Foundation Stage & Key Stage 1: New beginnings in our digital age

Foundation Stage & Key Stage 1: New beginnings in our digital age Welcome back to St Andrews...Keeping children safe in an online world...Term 1 reports for Y1 and Y2 are now ready to view...Keep up with all the upcoming events over the next few weeks.

Welcome back to St Andrews International School Bangkok...Keeping children safe in an online world...Term 1 reports for Y1 and Y2 are now ready to view...Keep up with all the upcoming events over the next few weeks.

Happy New Year - Welcome back to Term 2

It has been really nice to see the children back in school today at the start of term 2 at St Andrews International School Bangkok seeing new friendships being formed as we welcome some new families into school.  It has been a lovely atmosphere as children chat to their teachers and find out about their new topics. Next week is the start of the Parent/Teacher Consultations for Y1 and Y2 so make sure you have signed up to meet the teachers and discuss the targets for this coming term.

It’s ‘Common Sense’

Some children are likely to have received a new tablet or phone for Christmas, or maybe you have spent some time as a family watching movies or playing computer games.  Older children have maybe been catching up with friends on various social media platforms, but do you know enough about their online life?

As we head into 2020 we thought you might be interested to read some information that we as educators use as resources when we are planning lessons for the children to keep children safe in an online world.

At St Andrews International School Bangkok, your child takes part in classroom lessons from Common Sense Education’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum, designed to educate and guide young people to harness the power of the Internet and digital tools so they can become safe, responsible, and respectful digital citizens. 

WHAT IS DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP? 

Digital media and technology is evolving at a rapid pace, bringing with it amazing opportunities as well as real risks for our children. On the positive side, young people are using the Internet and mobile technologies to create, connect, explore and learn in ways never before imagined. 

WHAT COMMON SENSE EDUCATION TEACHES 

The core message of the curriculum is one of empowerment: With powerful digital tools that allow for creation and communication comes great responsibility. The curriculum centres on 8 main categories based on the digital ethics research of Dr. Howard Gardner and The GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO 

Common Sense Education takes a whole-community approach to digital citizenship by providing parent resources to help you support your kid’s learning. As we engage in these lessons in class, we would like to share the valuable information also available to parents. You can visit the Common Sense website at www.commonsensemedia.org for more parent resources. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Raising and educating young people in today’s 24/7 digital media environment is one of the most exciting and overwhelming challenges that parents and schools face today. Working together with Common Sense Education, we can raise a generation of kids who become smart, responsible, and respectful digital citizens.

Here are some direct links to useful parent resources:

• Movie reviews - Check suitability of a movie for your family: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews

• Parent Guides according to child's age:

2-4: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/preschoolers

5-7: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/little-kids

8-9: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/big-kids

10-12: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/tweens

• Parent Guides on Youtube and Fortnite:

Youtube: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/parents-ultimate-guide-to-youtube

Fortnite: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/parents-ultimate-guide-to-fortnite

Reports and Parent Consultations

The Term 1 reports for Y1 and Y2 are now ready to view on Moodle. The parent consultations to discuss the children’s progress will be taking place in weeks two and three next term- Tuesday 14th and Tuesday 21st January. Your classroom teachers will contact you regarding appointment times.

Upcoming events 

• Parent Consultations - Tuesday 14th and Tuesday 21st January

• INSET Day (School Closed) - Monday 27th January

• Last day of the half term - Friday 7th February

• First day of the 2nd half of Term 2 - Monday 17th February