New

How safe are your pupils online and do they know the risks?
 
We continually develop and refine the eSafety advice and guidance provided to Hertfordshire schools.  To help with this work the ‘Channel Mogo’ survey during February/March is based around eSafety.  Please promote and encourage your pupils to take part in the survey. 

Competition details

We are asking young people to let us have their views and experiences of using the internet and mobile phones for a chance to WIN gift vouchers for an 'experience' day worth £150.

The winner will be picked at random and notified after the competition deadline - 12 noon Friday 26th March 2010.

This survey will help us know more about how young people are using technologies, and how we can help schools and carers to keep you safer online.  We will publish the results on Channelmogo.  All comments are confidential and we do not keep a record of names - we only ask for your name so that we we can get in touch  if you are a winner in our prize draw.

Go to the channelmogo website to complete the survey online:

• www.channelmogo.org

Ofsted - The Safe Use of New Technologies Report New

Pupils in schools that use ‘managed’ online systems have a better knowledge and understanding of how to stay safe when using new technologies, according to a report published by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

This report is based on evidence from a small-scale survey carried out between April and July 2009 in 35 maintained schools in England. It evaluates the extent to which the schools taught pupils to adopt safe and responsible practices in using new technologies, and how they achieved this. It also assesses the extent and quality of the training the schools provided for their staff. It responds to the report of the Byron Review, Safer children in a digital world.

• www.ofsted.gov.uk

Safer Internet Day - 9th February 2010

Safer Internet Day (SID) is an annual event organised by Insafe to promote the safer and more responsible use of online technologies and mobile phones. CEOP acts as the co-ordinator of SID activities in the UK. The theme for this year is “Think before you post”, encouraging children and young people to manage their online identity by utilising privacy settings on social networking sites, selecting friends online that they can trust and taking careful consideration of the potential consequences before publishing images of themselves and others online.

Celebrate Safer Internet Day at your school and help to promote the ‘Stay Safe’ Online
message. Here are some ideas:

• Create a school eSafety song or rap
• eSafety ‘Tip of the Week’. These can be created by classes or individual pupils and
  publicised widely, including in the school newsletter and on the school website
• Hold an eSafety week
• Each class, form or year group to arrange a school assembly on a aspect of eSafety
• Arrange for pupils and/ or parents to create a range of eSafety helpsheets, video clips or
  podcasts, such as – setting parental controls on a ‘Play Station’
• Ask a couple of keen parents to hold a session for other parents. This could be a short 5
  minutes during a parents evening on ‘ How I help my child to be safe online’
• Have a school eSafety competition and take part in Hertfordshire and national competitions
• Provide regular updates through newsletters, items on the Learning Platform, parents
  meetings etc
• Setup a school eSafety group comprising of pupils, parents and staff who together will
  promote and support eSafety across the school community

Please let us know if you have any activities planed for Safer Internet Day and we will help to
publicise your work. We would be delighted include on the HGfL any resources developed and
help you in other ways to promote this important work.

For further information about CEOP’s initiatives and resources for SID10 please read on or visit:

• www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk/

eSafety Newsletter - Spring 2010

The latest eSafety newsletter is now available:

• Adobe pdf, 26kb/1 pages, 13/01/2010, esafety_newsletter_sp2010.pdf

Access to Sparklebox through the Hertfordshire Grid For Learning

Email sent to headteachers - 13th January 2010

Dear headteacher

You may already be aware that Hertfordshire County Council, along with many local authorities, has blocked the teaching resource website www.sparklebox.co.uk.

Although this website is popular with schools, CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre) has supported the blocking of the site, as the site owner is a registered sex offender who has just admitted and been convicted of a second child pornography offence.

Although we believe there is no immediate danger from using this site, we have taken the decision to block Sparklebox until further information is available.

We would also recommend the following action:

1. If the site toolbar, which gives access to further resources, has been downloaded at school or by teachers at home, we would advise that it is removed. Whilst we have no direct evidence of any risk attached at present, its use could potentially be providing the owner of the site with an income. This can be done by clicking on Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. Choose the Sparklebox toolbar and remove. Reboot PC.

2. If schools are using Sparklebox branded resources, please consider removing them from use.

There is no evidence that there is any danger from using the Sparklebox website and people can still access the site from home, however schools and settings should consider the ethics of using a site which could potentially be providing the owner with an income, or resources which are heavily labelled to promote the Sparklebox brand.

We will continue to post updates on the HGfL on this page as and when they becomes available.

If you have any questions, please contact Carole Bennett, senior ICT adviser by email at: carole.bennett@hertscc.gov.uk

7th January 2010

Regular users of the "Sparklebox" website will have noticed that it is now unavailable through the Hertfordshire Grid for Learning.

We have taken this action to deny access to Sparklebox following information of possible serious eSafety issues relating to the site. Although this website is popular with schools, CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre) has issued a statement supporting both our 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.”

This has been a popular site with many of our schools and we are aware that this decision will cause considerable inconvenience but given the nature of the concerns 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.

Chris Seviour
ICT Technical Adviser
(chris.seviour@hertscc.gov.uk)

7th January 2010

New Government Internet Safety Initiative

Hertfordshire have been providing schools with eSafety guidance and resources over recent years.   From the Early Years onwards many of our schools have embedded eSafety throughout the curriculum.  Indeed, OfSTED inspect schools and comment on the eSafety curriculum in all key stages.  To access the Hertfordshire eSafety resources go to:

• www.thegrid.org.uk/eservices/safety/

Zip it, Block it, Flag it is a new government initiative to further promote eSafety and will be formally launched on Safer Internet Day, 9th February 2010.   There will be a number of exciting new resources to support this campaign along with other good existing resources from organisations such as Childnet and CEOP.  

Download "Click Clever Click Safe: The First Child Internet Safety Strategy" from the UK Council for Child Internet Safety:

• www.dcsf.gov.uk/ukccis/news_detail.cfm?newsid=36&thisnews=2

In preparation for Safer Internet Day why not enter the Hertfordshire eSafety Competition and have the opportunity to win one of our great prizes together with promoting eSafety at your school:

• www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/ict/research/competitions/2010_esafety/

Anti-bullying week - 16th-20th November 2009

Anti-bullying week 2009 focused on Cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying in Primary Schools - see this BBC news item

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8359780.stm

Radio 1 advice on Cyberbullying for young people from celebrities:

• www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bullyproof

See our cyberbulling section:

• Cyberbullying new

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