Today is Safer Internet Day around the WORLD! This year's theme is ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’. We discussed our favourite things to do online, what apps we use and what smart devices we use at home and in school that use the internet. Miss Kinsella shared the story Old MacDonald had a Phone. 

Old MacDonald the farmer has a smart phone, and he loves it: it helps him buy chicken feed, organise the farm and all manner of other useful things. However, when he accidentally drops it in the lake and even more accidentally orders 100 replacements instead of just one, all the farm animals end up with one.

Obsessed with their new phones, the animals stop doing all the things they’re supposed to do to ensure that the farm functions properly: the rooster doesn’t crow to get everyone up in the morning, the horse doesn’t poo so there’s no manure for the crops and the cows’ texting problem means they don’t produce any milk – never mind the fact that the chickens are too busy on WhatsApp to lay any eggs. Something must be done! Fortunately, Young MacDonald, the farmer’s son, saves the day with a sensible plan for reasonable phone usage that also gets all the farm jobs done. YOLO!

This was a great conversation starter about how we should use smart devices in our homes and particularly how long we should use them for. The children completed an activity sheet and stated a rule for phone (or devices) usage in their homes. Eg. No phones at tea time. Phones for only one hour after school. No phones close to bedtime. 

We listened to a song during snack time to embed the message of staying safe online. You can find that on the link below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kq3nvC8La0

Safer Internet Day Y1