31st August 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
We have had some concerning issues reported to us today regarding some Year 5 and 6 students’ inappropriate use of social media, some involving group chats with students at Derby District, and organising fights with students there.
In our efforts to ensure that Holy Rosary remains a safe learning environment and free from bullying and unsafe behaviours, and to ensure your children are not exposed to online grooming or other unsafe behaviours, we are asking your assistance in the following ways.
Firstly, could all parents please immediately check their children’s use of any social media accounts they may be using, and if your children are on social media we ask that you have the password and complete access to their accounts to check what your children are doing.
Secondly, we would like all Year 5 & 6 parents to attend an important information session on Thursday afternoon, starting at 2:30 in the Year 5 Classroom.
This information session will be run by Giorgia Lukic, Alis Hart and myself and will talk about the following issues:
- Ways in which your children may be using social media
- The types of behaviour some of our students have been exposed to recently
- How to prevent them from using social media inappropriately
- How the school will be dealing with students using social media inappropriately if reported to us.
Whilst we have had no reports of our children being groomed by strangers online, there have been a number of incidents in which our students may have been exposed to inappropriate language and behaviour.
We are asking that at least 1 parent/caregiver from each student’s family attend, and if neither caregiver can attend, to please call the office to make an appointment to discuss these issues with me.
Thank you again for your cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
Yvette Clifton
Principal