Dear Parents of Year 5 and Year 6 children,

Once again we are in  a position where children's use of mobile phones and social media group chats is causing significant issues in school, and more worryingly, is causing huge upset for many children. 

Yr 5 and Yr 6 children have been in an assembly with Miss Carroll and spoken to about the dangers of social media, how to keep themselves safe and what they should not be doing. These messages are repeated regularly by all staff in school. 

I am incredibly concerned about the lack of parental supervision and monitoring that takes place for some children. Many parents do not know which social media sites their children are using, who they are in groups with, what messages, voice messages and images they are sending or receiving. 

In school, we can advise the children, but we are not able to monitor their activity at home. It is your responsibility as parents to keep your child safe online. Complaining to school when your child has received unkind messages or images is too late to protect your child, The only way that this can be done is if you monitor their use closely every day, or simply remove them from social media altogether. It is clear that many of the children are not mature enough to use it sensibly and safely. 

None of them are legally old enough to even have these social media accounts. You should be aged 16 to have Whatsapp and 13 to have Snapchat.

Once again, I implore you to take control of your child's use of their phones and in particular social media. We simply do not have the time in school to spend on sorting these issues out that are caused at home. The children should be in school concentrating on being happy and enjoying their learning, not worrying about social media issues. If you are a parent that already has this under control and restricts or prohibits social media use, well done and thank you.