It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that the brilliant Computing Lead teacher, Valentina Evangelou has passed away, after a short battle with Leukaemia aged 47 years old.
Valentina was a talented, hardworking, and highly regarded member of the Islington and London Computing Education Community. She had worked for over 20 years at Lancastrian Primary in Tottenham, Haringey, expertly leading computing, as well as generously supporting and coaching schools leaders, teachers and children across the North London community. Valentina will be missed terribly by our network.
Valentina’s funeral service will take place this Saturday 10 June: North of Finsbury Park, at St John The Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Wightman Rd, N8 0LY. She will then be laid to rest at New Southgate cemetery, then reception Ariana Banqueting Hall, N11 1NP
Valentina’s family have expressly welcomed all to attend, inc. her friends and colleagues from across the London Education Community. Instead of flowers the family kindly ask everyone who can to make a small donation in Valentina’s memory to Blood Cancer UK.
Ideas and plans to remember Valentina across the Computing Education Community will be discussed when we come together for our Summer Islington Computing Network meeting on Tuesday 13 June (Details below)
Latest Online Safety in The News Nursery World published an article on June 1st which calls for urgent action on Online Safety for early years and includes collated evidence from North London settings https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/features/article/why-the-online-safety-bill-must-include-risks-to-youngest-children *Please share with school community
Latest Online Safety Resource LGFL Webinars for EYFS Parents and Practitioners in June https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/screens-early-years
Edtech Resource of the Week Workspace Skills at Canopy Education, free access up to 50 users, which you can use to support students or teachers you are training to use Google Workspace for Education. Users complete short tutorials on Google Workspace Products, which award badges, breaking the learning down into small chunks. Sign for access here.
Classic Edtech Favourites with Free Elements from US teacher video inc. some classics Kahoot, Book Creator, Padlet, BBC Bitesize SeeSaw
SEND Reminders Brilliant Guide on Apps – based on Needs and Inclusion (for Schools and Families) here And 5 Ways Resources from LGFL + LGFL Blog from Belinda Evans
Institute of Imagination Exciting free offers for Autumn Term Wild Cities and a partnership with LEGO https://ioi.london/schools/ (See more below)
World Refugee Day, Tuesday 20 June “Great Big Live Assembly” at 9.05am Join The 20-minute Great Big Live Assembly
Over the past two years schools across the UK have done a brilliant job of welcoming tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan, with many classes made up of recent refugees, children and grandchildren of former refugees, host families, and their friends. In celebration of this, and in recognition of the refugee experience, the Sanctuary Foundation is convening a special national school assembly on World Refugee Day. The 20-minute Great Big Live Assembly will be hosted by Dr Krish Kandiah OBE from the Sanctuary Foundation, and Daniel Orlova, a 9-year-old refugee from Ukraine now living in the UK. As well as discovering stories and statistics, children in schools around the UK will be able to connect with their counterparts in a refugee camp.
Free offers Order 30 free Micro:bits per school for Sept https://microbit.org/news/2023-05-15/bbc-microbit-the-next-gen-groundbreaking-initiative-announced/
Schools Online https://www.schoolonline.co.uk central London donations available Free school trials Flare Calmer EarBuds for Kids Sensory Overload, See video Contact Katy if interested.
Institute of Imagination Imagine Autumn booking is now open and this is the link for the brochure and to book. Wild Eco Builders will be an opportunity to be playful and collaborative across STEAM, focusing on creativity, design thinking, coding, engineering and scientific skills that help to support future skills that we need to sustain and build for the people on our planet.
And Free Trials with immersive audio resource Now Press Play
Training Events Summer Term Islington Computing Leaders Inc. new gallery space latest Digital Projection and Audio Technology
E-sports Pupil Event 9 June PM Nic Hughes and Pip Bhol have organised an exciting E-sports Competition at Kings Cross, any school leaders are interested in observing, please get in touch as we are considering an event for all schools next year. *Esports is a thriving industry in UK, with significant career routes in the gaming industry and available qualifications, e.g. New Esports college opening Shoreditch
Launch of New Islington Computing SoW & CPD Portal Tuesday 13 June Pm (followed by networking & free visit to the New gallery space https://lightroom.uk)
with the latest digital projection and audio technology and Hockney Digital Exhibition, linking to Computing Curriculum Digital Art Units. Contact Katy to reserve your spot!
*Class Visits and Free Tickets also available to this exciting Hockney Exhibition.
And Summer events with STEM learning and Teach Computing https://teachcomputing.org/courses A new look and feel site https://blog.teachcomputing.org/what-next
Booking Computing and Digital Workshops for Autumn Term Three Discovery Digital Outreach Team work closely with Islington schools. Contact Alan and the team to arrange class workshops
LGfL subscribing schools can receive bespoke support for Teachers/TA/Subject leaders on getting the most out LGFL Resources inc. Busythings and strategies for SEND
Complete the following form or contact Katy to connect with relevant consultants. Institute of Imagination Bookings open for Autumn Term https://ioi.london/schools/
Tech We Can champions free tech lesson or assembly – fantastic industry volunteers who inspire more young people all around the UK about technology and tech careers http://ow.ly/Ou0r50IJL30
Finally, Lead teachers are available to book over the year, with ideas here https://islingtoncomputing.co.uk/ Please contact Katy to book.
Ideas for Online Safety Blurb for School Newsletter or Letter for Families inc. Early Years
Focused Blurb for EYFS on YouTube Warning – Reminder of Parent controls and Young Children should not Use YouTube main site unsupervised The latest OFCOM Report on Children aged 3-4 went online mainly to watch videos (92%) YouTube was by far their most-used app (87%), and they were more likely to use YouTube Kids (51%) than the ‘main’ YouTube site (31%). Just under two-fifths of 3-4-year-olds (38%) had their own profile on YouTube59, and 14% had a profile on at least one other app or site. Two-thirds (65%) of parents of children aged 3-4 said they supervised what their child does online by sitting beside them. https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/0-5
Broader Blurb There is currently an Online Harms bill going through parliament, with urgent calls for the internet to be made safer for children – the NSPCC calls the internet the Wild West
Despite age ratings of13+ 16+ Online and social Media platforms inc. YouTube, WhatsApp and TikTok are the daily diet for many children and the managing screentime on these platforms is challenging because of the addictive design features and extreme & dangerous content easily accessed, inc. violent and scary video content masked by Early Years friendly titles such as Huggy Wuggy.
Children with mobile phones on the streets after schools are also vulnerable because they can be the target of theft by criminal gangs (some schools now have a no cash, no mobile policy)
We urge parents to stay very involved with their child’s life Online, just as we do with young children learning to swim or crossing the road.
And carefully consider the risks if you allow use of social media. The design of many apps 16+ 13+ & phones including dares and challenges can nudge children to share explicit content and to be unkind.
Think of a Digital Diet, “Not No tech but good tech” and social media likened to Junk food.
A new and highly acclaimed 15-minute short drama starring Jodie Whittaker (Dr Who), Paul Ready (Motherland) looks at online harm, regulation and responsibility.
https://www.ft.com/video/ea39f3a9-8993-477d-a763-317ba51c2e75 or German Advert Where’s Klaus (over 10 years old now but still hard hitting and relevant)
- Along with parental controls, parents and carers should stay actively involved in their child’s online world
- Helping choose safe child age apps and sites, having regular conversations and setting firm boundaries.
- Common boundaries used by families for both children and adults include:
- Screen free mealtimes and bedtimes (other times inc. “before school”)
- No tech in bedrooms and books at bedtime
- Gaming only at weekends and educational games in the week
- Choosing quality programmes and films to watch together such as CbbC and enjoying TV on a large TV screen rather than phone or iPad.
- Parents and carers actively involved in choosing apps and online games, with regular monitoring of devices and parental controls.
Parental control and monitoring tools including Google Family Link, Apple ScreenTime and Microsoft Family Safety https://parentsafe.lgfl.net And https://www.internetmatters.org
Free phone helpline for families 7-9pm school nights https://thesleepcharity.org.uk
And further info on Risks of Content Contact Conduct are described in the presentation here https://www.internetmatters.org/schools-esafety/parent-online-support-pack-teachers
Schools safeguarding policies and education follow DFE guidance Keeping Children safe In Education and Online Safety Risks are categorised under Content Contact Conduct.
The school has an open-door policy on any concerns or support needed around online safety.
** KCSIE emphasises Online Safety is firmly embedded in role of DSL – Resource Reminder for DSL: Updated Template policy examples are available https://national.lgfl.net/digisafe
inc. Online Safety Audit KCSIE asks schools to carry out an annual Online Safety Audit
**Cyber-Security reminder of the excellent resources developed by The Key with important webinar for governors last Autumn term
Congratulation on Safer Internet Day 2023 and all the schools taking Part in Open Classroom
100s of parents and carers joined Open Classroom Events across Islington Primary Schools during Sprint 1 to celebrate Safer Internet Day Tuesday 7 February. The “bring your family to school” approach for Online safety was spearheaded by Drayton Park and Montem Primary in 2022, with the idea families join Digital Literacy and Online safety lessons in their child’s class, along with exhibitions of learning with technology.
There have been huge turnouts of families with numbers averaging 40-50 parents/carers per school, including events at Pooles Park, St Marys, Vittoria, Copenhagen, Thornhill and Blessed Sacrament.
Importantly, before joining the classrooms, the DSL spoke to families about
For further information on Safer Internet Day https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2023
And resources for families https://www.internetmatters.org and https://parentsafe.lgfl.net/ and https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety
Islington Computing 