Sleep
Sleep is essential for our health and wellbeing, yet it is estimated that 40% of the population suffer with sleep issues and many do not get the support that they need.
Attached to this article are some resources that help you and your children to learn more about sleep and its importance. Sleep is essential to brain function, by helping children to sleep better, we can help them to succeed in school. The Sleep Charity, incorporating The Sleep Council, provide advice and support to empower the nation to sleep better.
They aim to:
- Provide access to high quality information and advice to deal with most sleep issues
- To ensure everyone understands the value of a good night’s sleep
- To campaign for improvements to the support available
- Make a positive difference to the lives of those we work with by campaigning for improvement to the support available
Keeping your child safe online
The power of the internet continues to grow, and young people are regular users of websites and apps that may be very different from their parents. Sometimes it can feel hard to keep up with this every-changing digital world. But the things that can help keep children safe online are often similar to the things that keep them safe offline.
- Half of ten-year olds now own their own smartphone (Ofcom 2019)
- 70% of 12-15-year olds now have a social media profile, with Snapchat being the most prominent platform in this age group (Ofcom 2019)
- Children aged 5-15 now spend over 14 hours a week online, just over two hours a day (Ofcom 2019)
The dangers
Social media networking sites are seen as being very ‘cool’ by children and they may be pressured by their friends into joining them.
The sites don’t actually present any threats that don’t already exist elsewhere online. The danger is that the threats exist in a new online environment you or your child may not be familiar with.
As with most potential online dangers, the problems can start if your child doesn’t look after their personal information properly. The risks you need to be aware of are:
- cyberbullying (bullying using digital technology)
- invasion of privacy
- identity theft
- your child seeing offensive images and messages
- the presence of strangers who may be there to ‘groom’ other members
What can you do?
Talk about what they think is normal online and what behaviour to expect from others and from themselves. Encourage them to think critically and question what they see online. Talk to them about where they go to get information they trust, talk about fake news, fake followers and scams. Help them develop a healthy suspicion of whether people are who they say they are.
Share your knowledge and experience of relationships. For example, sometimes people seem nice at first and then they turn out to be mean. Let them know that you know this, they can talk to you about it. And that you won’t panic or punish them if they do.
Show them how to report any worrying behaviour they see online – for example through Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command or the Internet Watch Foundation. You can also use our CEOP button on our homepage to report (CEOP Safety Centre).
We strongly encourage parents to monitor the online platforms their children are involved with and to know how they are using them. This is particularly true of younger students; Snapchat is a platform rated as 13+, WhatsApp requires a minimum of 16 but relies on the honesty of the child and family to adhere to the age restrictions.
You can easily and quickly create parental controls for your child’s phone by using the information published at the following link:-
Use Parental Controls to Keep Your Child Safe | NSPCC
There are also some useful articles on our website.
NSPCC publish the following information about Snapchat and gives some tips to help keep your child safe on Snapchat:-
Is Snapchat safe for my child? | NSPCC
Please do help support keeping your child safe online by checking their apps, usage and encouraging them to share with you their online content.
Mrs D Collett
Assistant Headteacher - Pastoral and Wellbeing
The Box Clever Theatre Company visited KSHS on Tuesday to perform 'Romeo and Juliet' to both Year 10 and 11 for whom this is a set GCSE text. Performed in the round by three actors who played Romeo and Juliet and a cleverly scripted Chorus, students were treated to a witty and smart version of the play. Key scenes and speeches were authentically delivered alongside audience interaction and smartly interwoven commentary. 
Some of the students' reviews: 
