On Wednesday 6^th of March the ICT Cadets did an assembly to the whole school about how to be safe whilst gaming. We all felt nervous – well I did!

We told the children about the PEGI ratings for how old you should be to play certain games. We asked everyone to set their privacy settings to private or friends so other people can’t join in their game. We also asked everyone to not give any personal information away like name, address, email, phone numbers, school etc. Lots of children told us the different kind of games they played. It was exciting speaking at the front and lots of children got involved with our questions.

On Wednesday the 6^th of March, the ICT Cadets held an assembly about safe gaming. We stood at the front of the hall and talked about how we can stay safe whilst playing games online. It was great – I felt a little nervous because I have never held an assembly before.

We told them which games are suitable for their age and about what to do if someone you don’t know sends you a message or a friend request. We also talked about privacy and how to change your settings to friends only because if your settings are on public, people you don’t know can join your game. Finally, we told children to never give away personal information such as account details, address and your second name.

Throughout the week before half term, we were treated to an extravaganza of talent as a total of seventy children from across school took part in the semi-finals of the G-Factor.

Each class voted for the acts they wanted to represent them in the finals. We are now looking forward a fantastic event with a great range of entertainment, including singing, dancing, comedy, magic, gymnastics, piano playing, a puppet show and even story-telling! The grand final will be held on the evening of Wednesday 3^rd April. Watch this space!

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Inspired by the Golden Eagles’ and Snowy Owls’ decision to hold a talent show in order to raise money for the Jessops Wing of Sheffield Teaching Hospital, some talented members of our school community have been creating octopuses and fabric hearts for premature babies. The octopuses have been found to comfort the babies and reduce the risk of them pulling at any medical equipment they may need. The carefully made octopus’s tentacles are created to feel like a mother’s umbilical cord – when they are asleep, the premature babies will hold tightly onto the tentacles. ‘Bonding hearts’ hold the scent of mums, dads and babies to help the babies get to know their parents’ scent.

Over the next week, we will be holding the semi-finals for the ‘G-Factor’, our end of term Talent Show. Approximately seventy children across school will be taking part. Good luck everyone!

We wanted to say final thank you to those of you who supported and visited our escape room.

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Here are a few photos to show you what the children were up to whilst you were working hard in the room:

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We were particularly delighted to welcome the team from Escape Sheffield. As expected, they made it out in an impressively fast time. The children really appreciated their fantastic feedback on our puzzles and room design.

With a finishing time of just over 42 minutes, the team at the top of our leader board were the Super Six. Their team work was amazing and they were a joy to watch. Well done!

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A huge well done to all the brave guests who tried out our Baudelaire Burn Down Escape Room. We think you will agree that it was a tough challenge; the children were very impressed with your problem solving skills, though several said that the thing they enjoyed most about being Games Master was watching you struggle! Thank you so much for the incredibly positive comments on our feedback forms. We will share some of these with you soon.

Here are the first few photos – more to come …

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With just ten seconds to spare, our brave test group, The Greenlands Gladiators, made it out of the Baudelaire Burn Down escape room.

Not only were they the first to try out our room, they also had to do it whilst being watched on camera by fifty children and several members of staff!

Their team work and problem solving skills were outstanding.

Will you beat their time?

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Be quick. Be speedy. Don’t get caught by the fire. Seven days left until the party begins.