Happy Friday!

This week in school children have enjoyed trying out our latest sport equipment, Pickleball! Ask them if they have been one of the groups to try it out (probably our older children) and ask them how good the staff were too.

We had assemblies on diversity. Children learnt about the different words for ‘hello’ across the world, and a ‘diversity walk’ helped us learn how different individuals in our school community are!

Staff did some learning this week too about ‘understanding how playfulness helps us join the dots’. There was a lot to listen to, interspersed with some playful activities. It might be something we consider offering to parents at some point- do let me know if you might be interested.

Maths at DHS:

This week we are highlighting Mathematics as part of our curriculum overview.

The Maths curriculum at Dawn House School engages pupils in active learning that links maths to real-life situations, helping them understand how mathematics is used in the world around them. Our curriculum develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding through opportunities to explore, investigate and apply mathematical concepts, building skills that become increasingly sophisticated over time.

We promote a positive and confident approach to maths, supporting pupils to communicate their thinking clearly and develop problem-solving skills at a pace and depth suited to individual learning styles. From Lower School through to Sixth Form, pupils build their understanding of number, shape, measure and data through practical, meaningful activities that support independence and everyday life skills.

Maths at Dawn House School aims to enable pupils to reach their full potential and make a positive contribution, equipping them with the skills needed for further education, employment and life beyond school. We also have currently have a number of students working towards their GCSE in this subject.

Do ask your children what they are currently learning in Maths, as topics change regularly throughout the year.

Online Safety- Question of the Week

A child tells you they love playing Roblox, and their parent’s only advice is “just be sensible.” What might we want to explore further?

Answer:

Roblox is used by children from a very young age, with many starting in primary school and a particularly large number of players aged around 8 – 12. There is no fixed minimum age to play, and children often share games and social spaces with much older users. This mix of ages, combined with user-generated content and social features such as chat and voice chat, means children’s experiences can vary widely. As a result, generic advice like “just be sensible” gives us very little insight into what a child is actually seeing, doing, or who they are interacting with.

Helpful lines of curiosity include:

• What games are they accessing, and are they age-appropriate?
• Is chat enabled, and who can message them?
• Have they come across anything violent, hateful or worrying?
• Are they using private servers or public spaces?
• Are parental controls or age settings in place and actively used?
• Does the parent feel confident managing the platform?

Disclosures of concerning content on Roblox should be treated as safeguarding issues, not just IT problems, and may relate to online safety, digital resilience or Prevent duties. The goal is curiosity, not panic. We want to help children talk openly about what they encounter and support parents to move beyond “just be sensible”.

What helps most in practice includes:

• Regular, interested conversations about what children enjoy playing, who they play with, and what they notice online
• Adults showing curiosity, including watching or playing alongside children, so games are not treated as a secret or separate world
• A clear understanding of personal information, including why chats should stay about the game and when to tell an adult
• Agreed rules around spending, with children knowing when real money is involved and when permission is needed
• Reassurance that worries should be shared, including exposure to upsetting content, mean behaviour or hate-based language
• Confidence using block and report tools, so concerns can be addressed calmly and practically
• Active use of safety settings, including age-appropriate controls, chat restrictions and parent account oversight

More information can be found here: https://corp.roblox.com/safety-by-age

Another point here about online safety- while many of our children use the WhatsApp chat function successfully (I recently heard about a lovely conversation between two boys talking about a trip to Skegness, when it was wet and cold and one had travelled there in shorts, so was very cold!) we do also have some children who set up group chats and where conversations go a little wrong when they are out of school. I’m sure, as adults, we all appreciated a little space from our friends when we were at home and especially given that some of our children find friendships and communication tricky at the best of times, I ask that you please keep an eye on conversations happening at home. If there are issues, we will be asking you in to school to help resolve them together, as this is not necessarily a school responsibility.

Date for the diary:

Ski trip- 24-31st January

Bags2School – collection on Thurs 26 February

Thanks for reading, have a good weekend,

Jenny

If your child leaves home in the morning a little unsettled and you want to quickly tell us, so we know to expect a tricky start to the day, a quick email (that we can follow up later) to the tutor and/or core team with ‘Handle with Care’ in the email title will ensure that we are aware.