Hartismere School

Dear parents and carers

I am writing to ask for your support regarding social media use amongst some of our Year 7 students.

We have recently become aware of a large group chat involving Year 7 students, in which some of the content being shared has been unkind, inappropriate and, in some cases, has caused considerable upset. Although the group uses the Hartismere name, it has been created and is managed by students and is not affiliated with, monitored by or run by the school.

These conversations are taking place outside of school and on personal devices, so they are not something that school staff can reasonably monitor. While we will, of course, respond where there is a genuine safeguarding concern or a significant impact within school, we need your help to ensure appropriate boundaries and supervision are in place at home.

It is also worth remembering that many social media platforms have minimum age requirements. Snapchat, for example, requires users to be at least 13, meaning that most Year 7 students do not yet meet the minimum age requirement.

We would therefore ask you to check which apps and group chats your child is using and, if you choose to allow access to these platforms, to monitor their use and the content being shared.

We will continue to reinforce our expectations around kindness, respect and responsible behaviour in school and greatly appreciate your support in reinforcing these same expectations online.

Thank you for your support.

Kind regards

Mrs D Buttle

Assistant Headteacher i/c KS3