CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) have recently released some fantastic resources for parents and carer's. The resources "Thinkuknow" is aimed at 5-7 year olds, 8-10 year olds and 11-16 year olds.

Changing the way children behave online is the key to keeping themselves safe from abuse, said Jim Gamble today, head of the CEOP Centre - the UK's national centre for protecting children.
It is the theme that dominates CEOP's role in spearheading the UK's response to European Safer Internet Day 2010 and is central to a number of initiatives being launched by the organisation today (9th February).

39,000 volunteers spread across the UK have all been trained to help deliver CEOP's advice-giving programme and will play their part in reaching children and parents in schools, workshops and clubs.

With 1 in 5 parents of 5-7 year olds highlighting concern about who their child (or children) is in contact with online (10% very concerned, 8% fairly concerned), CEOP has developed a new animated film, ‘Lee and Kim’s Adventures’, designed to introduce very young children to the concepts of personal information and trust. This resource is being delivered to schoolchildren across the UK.

David Coleman, clinical psychologist, broadcaster and author, was given early access to the new CEOP resources while it was being developed:

The 'Lee and Kim’ film introduces young children to a number of important concepts which will enable them to explore online environments safely. Understanding what constitutes 'private' information - and recognising that people can pretend to be different online - is critical to developing safe behaviour online, which greatly reduces their vulnerability to abuse. I am certain that children will identify with the Lee and Kim characters as they and their superhero tackle these issues in an engaging and age-appropriate way."

The new, customised ‘Click CEOP’ browser developed by Microsoft on Internet Explorer 8, provides users with the opportunity to customise their browser so that they can get direct access to CEOP's advice pages.  There they will see all issues covered from cyberbullying and viruses through to sexual abuse and inappropriate content - advice that is kept contemporary by signposting to and input from organisations such as Childline, the Internet Watch Foundation, Get Safe Online and Beatbullying as well as being updated by the trends, themes and patterns that CEOP's own teams see every day through the thousands of reports it receives.

The portal - www.clickceop.net - is also where users will land if they follow the advice of a DCSF campaign being launched today that encourages internet users to ‘click clever, click safe’.  CEOP is a member of the UK's Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) who are supporting the campaign.

Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre and lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on protecting children on the internet, said:

Each month we see an average of 500 reports into CEOP, of which – on average - four a day indicate that a child may be at immediate risk.  That is the harsh reality of child protection.  But so often we leave our young people vulnerable because we fear the technology.  That is like saying we can’t teach children how to be safe when crossing the road because we don’t understand how a car engine works or the risk if that car is driven in a dangerous way.

“This is about behaviour, not technology.  But it is also about delivering contemporary, dynamic advice that is sympathetic to the needs of the children and young people we reach and helps the parent or carer to play their role in a way that is positive, supportive and understanding. CEOP’s materials do that.  We have updated them to cover new issues such as ‘sexting’ and new forms of bullying and we have listened to teachers to deliver new cartoons for very young children.

" We welcome the approach from Microsoft who are giving parents and children the opportunity to customise their browser to access safety advice in a quick simple way. We applaud Microsoft, O2 and Visa Europe for their critical contribution of online safety training in schools under the Protect programme.”

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Dear Parents & Carers,

Voting on the new 2009/2010 committee went ahead at the recent PTFA Annual General Meeting and I am pleased to tell you that after a re-shuffle, the new committee is as follows.  Jon has stepped down as Chairperson as the Gunne family has a busy 12 months ahead -   Many thanks to Jon for doing such a great job over the last year!

Chairperson – Karol Pawsey        Treasurer – Emma Barrett
Vice-Chairperson – Russell English    Secretary – Katherine Porteous

There was a very disappointing attendance at the AGM and in the case that anyone wishes to object to these appointments please do so in writing via the school within 7 days of this notice.  Other matters including the appointment of class representatives, the 12 month financial report, previous AGM minutes, were all discussed and approved – copies of the minutes from the meeting are available to any one who is interested on request.  A normal PTFA meeting was also held immediately after the AGM which focused mainly on plans and arrangements for the Christmas Fair coming up on December 11th and other future plans. Copies of the minutes from this meeting are also available on request.  The next PTFA meeting will be the week commencing January 11th 2010.

Christmas Fair – Friday 11th December 3.15-5.30pm
Plans are well under way for a really super event again this year – Father Christmas already has it marked in his diary!  Thank you to the many parents and carers who have returned their slips volunteering help and donations – keep them coming, the more the merrier!  Please do also remember than in exchange for donating a prize for the tombola stall, the day of the fair has been declared a ‘festive fancy dress’ day by the school! There are prizes for the two best outfits! Also, the children will shortly be bringing home a poster advertising the fair which we would love them to colour in for you to display in your car or house window!

Christmas Grand Draw
Raffle tickets for the annual Christmas Draw will be sent out via the children this week, the idea is for each family to receive one set of booklets which they sell to their family, friends and neighbours and then return the ticket stubs along with the money to the school office as soon as possible.  The top cash prize is £100 so good luck – remember you have to be in it to win it!!!  The draw will be made towards the end of the fair, all proceeds from the Draw and the Fair go to PTFA funded projects for the school.  

2010 – Future Plans
We have lots of ideas for events and activities next year that are both fun and fund raising.  However, as a PTFA we face a real challenge in terms of encouraging more people in the school’s parent/carer community to offer their time, energy and support.  Communication is a big issue, it seems that in many cases our notices do not reach home on time or at all.  To address this we have set up a fantastic PTFA designated website which offers a great online forum for contributing ideas and suggestions - we would urge all those online to visit www.dealparochial-ptfa.co.uk and sign up for the newsletter.  This means that in the future you will automatically receive notices by email and have access to information at your own convenience.  If it is difficult for you to come to PTFA meetings, you can still contribute via the website.  Paper notices will still be sent to parents who prefer it & posters displayed around the school but email is more efficient and certainly more environmentally friendly!

The PTFA and committee hope you have a really great time at the Christmas Fair and join me is wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Healthy and Happy New Year!

Karol Pawsey, Chairperson PTFA