05 | December | 2012 | Peter "Just Loves Flying"

Schools ban photos to stamp out cyber bullies via @independent_ie

December 5, 2012

Schools ban photos to stamp out cyber bullies via @independent_ie.

SCHOOLS have been told to ban all students from taking photographs of other pupils or members of staff under new guidelines to combat cyber bullying.

The radical advice from secondary school managers is the latest move in the drive to combat electronic bullying through social media websites, text and picture messaging, email, chatrooms and gaming sites.

In its advice to 400 schools sent out last week, the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) said the only exception should be when the pictures were specifically required for a school project. The damage caused by cyber-bullying, which has been linked to some recent teen suicides in Ireland, has forced schools to improve their response to the fast-growing problem.

A ban on the generally harmless activity of taking photographs in school, other than in limited circumstances, shows the extent to which the management body has to go to protect its staff and pupils in the age of social media…

The simple magic of learning to spell

December 5, 2012

The simple magic of learning to spell.

Your child has picked up a book, understood what they’ve read and now, in the third part of our literacy series, it’s time to help with spelling

Who needs spelling? Isn’t that what spell-check is for? Well despite advances in technology, there is still a need for children to learn to spell in order to write and convey their thoughts. Spelling is essential for written communication.

Many people will remember the Friday spelling test: learning lists and lists of words, only to write them down and have your classmates correct them – gold star optional.

The problem with this method is that being good at memorising lists of words is no guarantee that a child will be able to reproduce the same words at a later date. There are many reasons why children struggle with spellings…