How Natterhub Can Help Get Your School RSE-Ready
As if the challenge of setting up a remote learning model for pupils wasn’t difficult enough, there’s another hurdle facing teachers this year: the new compulsory Relationships and Health Education curriculum. It came into effect last September, but primary schools have until the summer term of 2021 to implement the curriculum and start to teach it.
But don’t worry, because Natterhub is here to help get you on the right track.
What does the new curriculum require, and how can Natterhub help?
Natterhub is an experiential learning platform, designed to help pupils learn by doing. The platform is designed to look and function like a real social network, while our interactive lessons draw on stories and experiences that primary pupils will already be familiar with. This way, the key skills taught in the lessons are reinforced as children explore and use Natterhub on their own.
The government requirements for Relationships Education in primary schools are split into five broad categories. We’ve listed them below with expectations laid out in the government guidelines (which you can read in full here), as well as information on how Natterhub’s lessons reinforce each one.
1. Families and people who care for me
- Respecting differences
Natterhub teaches pupils to not just respect our differences, but celebrate them! Our lessons help them to appreciate the things that make us unique. Pupils can post videos and images to share their interests, and our avatar builder and special frames for posts provide endless ways to express their personality. - Recognising when you feel unhappy or unsafe
Bodily autonomy is an important part of healthy relationships, and we instil in children that it’s OK to say ‘no’. As early as Key Stage 1 Natterhub helps give pupils an awareness of their own emotions and teaches them to recognise the ‘funny feeling’ when something feels wrong, in order to give them the tools to seek help. - How to seek help or advice from others if needed
We want all children to be able to turn to a ‘trusted adult’ - whether a parent, grandparent, guardian or teacher. Natterhub teaches pupils to recognise what makes a trusted adult, and how to talk to that person if they have a problem.
2. Caring friendships
- Mutual respect, kindness and generosity
One of Natterhub’s key objectives is to raise the profile of online kindness, by reinforcing that empathy is essential to good online behaviour. - Being positive and welcoming towards others
Natterhub’s lessons remind pupils that every avatar has a real person behind it, and teachers can reinforce empathy in lessons by highlighting exemplary behaviour from students and rewarding it with badge power (more on that below). - Working through the ups and downs of relationships
Relationships can be tricky things for young children to navigate; especially in an online setting. Our lessons teach children to consider and recognise the feelings of others, and suggest simple solutions to help them feel better.
3. Respectful relationships
- Courtesy and manners
Every person who uses the internet leaves a digital footprint, and their actions can affect their online reputation. Natterhub lessons teach pupils to always think before they post, and to treat others online as they would want to be treated - just like in real life. - Different types of bullying and their impacts
Bullying can take many different forms online, and not all of them are easy to spot. By teaching pupils what to look for, we can encourage them to recognise and combat cyberbullying when they encounter it online. - Giving and seeking permission in our relationships
The internet is a tool for sharing information, but it’s important to recognise where that information comes from. Natterhub teaches pupils to take ownership of the things they create, but also show the same respect to other people online before sharing their hard work.
4. Online relationships
- Sometimes people behave differently online
Avatars can be a way to express ourselves, but they can also be a mask to hide behind. Natterhub lessons teach pupils to be careful when they interact with someone they don’t know in real life, and explore the things that motivate online behaviour. - Recognising and reporting harmful content
Once a child recognises that something online makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe, it’s important that they have a plan of action. Natterhub teaches pupils to use the tools provided by the websites they visit to report inappropriate content, as well as telling a trusted adult. - Critically thinking about information online
Critical thinking is a crucial part of digital literacy and digital citizenship, and Natterhub provides pupils with opportunities to engage these skills in a safe environment. ‘Fake news’ quizzes help pupils to consider the ways in which information they read online might be false, as well as the different motivations that someone might have for misrepresenting (or ignoring) the truth.
- Understanding how information and data are shared
The internet is a tool with a plethora of uses, from search engines to online shops. Natterhub explores these different uses and encourages pupils to think about how they rely on users giving out information.
5. Being safe
- Setting appropriate boundaries
Screens are a regular part of our daily lives, and the way we use them can affect our physical and mental health. Pupils are given an understanding of how their devices affect their bodies (for instance, the way that blue light can affect sleeping patterns), and taught to balance their screen time with other interests. - The difference between public and private information
Because children spend so much of their time online, they can be tempted to ‘overshare. Natterhub teaches pupils what information they should keep to themselves, as well as highlighting the importance of strong passwords and other measures designed to protect their private information. - Responding to strangers
The internet can be a brilliant place to meet new people and make new friends, but there are risks that children don’t always understand. With Natterhub, pupils can recognise the difference between online and offline relationships and learn easy rules to follow in order to stay safe.
A comprehensive curriculum
Natterhub’s lessons are designed around five key ideas of digital life: intelligence, independence, literacy, resilience and awareness. We explained all of these in more detail in this blog post. All our lessons are not just mapped to the RSE targets but also aligned to the UKCIS ‘Education for a Connected World’ framework, a highly recommended guide for schools.
We’ve split our lessons into eight different strands, each with its own Badge of Honour and learning objectives designed to meet the requirements of the new curriculum:
- Question It
Natterhub helps children think critically about the information they find. - Secure It
Natterhub teaches pupils to protect themselves while online. - Feel it
Children who use Natterhub learn to create meaningful online relationships based on mutual respect. - Think It
Natterhub helps children to self-regulate their behaviour and know what is and isn’t appropriate online. - Learn It
Natterhub teaches children to reflect on the ways that they share, create and consume online. - Balance It
Natterhub stresses the importance of using screens actively rather than passively, and taking regular breaks. - Mind It
Teaching children about the permanence of online posts will allow them to be more conscientious. - Chat It
Natterhub encourages students to be mindful of how they use the internet, as well as problems that can arise.
Just click, and teach
Each of Natterhub’s lessons comes with a comprehensive lesson plan, as well as supplementary materials that are ready for you to download, so you can be sure you have everything you need in one place.
Threading RSE through the curriculum
Natterhub isn’t just about online safety; we also have a huge range of activities that you can post to your news feed, covering every subject in the curriculum. You could get your pupils to song lyrics for music, or test their multiplication skills for maths - all within the platform. This way, you can keep reinforcing the key ideas of the RSE curriculum in all sorts of contexts.
For more information on how our lessons are aligned to the most important government documents and curriculum guidelines, take a look at our alignment document.
About Natterhub
Natterhub is an educational social media platform created to prepare primary school children to thrive online.
Our interactive lessons give children all the skills that they need to stay safe in a digital landscape, and our Badges of Honour help teachers to keep track of their progress.
With a cleverly designed interface that looks and feels like social media, children learn in an environment that feels like the real deal whilst teachers can make use of the extensive Natterhub content library to keep pupils engaged and inspired.
Natterhub is powered by TwinklHive, and is used in over 40 countries around the world. Twinkl, a global educational publishing house, offers primary and secondary resources to 8.5 million members, across 197 countries.
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