Sparklebox Teacher Resource Website - Department of Education, Northern Ireland

Sparklebox Teaching Resources Website

The Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane MLA, made a statement on 8 February 2010 to the Assembly about the Sparklebox teaching resources website.

The Minister informed the Assembly that she had concerns about the use of the Sparklebox website by schools as the former owner and operator had been jailed in January 2010 for making and possessing indecent images of children. Schools’ access to the site through the Classroom 2000 (C2k) network was blocked on 1 February 2010. C2k provides a managed ICT service, including filtered access to the internet, to all grant-aided schools.

The Minister regards the safety of children as of paramount importance and informed the Assembly in her statement on 8 February that her Department had written to the Chief Executive of the Western Education Library Board instructing him to investigate the manner in which the situation was handled by C2k. The Minister also requested the Department of Education to carry out a review of its own internal procedures to ensure that they are sufficiently robust.

The Minister undertook to revert to the Assembly after the formal reports had been received and considered. A Written Statement on the Sparklebox Teacher Resource Website, outlining the key issues identified by both reviews and setting out the next steps, was provided to the Assembly on Tuesday 4 May 2010. The statement can be viewed below:

The investigative reports submitted to the Minister can be viewed below: