Next week, year 3 classes will log into their BCE student accounts to set a private password, in readiness for 1 to 1 iPads next year. Here's what parents will need to know:
How can parents help?
Your child will need a password that is private, secure and that fulfils the minimum security requirements of Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) systems. Over the next week, please discuss this with your child and help them to choose a password that they will easily recall and which has the following:
We suggest children choose a key word that is familiar to them, such as a pet's name or favourite musician, sporting team, colour or vegetable (favourite vegetable?? Ha ha!). Many letters can be replaced with numbers as you might see on car registration plates, or even other characters such as @ or !. Try not to make the password overly long as this increases the time taken and the chances of inadvertent errors when typing it.
Once you have worked out a password with your child, you can record it in a 'secret' place for them to bring to school, or send it in a note to your child's teacher. Many children may be able to memorise their chosen password sufficiently well to bring it to school 'in their heads'. They will need it ready for sessions in class on Monday or Wednesday next week.
It will be helpful to keep the password recorded somewhere safe at home so they child can commit it to memory. Practise typing it on a keyboard (even a printed paper copy of a keyboard!) so they can quickly and easily learn the location of the letters and type it quickly on their own.
Keeping passwords safe and secure...
At school we will stress the importance of keeping this password secure and private. Children must share their password with only their parents, no one else. This means not sharing it with siblings or friends - even BFFs! We will explain that a real friend would never ask anyone to share a password. Please reinforce this message at home.
How will students use their BCE accounts?
Next year and beyond, email will be a primary source of digital communication with teachers. The BCE student accounts will also be used to access Google Drive which is our primary Cloud storage facility in our 1 to 1 classrooms and other services such as LIFE (BCE's learning management system), Google Maps and Showbie (our primary service for digital submission, feedback and assessment of student work).
This year in Year 3, students are not required to use their BCE accounts at all. In fact, we ask that parents do not encourage the use of student email accounts unless you are prepared to closely monitor your child's use. No formal instruction in safe and responsible use of email will be undertaken until Year 4.
Why take this step so soon then?
Students require an Apple ID dedicated to their own use for school next year. Every Apple ID requires an email address. Parents who already use Apple's Family Sharing may wish to use the child's existing Apple ID, generated for under-age users within the Family Sharing setup. This "Family Sharing" Apple ID will use an iCloud address that ends in "@icloud.com".
The other alternative is to create a new Apple ID for your child in which case we ask that you use the child's school (BCE) email address. As the children are under 13 years of age, this Apple ID account must be owned and managed by a parent (and have a parent's birth year recorded during the application process). But they can be created in the child's name and ideally, using the child's school email address. For those parents who wish to have the Apple ID and Mail app set up as the iPads are purchased, it's not too early to send these BCE email account details home now.
So what do I do with my child's account details?
Students' BCE account details will be sent home next week. Please keep these details in a safe and secure place at home. You may wish to record your child's BCE username and email address digitally, say in a contacts list. It's not recommended to record their password in the same place as their username, or alongside any personal identification.
If you are setting up an Apple ID you will need to access your child's email via their Student Dashboard. There is always a direct link to the Student Dashboard on this blog, towards the top of the right hand pane. You might like to bookmark this site on a home computer so you can continue to monitor your child's use of email throughout their years in a 1 to 1 iPad classroom.
Once logged into the Student Dashboard, look for the Outlook link which will take you to your child's email inbox.
How can parents help?
Your child will need a password that is private, secure and that fulfils the minimum security requirements of Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) systems. Over the next week, please discuss this with your child and help them to choose a password that they will easily recall and which has the following:
- at least 7 characters
- at least one numeric character
- at least one capital letter
We suggest children choose a key word that is familiar to them, such as a pet's name or favourite musician, sporting team, colour or vegetable (favourite vegetable?? Ha ha!). Many letters can be replaced with numbers as you might see on car registration plates, or even other characters such as @ or !. Try not to make the password overly long as this increases the time taken and the chances of inadvertent errors when typing it.
Once you have worked out a password with your child, you can record it in a 'secret' place for them to bring to school, or send it in a note to your child's teacher. Many children may be able to memorise their chosen password sufficiently well to bring it to school 'in their heads'. They will need it ready for sessions in class on Monday or Wednesday next week.
It will be helpful to keep the password recorded somewhere safe at home so they child can commit it to memory. Practise typing it on a keyboard (even a printed paper copy of a keyboard!) so they can quickly and easily learn the location of the letters and type it quickly on their own.
Keeping passwords safe and secure...
At school we will stress the importance of keeping this password secure and private. Children must share their password with only their parents, no one else. This means not sharing it with siblings or friends - even BFFs! We will explain that a real friend would never ask anyone to share a password. Please reinforce this message at home.
How will students use their BCE accounts?
Next year and beyond, email will be a primary source of digital communication with teachers. The BCE student accounts will also be used to access Google Drive which is our primary Cloud storage facility in our 1 to 1 classrooms and other services such as LIFE (BCE's learning management system), Google Maps and Showbie (our primary service for digital submission, feedback and assessment of student work).
This year in Year 3, students are not required to use their BCE accounts at all. In fact, we ask that parents do not encourage the use of student email accounts unless you are prepared to closely monitor your child's use. No formal instruction in safe and responsible use of email will be undertaken until Year 4.
Why take this step so soon then?
Students require an Apple ID dedicated to their own use for school next year. Every Apple ID requires an email address. Parents who already use Apple's Family Sharing may wish to use the child's existing Apple ID, generated for under-age users within the Family Sharing setup. This "Family Sharing" Apple ID will use an iCloud address that ends in "@icloud.com".
The other alternative is to create a new Apple ID for your child in which case we ask that you use the child's school (BCE) email address. As the children are under 13 years of age, this Apple ID account must be owned and managed by a parent (and have a parent's birth year recorded during the application process). But they can be created in the child's name and ideally, using the child's school email address. For those parents who wish to have the Apple ID and Mail app set up as the iPads are purchased, it's not too early to send these BCE email account details home now.
So what do I do with my child's account details?
Students' BCE account details will be sent home next week. Please keep these details in a safe and secure place at home. You may wish to record your child's BCE username and email address digitally, say in a contacts list. It's not recommended to record their password in the same place as their username, or alongside any personal identification.
If you are setting up an Apple ID you will need to access your child's email via their Student Dashboard. There is always a direct link to the Student Dashboard on this blog, towards the top of the right hand pane. You might like to bookmark this site on a home computer so you can continue to monitor your child's use of email throughout their years in a 1 to 1 iPad classroom.
Once logged into the Student Dashboard, look for the Outlook link which will take you to your child's email inbox.
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| Web Outlook |
Thank you parents, as always, for your amazing support.
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