Kids on the Net ( http://kidsonthenet.com) is one of the oldest and foremost sites on the Net for children's writing. It features writing by children at home and at school all over the world. It was founded in 1997 as part of the trAce Online Writing Centre and is now independent.

We encourage children to submit writing of all kinds, including stories, poems and creative nonfiction, writing about themselves and their interests, and reviews of books, websites and events. We especially encourage types of writing which use new technology such as animation, audio, graphics, hypertext or Flash. We aim to maintain a safe and secure website and promote Net Safety for young people.

We offer educational and enjoyable collaborative writing projects, including Kids' Castle, Monster Motel, The Net Rules! and others. We are also available to produce and/or host websites for local and national children's literacy projects or education. Contact us for details.

Aims

• To give children an international voice on the internet in a safe and supportive environment
• To encourage the use of the internet to develop young people's writing and reading
• To encourage young people to read and be aware of new media writing and art
• To help young people to create writing specifically for new media including the web
• To provide resources to the education community to support the use of the internet in teaching literacy, reading and writing

Background

Kids on the Net is supported by Reach Further Ltd. Experian sponsored the site from 1998-2004 as part of their support of local community and education initiatives. Kids on the Net has grown year on year and now contains contributions by hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world. Kids on the Net has over a million visitors a year and a national and international reputation. It has a lot to offer sponsors - please contact us for more information.

Our potential for excellence in supporting the teaching of literacy, reading and writing in schools was recognised in 2003 when, in association with the trAce Online Writing Centre, we were awarded a major education grant by NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) for the project Writers for the Future, part of which was used to fund a teacher in residence creating resources for UK teachers based on the Kids on the Net site - check out Dragonsville and Adventure Island.

We were able to offer more opportunities for children to be inspired to read and write, as well as resources for teachers that focus on the National Literacy Strategy and the curriculum for reading and writing.

Kids on the Net encourages submissions from children at home or at school all over the world. Respond to something you've read on the site, or send us work you've written especially or work that you've done at school and are proud of.

Thanks are due to Rolls-Royce plc for training, arranged through Arts & Business.

Kids on the Net Editor: Helen Whitehead

Helen Whitehead is a writer and editor of educational books and websites and an elearning and educational ICT consultant. She has been Editor of Kids on the Net since 1997. She has led collaborative webwriting projects and has taught webwriting and the Internet to all age groups, from Key Stage 1 to silver surfers. She has run education workshops with children and teachers in schools, libraries, community centres and arts venues, and has been a digital writer in residence in several schools and a library authority. She has taught Writing and the Internet at the Arvon Foundation residential writing courses in Yorkshire, UK. In 2000/2001 she was the recipient of a UK Year of the Artist Award to create a website Web Warp & Weft, based on stories from textile workers and the many correlations between textiles and computers from the Jacquard loom up to date. Helen lives with her husband and teenage son in Nottingham. She is an Elearning Consultant with Reach Further Ltd. and specialises in Web 2.0 and online learning communities.

©2003-2006 Kids on the Net and the authors        Last revised 27-Mar-2008
Kids on the Net

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