At  Bedford Primary School in Liverpool, social networking is embraced as part of the daily routine of school and learning.

It has joined Radiowaves, a dedicated school-based social network, which now boasts 13,000 schools in 22 countries.

For assistant head teacher Amy Barton, social media has to be part of the curriculum.

“Social media is challenging the traditional view of teaching. You can’t get away from it, we’ve got to teach it,” she said.

School websites have traditionally been set up to inform parents but tend not to be the destination of choice for pupils. It is very different at Bedford where children see their Radiowaves pages as “their website”.

These days any visitor to Bedford School needs be prepared for the full multi-media onslaught of the under-11s as they interview, record and photograph every moment for inclusion on the site.

The platform allows for images, audio, video, blogs and podcasts to be uploaded and shared, either just within the school, with other schools on the Radiowaves network or with the larger world, including parents.

The site has attracted the attention of the British Council which has seen the potential for forging real and long-lasting links with schools around the world, beyond the occasional fuzzy video link-up.

Radiowaves is offering schools safe social networking

It has recently funded four pupils from Bedford Primary School to visit schools in China. Every moment was recorded in a video diary and viewed back in Liverpool via Radiowaves.