Attendance Alert! Gracemount is Going Green!

Attendance Alert! 

Gracemount is Going Green!

On Monday 1 June we are hoping that ALL pupils will be in school and that we will achieve an attendance rate of between 95% and 100%.  This would mean that the school would be in the GREEN zone for attendance. 

We will aim to keep this going for the rest of term.  Please do your bit to help us to achieve this by ensuring that every pupil is in school for the start of the new timetable on Monday.

(Obviously those pupils on the trip to Spain will not be in school but their absence is approved.)

Concerns over usage of Social Media app OoVoo

ALL PARENT/CARERS ARE ADVISED TO READ THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW!

 
OoVoo is a high quality video chat application similar to Facetime or Skype. It allows people to connect with up to 12 friends at one time and video chat or have a voice call. You can download it on an iPad, iTouch, iPhone, Android phone, etc. And you must be 13 years old to set up an account, which doesn’t slow anyone down who can subtract 13 years from 2015.

What are the concerns for your child using ooVoo? 
 

OoVoo is a high quality video chat application similar to Facetime or Skype. It allows people to connect with up to 12 friends at one time and video chat or have a voice call. You can download it on an iPad, iTouch, iPhone, Android phone, etc. And you must be 13 years old to set up an account, which doesn’t slow anyone down who can subtract 13 years from 2015.
What are the concerns for your child using ooVoo?  As with all social media, the main concern is who can search out your child easily.  The easier it is to find the child, the faster a predator will find them, start talking to them and find a way to connect with them without the child realizing what is happening. The second concern is the way in which ooVoo is being used.  Young children (pre-teen) find this app through their peers or older siblings.  It’s Internet-based and often used at home in the young person or child’s bedroom. It has been the case that whilst talking with friends an adult has entered the group chat.

How do you manage your child’s ooVoo account?

1. Always know your child’s password. This will allow you to ensure that they are using ooVoo safely.
2. Make sure that the privacy settings are properly set up. Without using the privacy settings, your child can be contacted by anyone at anytime and anyone can see the profile of your child. (It is a good idea to set up your child's account as ‘Nobody’ so that only people who know her ooVoo ID can contact them).
3. You can review the history of your child’s account. You will be able to see who they are chatting and messaging with. Ensure that you know all of these people and are comfortable with it. Note that your child can erase the history.
4. If your child receives an unwanted friend request, ignore it AND check the box to Also block this person from contacting me again.
5. If your child experiences a more serious encounter with an adult contact CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) Command at:  https://www.ceop.police.uk/
6. With young children (pre-teen), you can frequently review your child’s friends to ensure that you know them all.
7. Remind your child to always log out when they are finished using ooVoo, especially if another person’s device is being used.
8. Learn how to use the product! If your child knows that you are involved and understand the technology they are using, they will not feel free to do whatever they please because “Mum and dad doesn’t have a clue how this works!”

ooVoo is not necessarily bad. Like most social media apps, there are some great uses for teens. For example, working on a group project would be a great use of ooVoo, given the ability to have multiple users on the same video chat session. 

However, the dangers come when children and young people use them in unproductive ways and when the privacy settings are not set tightly. This is where the job as parents is so critical. This is where if you drop the ball you could end up dealing with a lot more than an unwanted friend request!

Parent and Carer Information and Support Session

Sports and Dance awards night on Thursday 11th June at 7pm

We are having a Sports and Dance awards night on Thursday 11^th June at 7pm and we are wanting to get as much promotion as possible. There will be lots of awards for all our sportspeople and dancers. The final award will be the sports and dance personality of the year award. It will be a public vote. 

Below is a promo vid and also the link for the survey. Voting doesn’t open until next week (Wednesday).

Download the shortlist here.

The Link to our survey Monkey is here.  
Please note that voting doesn't open until Wednesday 13th May.

Summer Outdoor Learning Programme