Message from Merseyside Police

Please see below information from Merseyside Police in regards to the Live.Me app 

Also, for your information, NSPCC and O2 have teamed up to produce a guide to help parents explore and understand online life as children known it.  The guide can be accessed via www.net-aware.org.uk

Live.Me:

"Live.me is the fastest-growing social media streaming application available at the moment and has approximately 20 million users. 

It allows the user to live-stream videos of themselves and also allows users to watch other streamed videos. 

The app has limited security features and it is possible for users to potentially identify the location where a video was recorded.

It is possible for any video to be recorded and shared without the permission or knowledge of the person who made the video.

Merseyside Police would encourage parents to make sure they know what apps their child is using, how each app works and what their child is using it for. Many legitimate apps are being used by young people in a way that allows them to communicate with or be contacted by absolute strangers. This creates a significant risk to their child.

It is really important that society becomes more aware of the possible risk of exploitation on mobile apps and social media sites, and people know how to report suspicious activity to the police.

Parents, guardians, carers and teachers have a responsibility to know what the warning signs are and to look out for them to prevent a child putting themselves at risk or forming inappropriate relationships online. There is a wealth of advice available online:

http://www.listentomystory.co.uk/

https://ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

UNILEVER competition

Five of our brightest young scientists took part in a Unilever competition. The pupils had to design a soap that could be used in LED countries with limited access to water. Our pupils designed a beeswax capsule that is fully biodegradable. They worked extremely hard and won the technical prize!

The pupils are :-

Sophie Bresnahan, Erin Craine, Abby Mutch, Saskia Williams and Meera Vijayakumaran

Winner of Sefton Design a Mascot Competition

Saskia Williams from Year 9 has won the 'Sefton Year of The Coast Design a Mascot' competition. Saskia's design was picked out of all the entries from schools across Sefton, making her the winning secondary school student in the whole of Sefton!

She met the mayor at Bootle town hall on Friday 24th March, and she will also have the opportunity to work with a graphic designer as her design will be used across Sefton to advertise the coastline, so please look out for it.

Sir Ian McKellen Visit

Maghull High School students and staff were thrilled to host Sir Ian McKellen on Friday 3rd March 2017. Sir Ian, widely regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation and known for his roles as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies as well as Magneto in the X-Men series, dropped in to speak about his role as an ambassador for Stonewall. Sir Ian, a co-founder of Stonewall - the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity formed in 1989, visits schools to help promote equality and fairness in respect of LGBT issues. The school, which has a highly proactive approach to equality issues and a very active Peer Mentor group led by young people, is part of the Stonewall Champions programme. The visit coincided with Lesbian and Gay History Month.

Sir Ian spoke to an audience of three hundred staff and students who were in absolute awe for over an hour.  He told of his personal and professional life as well as his campaigning work.  For many, it was an emotional experience.

During the talk, Sir Ian chose to reiterate the words of Gandalf from "Lord of the Rings" - one of his most notable film roles. He urged that students work hard in school and study for exams, otherwise "You shall not pass!".  Sir Ian ended the talk with a speech from Shakespeare and the students gave him rapturous applause.

Over lunch with the school's Peer Mentor group, which is made up of about 20 young people, Sir Ian and Rob Bullock, a Stonewall representative, urged them to stand up for their right to fair treatment for all and to challenge homophobia. 

James McQuade, Phoenix Centre Manager, thanked the people at Stonewall for facilitating such a fantastic opportunity and the day will be remembered by all who were in attendance. James is looking forward to working with the Peer Mentor group to further advocate LGBT awareness across the school and community. He was very proud of the school's young people. "Sir Ian found those he met to be warm, inquisitive, intelligent and very accepting" he said. He described Sir Ian as an enigmatic guest, very down to earth and with an exceptionally charming personality.

Merseytravel Fare Increases

Please be aware, Merseytravel have announced that from Monday, 3 April 2017, fares for all tendered bus services they operate (which includes services to Maghull High School) will increase to:

£1.90 for an adult single ticket

90p for a child single ticket

If you require any further details, or information in relation to the range of ticketing products that Merseytravel provide, they can be contact via comments@merseytravel.gov.uk.

http://www.peoplesbus.com/fares-increase/

Social Media Information

Making E Safety a Priority at Maghull High

The internet is an amazing resource which enables children and young people to connect, communicate and be creative in a number of different ways, on a range of devices. However, the internet is always changing, and being able to keep up to date with your children’s use of technology can be a challenge. You may sometimes feel that your children have better technical skills than you do, however children and young people still need advice and protection when it comes to managing their lives online.

Please find attached an E-Safety booklet that was created by the Key Stage 3 Team which details some guidelines for parents on the most popular apps that our students are using. Paper copies are also given out at parents evening. Within the booklet, we have some tips and advice on how to keep your child safe online.

Please look at our safeguarding children section under the General Tab on the Menu Bar too.

Click here to download leaflet