Headteacher's News

All the most recent news from Edith

 

Monday 28th April 2025

 

Dear parents and carers of children in Stepney Park Primary School.

I hope you are all well and that you are enjoying the wonderful weather, which is thankfully set to last for the rest of this week.

Headteacher recruitment

As you know, the governors of our school are seeking to find a new Headteacher, who will start in January 2026, after I leave. Today and tomorrow there is a selection process, therefore the governors will hopefully be able to give you an update on a new appointment later this week.

Parents’ Questionnaire

Last week, Dee emailed parents a link to a parental questionnaire in her newsletter. So far we have not yet received many responses, so I am including the link to this important and anonymous survey below:

https://forms.gle/d4X8sATAAB6kBja47

In the survey, which will only take a couple of minutes to complete, we ask for your opinion about our communication systems, how we communicate to you about your child’s learning and there is also an opportunity to give us feedback on anything else you want to tell us.

Please help us become an even better school by completing this important feedback questionnaire.

Online safety

A little while ago, members of SLT took part in a ‘Pupil Voice’ activity, gathering information about online safety and the use of devices at home. A sample of children from Yr 1 to Yr 6 were asked questions in an age-appropriate way.  Children were asked questions such as:

Do you use the internet at home?

• What device are you on?

• Is there anyone else in the room with you? 

• Are you aware of any dangers when using the internet? 

Have you seen or heard anything online that you didn’t like?

• How did you come across it? 

• How was it sent (e.g. chat, messaging, video call, in-game)

• What did you do at the time?

Do you play games online?

• What device do you use?

• Is there anyone else in the room with you ? 

• Who do you play with? 

• Do you talk to anyone online (audio, text, video)?

Do you follow/watch any influencers/YouTubers on social media?

• What do they do/talk about?

• Why do you follow them? 

• How often do you watch a new video?

• What’s their name?

This is a summary of what the children told us:

• Children have good knowledge of online safety from Yr 2 and up, and they have a high awareness of actions to take if they are feeling unsafe.

• There seems to be a growing awareness of the importance of parental supervision, but this does not seem consistent across all families. Although a number of children told us that there is always a parent in the room, some children (including some younger children) are not supervised at all.

• Children seem to be using a range of devices other than school-supplied (and school-monitored) chromebooks.

• Some of the older children in Yr 4,5 and 6 are aware of the term ‘influencer’; a number of children follow influencers such as ‘Mr Beast’, who is a YouTuber. Children also follow arts and crafts, anime and gaming influencers.

My best advice to parents is as follows:

• Regularly talk to your child about how they can stay safe online.

• Allow your child to access the internet on a school device (chromebook)  only, as school gets alerts when inappropriate content is being accessed. We will always inform you if this was the case.

• Be as present in the room as you can. If you can’t be physically there all the time, do regular drop-ins and check what your child is doing.

• Regularly check your child’s internet history and be ‘curious/ suspicious’ if it seems to be deleted.

• Let us know if you need any advice or help.

 

Thank you for reading this newsletter and for your continued support.

Kind regards.

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School