A blog is a website that can be contributed to by children, staff, parents and others. This article is meant to explain the point of blogging in school and to allay any fears you may have about safety.

What is a blog?

Blogs help to create a link between home and school. Parents and carers are able to see what goes on by looking at work and information created during the day. “Blogging” is writing that is done online. This could be their literacy work, research, or even their thoughts about school. They might ask questions or complete their homework on the blog.

You can read the blogs and leave a comment—the more comments the better as they are read by the children and motivate them to write more. We have already used the blog in Year 5 to help improve our writing. Children have posted some writing and commented on each others’ work, telling each other what they liked about it, and what could be improved.

Parents and carers, teachers and in fact anybody else, can comment. Why not tell them what you like about their work? You could ask questions or suggest ways that they might make their work better.

Blogs can be used to post links to activities and websites which relate to school. They help to get children engaged and excited about their learning, and encourage them to think about school in new and interesting ways. We hope you are as excited as we are! The best way to understand what all the fuss is about is to visit.

Is it safe?

Yes. Blogs are very safe if they are managed carefully. EVERYTHING that people write on the blog is moderated before it appears. This means that a member of staff (currently Mr Sloan) reads and checks things to decide if they are appropriate. We teach the children that they can only use their first names on the blog, and we do lots of work to ensure that they know how to use it responsibly and safely. No email addresses, phone numbers or other personal data is allowed on the blog. Photo/video of children will never be used along with names, so children cannot be identified through images. This content will only be published if explicit consent is agreed.

If people do try to write unkind, thoughtless or inappropriate things, they will not appear. It is very easy for the school to block people from using the blog using something called their I.P. address. This means that they will never be able to access the blog again. Mr Sloan has a great deal of experience at managing blogs in schools. Despite extremely heavy use in his previous school there was not one case of inappropriate use in over 3 years.

What do you think?

We would like you to be involved in this project. We are excited about how the blog might improve attainment and engage the children, and your input is crucial.

Please have a look at the blog, have a look at the parents/carer’s section (at the top of the page) and have a go at leaving a comment. It’s easy if you follow the video tutorial on the page.

More information and consent form for use of the blog at home can be downloaded here

Want to leave a comment? Watch this video:

Leaving a comment on a WordPress blog from jacksloan on Vimeo.

Children/staff – want to write a post?

Writing a post on a WordPress blog from jacksloan on Vimeo.

Children/staff – want to add a hyperlink?

Adding a link in a WordPress blog post from jacksloan on Vimeo.

Children/staff – want to embed a photograph or video?

Embedding a photograph, picture or drawing into a WordPress blog post from jacksloan on Vimeo.