The lists of apps required by students using iPads has been updated for 2022. Teachers have identified the apps that best fit the curriculum and best support the students in their learning. These lists can be found at this link.

I remind parents that every app in the list is required, not only the free ones, and it is best to check the lists before school starts next year and load the missing ones. If you wait until the app is needed, your child may miss out on important lessons. 

We have partnered with JB Education to provide Beaconhills families with easy access to great prices on a range of computer devices. This includes iPads, MacBooks and laptops by Lenovo and Microsoft.

Parents can login, using the school code BEACONHILLS2022, at https://www.jbeducation.com.au/byod/.

Also available are a range of insurance options and various covers and bags.

Parents are alerted by email when the purchases are ready for collection from their nominated JB HiFi store or during the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless delivery is available.

Brochure available: byod-parent-flyer

JB HiFI also provides a toolkit for BYOD available here addressing issues such as:

• choosing the right device
• how to use JB HiFi BYOD online
• delivery options
• warranty and insurance claims

Apple have decided that it can no longer continue with its annual exclusive Beaconhills Parent Night at its Fountain Gate store.

And Apple announced that it closed all its education portals from September 30, 2020, so the Apple Family Funded Program will no longer be available.

Information about ordering Apple devices – iPads and MacBooks- online can be found here.

The following webinars, scheduled for Term 4, are now open for bookings.

Simply click on the links below to register.

PARENT WEBINAR: Parenting in the Digital World (PRIMARY SCHOOL PARENTS) – October 26 and 27

PARENT WEBINAR: Parenting in the Digital World (SECONDARY SCHOOL PARENTS) – November 4 (2 sessions)

PARENT WEBINAR: Playing IT Safe – October 26

Explore how to teach young students about networked technology and the online world as an important part of understanding online safety and building digital literacy. By using the Play IT Safe resource you can use play-driven experiences to help children learn about topics and practices like passwords, consent and help-seeking. The activities can be a guide for planning and teaching digital literacy and skills to Foundation to Grade 2 students.

This year, the annual National eSmart Week is from Monday September 6 until Sunday September 12. This year we’re celebrating ‘Responsible Action’. By taking responsible action, we can demonstrate how we all keep kids safe online and offline.

By design, RUOK Day occurs in this week as well, on Thursday September 9.

Regardless of lockdown or not, Beaconhills College intends to use this week to run some age-appropriate activities for students of all sections.

Parents can also participate by accessing the articles, videos or podcasts found at this page: https://www.esmart.org.au/esmart-schools/resources/#forparents.

Parents are reminded that there are more resources in the College BeLearning Lounge web site under the Online Safety and Digital Citizenship page. Here you will find links to the eSafety Commissioner, Bully Stoppers, Common Sense Media to name just a few, as well as tips, resources and useful information.

Register for the free webinar, eSafety’s guide to parental controls, for parents and carers from the eSafety Commissioner.

The webinar will look at how parents and carers can set up devices and apps to help kids and young people stay safe online.

It will cover:

• the benefits and limitations of parental controls
• how to set up iOS and Android devices for safety
• how to set up popular games and apps like YouTube and Roblox for safety
• using family tech agreements and other parenting strategies to manage online risks
• how eSafety can help when things go wrong.

This webinar will include practical tips, demonstrations and advice.

To register, visit: esafety.gov.au/parents.

I have written previously about social media usage amongst Middle School students. If you read only newspaper headlines, one could be forgiven for thinking that social media is only ever used for bullying or inappropriate images; of course this is far from the truth. Every day there would be many thousands of social media interactions between our students that are benign or actually positive and affirming. Despite this, there is no denying, that they also can be used as a tool for a wide range of anti-social behaviours.

One of the more recent additions to the plethora of apps available is YOLO, which is an anonymous messaging add-on to Snapchat. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to work out how a service such as this can be used harmfully. It is worth noting that this app, along with virtually all social media apps has minimum age recommendation of 13+. Below, I have provided a link to some information about YOLO from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, which may be helpful for parents. I have also included a link to Apple support, which provides advice to parents about how to use parental controls on your daughter’s/son’s device.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide/yolo

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201304

Dr Robert Jacob

Head of Middle School

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are warning parents not to post photos of their children on their first day of school without locking down their privacy settings.

Images with children in school uniform, their name or indicators of their location in the background can be used by offenders to build a profile and groom parents and children.

“The first day of school is one of those milestones for parents. Children in their uniform on their first day of school are treasured photos in many family albums,” Command Sirec said.

“There’s no reason why parents and carers cannot continue to take those wonderful happy snaps and post them online. However, we are urging parents and carers who are sharing those images to make sure they’re using secure privacy settings and only sharing images with people they know and trust.”

Photos posted online of their child’s first day at school can reveal a lot of personal information and travel more widely than intended.

Read the full article.