Over the past decade or so, mixed reactions have been given with regards to teaching website Sparklebox, with some teachers well and truly against it, and some that offer a more positive view. For those who are unaware, the owner of Sparklebox, Daniel Kinge formerly Samuel Kinge but changed his name by deed poll is a convicted sex offender and former teacher. He was convicted for downloading images of children being abused from the internet. When the story broke out, several grids across the country blocked the website, including The South West Grid for Learning, amid reports that a blog containing such images was ongoing and some of those pictures appeared on the Sparklebox site and that there was a presence of interactive technology on Sparklebox, which, given the convictions of Mr Kinge, means that he has possible access to contact with children.
This is, of course, unacceptable and as pointed out by an e-safety official from the SWGfL, such people should not be allowed to have access to children via the internet. Mr Kinge had a ban on use of the internet overturned in on grounds of no internet would prevent him having almost any kind of job make of that what you wish.
However, he was issued with a Sexual Offenders Protection Order spanning 15 years from that point, which means he is not allowed to use any form of computer which is not monitored by the police. It has also been claimed by a spokesman from West Murcia Police that a family member had taken over Sparklebox.
Despite this, there is still debate over whether Sparklebox should be used or not. Here is where I stand. The fact that these resources are free as well means that all teachers have access to a vast array of useful resources for their classroom. Is this not a good thing? OK so the resources were made by a convicted sex offender, but bare in mind he was a teacher, so these resources was designed by a teacher, for teachers and parents.
Would I use Sparklebox? If the resources would benefit the children I teach in some way and they are free, yes I would. I mean come on, the resources are really nice, why deny yourself access to such thing, especially given that similar sites which offer great resources either incur subscription costs or charge for each resource individually. As a student you always love it when you get free stuff, why not as a teacher? One other observation — I actually think the quality of the content on sparkle box is poor.
I am aware that he is still listed as a director, but just means that he is affiliated with the company, not necessarily running the website on a day to day basis with permanent access to it. I have membership of both Twinkl and Teachers Pet and there are some gems in there as well.
Equally there are some stuff on there which to me are quite questionnable. Communication4all is another that I have used stuff from. Your reasoning was that the site was being run by someone else. He founded the site and as can be seen by the link I posted it is making a lot of money.
I think if people choose to use that site then they should accept that they are putting money into his pocket, albeit in an indirect way. Maybe he is, but is that really such a major issue, or is it making a mountain of a molehill?
The police are claiming that he is being monitored and that the site is run by someone else. The website is part of the whole business, not the whole business itself, so there is nothing to suggest that the website is not being run by someone else now.
We see people from crime represent other professions too. Why should this be any different? At the end of the day we are all human beings, making mistakes is part of our lives. As a pupil of the class taught by Mr Kinge back in when he was arrested for having thousands of photos of abused young children found on his school laptop I, unsurprisingly, feel strongly against the use of Sparklebox.
Maybe this is because he came to my house for a home visit before I started reception, maybe because he was in the changing rooms with young boys when we went on our weekly swimming lessons or maybe this is because he not only gets a kick out of knowing the resources he created are used by children but also money.
I do not understand how in any shape or form you can justify this. I believe in second chances, but not in the form of paeodophiles nor sex offenders. My mother is a primary school teacher, so I have seen first-hand how much time resources like these could help her. But she feels the same about it. The police told our school at the time that it was only a matter of time before him looking at pictures turned into something a lot worse.
I do not see how you would want to fund someone so disgusting. If you could please delete the reply I would be most grateful. I know your not trying to do this but I think even just making that comment in this context is unhelpful. Firstly, I believe he was jailed for failing to pay his car insurance or something like that. Hardly comparable with what Mr. Kinge did. Secondly, When Crystal Palace and Arsenal fans turned up to watch Ian Wright and 10 other men play for their team they would largely have been aware of his crime and would have made an informed judgment about whether they wanted to continue supporting the club while he was still playing.
By contrast many of the people who go on the sparklebox website are either unaware of his crimes or are under the misguided impression that Mr. Kinge is no longer involved in its running or is not profiting from it. One final observation about your analogy.
It would be interesting to see the reaction of football fans if a footballer had committed the same offence as Mr. You seem to have changed your reasoning a bit. I happen to think that it does matter, but I know there are plenty who would agree with you. The point is though that people should not be mislead into thinking that this guy is not making money from this site because he clearly is.
It seems certain to me that he is involved on some level. The site has a huge bank of products that can be downloaded and printed for use immediately - no membership or payment needed. Products are organised into the main curriculum areas of Literacy and Maths along with a massive Topics area, Class Management resources and a classroom Signs and Labels section.
Items are aimed at Early Years right through to Key Stage Two and include many printables that have proven useful outside the classroom in museums, hospitals and with charities. The Literacy section includes an extensive range of printables for Letters and Sounds and high-frequency words along with useful teaching aids for writing, spelling, reading as well as popular stories, fairytales and nursery rhymes.
The Maths area of the site has products to download linked to numbers and counting, mathematical operations, shape and space, money, data handling and place value.
The site even has a Photo Gallery featuring hundreds of visitor-submitted classroom pictures which are great for inspiring display and activity ideas. It is unclear what will now happen to Sparklebox. The website's blog has disappeared, but in an older post staff denied the accusations against Kinge and said there was no "valid reason" for blocking the site. Just to be told we're not allowed to use it makes one long to defy and just go on it anyway! We are professionals, not naughty children who can't understand!
However, if we teachers are all banned from using the resources and I totally agree that we shouldn't, as it kind of supports this guy why then are the majority of teaching resources in the new film Nativity from Sparklebox?
People are saying to download resources you might need for the future - but will and should we be able to use them? Do I tell all the staff at my school who I'm sure will be unaware? I am in shock, to be honest. I use Sparklebox more than anything. What are others going to do - not use his resources? It only takes a moment and you'll get access to more news, plus courses, jobs and teaching resources tailored to you.
Already signed up? Log in. Original paper headline: Sparklebox ban as creator jailed again after paedophile conviction A former teacher and convicted paedophile who ran one of the UK's biggest education websites has been jailed for a second time for making indecent images of children.
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