Houseparty is a live streaming app described as a face-to-face social network where people ‘drop in’ on each other to video chat, leave messages and hang out in groups. The app is available for iOS, Android, macOS and Google Chrome and has tens of millions of users worldwide. It’s important to note that children under the age of 13 must have a parent’s permission to access the services, however, no proof of age is required to create an account.

What parents need to know about Houseparty: ( link + extract of information below)

Houseparty

Top Tips for Parents

TURN ON PRIVATE MODE

One additional tip is to use the app settings to turn on
‘Private Mode’ which automatically locks the room,
instead of doing it manually. Parents with questions can
always email us at hello@houseparty.com

SAFER CONVERSATIONS
With live streaming being such a popular feature on
apps, it is important that you are aware of the dangers
associated with it in order to protect your child
effectively. Have regular and honest conversations with
your child about what apps they are using and how they
are using them. It may be a good idea to have your child
show you how they use Houseparty and how to navigate
through the platform so you are aware of how it works.

CHECK COMMUNICATIONS

Also, it’s important to be aware of who is on their friends
list and who they are communicating with. Remind your
child to not communicate with people they do not know
and trust. If they experience something on the app that
makes them feel uncomfortable then they should tell a
trusted adult immediately. Remind your child that if
they get an invite to join a Houseparty room from
someone they don’t recognise, then they should ignore
the request.

‘LOCK’ ROOMS

In regards to communicating with users on the platform,
we advise that your child uses the ‘lock’ feature to make
their conversations private. This means that other users,
especially strangers, can’t join their conversations.

PROTECT THEIR PRIVACY

Your child may unknowingly give away personal
information during a live stream, including their
location. Talk to them about what constitutes ‘personal
information’ and make sure they do not disclose
anything to anyone during a live stream, even to their
friends. Advise them to remove any items in their live
stream (school uniform, street name, posters etc.) that
could potentially expose their location or personal
information. Check your child’s privacy settings
thoroughly. You have the option to opt out of certain uses
and disclosures of personal information, such as turning
of the app’s location sharing option.

PROTECTING YOUR CHILD’S
DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

As the videos are live, it may lead to the misconception that
whatever happens in the video will disappear once the live
stream ends. All content shared on the app can be recorded or
screenshotted and shared to a wider community. It is
important that your child knows that what they do now may
affect their future opportunities. In addition to this, the video
chats can’t be reviewed later which means unless a parent or
carer is sitting nearby during a call, they won’t know what has
been said. It’s worth bearing in mind that parents can see
when their child has last communicated with someone and for
how long for under the ‘We Time’ feature.

REPORTING AND BLOCKING

If your child faces a problem while using the app they can
report direct to the platform by shaking their phone. A
prompt will pop up allowing you to report issues
immediately by clicking on the ‘report now ’ button. They
also have the option to report and block users directly on
the user‘s profile.

BE PRESENT

A study conducted by the Internet Watch
Foundation (IWF) found that 96% of streams showed a child
on their own, often in their bedroom or bathroom. If your
child is going to conduct a live stream, ask them if you
could be present for it. This will give you a greater
understanding of what your child is doing during their live
streams and who they are streaming to.

REMOVE LINKS TO
OTHER APPS

Users can link their account to both Facebook and
Snapchat, or can simply share a link to their profile. We
advise that your remove these links and remind your child
not to publicly share access to their online profiles as
there is the potential for strangers to get hold of your
child’s information or communicate

Thank you to everyone who has supported Sports Relief today, we will let you know how much was raised once all the sponsor money is in.

Criw Cymraeg – We had a very enjoyable Welsh fortnight celebrating the culture and language of Wales. Children took part in activities including, making and tasting Welsh ffod, learning about Welsh tales and legends, creating Welsh poetry and learning about Welsh artists and famous Welsh people.

Please can all children bring in a refillable/labelled bottle of water to keep in class until further notice.

Thank you to everyone who donated clean old clothing for the Rags2Riches collection. We raised £130.40 for the school, which will be spent on Eco Friendly Resources. Diolch

Beach Litter Pick – Following on from last year’s successful Eco Club Beach Litter Pick, and as part of this year’s Spring Clean Cymru Campaign from Keep Wales Tidy , we are pleased to announce that we have been successful in winning a clean up crew from the  Co-op who will be assisting us. We are opening this year’s Beach Litter Pick up to more pupils, and consent forms will be sent home next week (for Years 2 to Years 6). Please note that this is an after school event on Monday 30th March.

What’s On Next Week?

Monday – Parent/Teacher Meetings

Monday to Wednesday – FBP- Book Fair

Tuesday – Drama

Tuesday – Parent/Teacher Meetings (Please note we have postponed Mrs Breeze’s meetings until further notice.)

Friday – Science Exhibition. Parents are invited to join us from 2.30pm until 4.00pm

Friday – Please note Mrs Breeze’s Class Assembly is postponed until further notice.

What is coming up?

Fri 27th March – Class Assembly Y3/4T at 9.00am

Mon 30th March – Eco Club – Beach Clean 3.00pm to 4.30pm

Thursday 2nd April – Easter Bonnet Parade – Children in Foundation Phase  (Nursery to Year 2) are invited to make an Easter Bonnet, or Spring Themed Hat. Parents are invited to stay and watch the parade at the start of the school day. Children in KS2 are invited to decorate a hard boiled egg.

Friday 3rd April – LFPR – Reception and Morning Nursery – Class Assembly.

Monday 6th to Fri 17th April – Easter Holidays

Monday 20th to Friday 24th April – Y5/6 Residential

Inset Day 5 – Monday 1st June

Inset Day 6 – Monday 20th July

Attendance – Llongyfarchiadau to Y1/2H with 94.8% and to Y3/4J with 99% attendance this week.

What’s On Next Week?

Monday – Eco Club – please can all Eco Club & KS2 Eco Council Members attend as we have arranged a Sea Grass Workshop  until 4.15pm

Tuesday – Drama Club

Wednesday – Cross Country & Netball

Friday – Rags to Riches Collection – Please can we have any bags of clean second hand clothes in by the end of the school day on Thursday.

Friday – Sports Relief – All children are invited to dress up to represent a sport, or as their favourite sports person and bring in £1.00 for Sports Relief. We will also be holding various sponsored  activities, with half the proceeds going towards a defibrillator for our school, and the other half going towards sports relief. ( e copies are on Dojo – paper copies being sent home next week).

What’s coming up ?

Week beginning Mon 16th March – Parental consultations & FBP Book Fair

Fri 20th March – Class Assembly Y1/2B at 9.00am

Fri 20th March – Science exhibition

Fri 27th March – Class Assembly Y3/4T at 9.00am

Mon 30th March – Eco Club – Beach Clean

Inset Day 5 – Monday 1st June

Inset Day 6 – Monday 20th July

 

St David’s Day – A big diolch to the parents who came out on such a dreadful day to watch the concert this morning, we hope you enjoyed as much as we did.

What’s on next week?

Monday – Eco Club for Eco Club & Eco Council Members

Monday – Choir

Wednesday – Cross Country

Wednesday – Netball

Thursday – World Book Day – we would like to invite children to dress up as a book character and/ or bring a favourite book to school

Friday – Class Assembly – Y3/4N

What’s coming Up?

Fri 13th March – Rags 2 Riches Collection  – Collection of clean old clothing

Fri 13th March – Sports Relief

Week beginning Mon 16th March – Parental consultations

Fri 20th March – Class Assembly Y1/2B at 9.00am

Fri 20th March – Science exhibition

Fri 27th March – Class Assembly Y3/4T at 9.00am

Mon 30th March – Eco Club – Beach Clean

Inset Day 5 – Monday 1st June

Inset Day 6 – Monday 20th July

 

 

Today we said goodbye to Eirlys our long serving Lollipop Lady, who is leaving us  after 26 years, we are very sorry to see her go and wish her a long and happy retirement.

The council are looking for a replacement, please see our Dojo post for more information.

Next week we have half term, so we look forward to seeing you all on Monday 24th February.

If you are having a clear out over half term, please remember we have our termly Rags 2 Riches Appeal for old clean clothing coming up. The money raised is used to pay for eco friendly resources and activities.

Attendance – Congratulations to Y1/2B with 97.1%, and to Y4/5J with 97.4% attendance this week, llongyfarchiadau!

Attendance Prizes –  All children with 96% attendance and above are entered into a prize draw every term and have the chance to win a prize. We have distributed book tokens to this term’s winners. Congratulations and keep up the good attendance!

Applying for holidays during Term Time.In line with National, Welsh Government and Local Authority guidance we actively discourage taking holidays during term time, and would like to remind you of the link between attainment and attendance, and that there is no automatic right to withdraw your child from school during term time. Any request for authorised term time absence will be judged on merit and may not be authorised.

Please complete the Notification of Absence, and return to the school at least 10 school days before the holiday. This allows time for the School Attendance Officer and Headteacher to consider the merits of any application. Any forms submitted less than 10 school days  will  not be considered and will automatically be unauthorised.

For holidays of 10 school days or less the School Attendance Officer and Headteacher will consider the merits of the application.

For holidays of over 10 school days, or if the application will bring the pupil’s attendance below 90%, we will notify the schools Education Welfare Officer.

For holidays of over 20 school days, or if the pupil does not return on the agreed date the pupil will be taken off roll, and the parent will have to reapply. Please note we cannot guarantee that a place will be available on your return.

The Local Authority may (depending on circumstances) issue a fixed penalty notice or commence formal prosecution for failing to secure regular attendance at school.

Competition – Our annual St David’s Day competition is back! KS2 children are invited to make a poster about Wales/Welshness. Foundation Phase children are asked to let the creativity run wild and make anything that represents being Welsh e.g 3d models of dragons, castles or welsh spoons.

What’s On After Half Term?

Monday & Tuesday  – Bikeability Course for selected Y5/6 pupils

Monday – Choir

Tuesday – Drama

Wednesday – Cross Country & Netball

Thurs 27th Feb – St David’s Day Concert for School – All children asked to wear Welsh Costume, or a red T-shirt/Jumper.

Friday 28th Feb – St David’s Day Concert for Parents  – Classes taking part are Y1/2L, Y5/6D, Y4/5J, Y1/2H, LFPM (morning Nursery & Reception) & Y5/6E. All children are asked to wear Welsh Costume or a red T-Shirt/jumper.

What’s coming Up?

Thursday 5th March – World Book Day – we would like to invite children to dress up as a book character and/ or bring a favourite book to school

Fri 6th March – Class Assembly Y3/4N at 9.00am

Fri 13th March – Rags 2 Riches Collection  – Collection of clean old clothing

Fri 13th March – Sports Relief

Week beginning Mon 16th March – Parental consultations

Fri 20th March – Class Assembly Y1/2B at 9.00am

Fri 20th March – Science exhibition

Fri 27th March – Class Assembly Y3/4T at 9.00am

Inset Day 5 – Monday 1st June

Inset Day 6 – Monday 20th July