Blog – Latest stories tagged 'tootoot'

Internet Matters in partnership with tootoot, and supported by the Department for Education, are inviting schools to take part in a pilot online service to report bullying and cyberbullying concerns.

The programme which sits alongside 9 other innovative schemes to tackle bullying, backed with £4.4million of government investment, will enable 120,000 students across 300 schools to report incidents such as bullying, cyber bullying, or homophobic, transphobic and biphobic abuse.

Online reporting platform
At the core of the programme will be the award-winning online reporting platform which gives students and parents an easy and simple way to report all issues relating to bullying and cyberbullying.

To help pupils, parents and staff address the issues raised, the reporting platform will be supplemented by resource hubs dedicated to staff, pupils and parents, and will help schools address the issues or concerns that may be raised through the reporting platform.
Our aim is to create a one- stop shop for bullying support for school staff, pupils and parent.

Reporting platform with resources for students

Resource hub and reporting platform for parents

Safeguarding platform and resource hub for staff

Internet Matters and tootoot are inviting schools and Academies, both directly and via their Local authorities and Multi Academy Trusts, to register to join the 12-month programme, funded by the Department for Education.

We are holiding 6 regional workshops around the country across the next 12 months. We have already had our first one and our next one is in The North West.

The next workshop which is in the North West is the 27th March 2017, Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub (Jubilee Way, Orford, Warrington, WA2 8HE).

There are limited school places available on a first come first serve basis.

To register your school to take part please click the link makeanoisewarrington.eventbrite.co.uk

Or if you would live to register your school for future workshops then please register here www.makeanoise.info

For more info on this initiative visit: www.makeanoise.info or email: info@tootoot.co.uk

The first Pupil Voice Week runs from 26th – 30th September 2016

Following the success of tootoot's first year they are launching the first Pupil Voice Week with the theme ‘It's Good to Talk!'.

The week aims to highlight the importance of talking about bullying and providing all pupils with a safe and accessible way to report their concerns.

Pupil Voice Week calls upon pupils, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, councils, companies and policy makers, to join together and explore ways that we can empower pupils, giving them the knowledge and tools they need to feel confident to talk about their concerns.

The week will be celebrated nationally, and internationally, with hundreds of schools getting involved and letting their pupils know it's good to talk.

To support Pupil Voice Week we have developed a range of resources that your organisation can use to promote the week. This includes a range of posters, social media resources, as well as activities and lesson plans. These are available at pupilvoiceweek.co.uk.

For more information you can also follow @tootootofficial on Twitter and Instagram, or search tootoot on Facebook.

Pupil Voice Week partners include; Ditch the Label, Internet Matters, Commando Joes, eCadets, and the Anti-Bullying Alliance

Recording incidents of extremism and radicalisation

The counter-terrorism and security bill was granted royal assent on 21 February 2015, which places a statutory duty on named organisations, including schools, to have due regard towards the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism.

Ofsted inspects how schools carry out safeguarding and other duties, including the effectiveness of these arrangements to ensure all pupils are safe. This includes the approach in keeping pupils safe from the dangers of radicalisation and extremism, including what is done when suspected pupils are vulnerable.

The most important part of this security bill is ‘keeping pupils safe from the danger of radicalisation and extremism.’

With such a recent surge of activity and emphasis for schools to adopt and embed a prevent strategy within a very short space of time, senior leadership are struggling to educate themselves – let alone their staff and pupils. Educating staff and pupils is extremely important and as best practise prevails, educating through a whole school approach and zero tolerance policy is helping schools to raise awareness and identify incidents of extremism and radicalisation at it’s early stages.

But whilst waiting for education to filter through to schools and training to be delivered to schools on an ever changing and adapting problem, what can be done to strengthen the prevent strategy in a school.

Report and Record.

Providing pupils with a voice and a safe and secure way to report worries or concern’s directly to a school is the most important short-term measure that should be taken within a school. If not a face-to-face reporting route, a technological solution in which students can speak up, is vital in flushing out and raising awareness of incidents as and when they occur. Although students may not understand what extremism or radicalisation truly is, they certainly are at the forefront of these incidents whether they know it or not. By encouraging students to speak about what they see and hear in the community and at school, this may lead to a disclosure, which not only raises awareness but also can save lives.

Having a system in place in which teaching staff and non-teaching staff are able to report and record incidents, as and when they happen, is vital to ensure that any face-to-face disclosures from students can then be evidenced and monitored. Something as simple as a student sharing a personal video or talking about extremist activity in a class, if picked up and recorded by a member of staff, major incidents can be prevented from escalating immediately. Having a reporting system in place also ensures that you are meeting the requirements of Ofsted as part of the prevent agenda.

Sharing best practise within schools and amongst other schools within the community is key in the fight against extremism and radicalisation. Best practise currently being used in over 500 schools across the UK provide pupils with a technological reporting and evidencing platform and app, is through the introduction of tootoot.

www.tootoot.co.uk is a free resource and is the first safeguarding platform that provides your pupils with a safe voice to report incidents and worries directly to your school. Tootoot also allows your staff to record incidents off extremism, radicalisation and many other safeguarding incidents whilst providing SLT with a live dashboard of reports and disclosures as evidence for Ofsted.

To date over 98,000 pupils are protected by tootoot in schools across the UK. Find out more