Ratcliffe College Senior School Student Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Rationale

In line with the School’s Mission Statement we aim to help students develop their gifts and talents: spiritual and social; intellectual and emotional; aesthetic and physical through the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum, which is responsive to, and supportive of, their needs and aspirations, fosters intellectual curiosity and academic achievement, and motivates them to grow to their full potential. Our Mission Statement is distilled into our Vision Statement, and our aim is to develop our children, pupils and students so that they have “Strength of Mind, Strength of Values, Strength of Purpose”.

Acceptable Use Policy Agreement

School ICT System Safety

·  I understand that the School may monitor my use of the ICT systems, e-mail and other digital communications.

·  I will follow the School password policy guidelines when setting my passwords, in order not to compromise the security of my documents or the School system as a whole.

·  I understand the risks and will not try to upload, download or access any materials which are illegal or inappropriate or may cause harm or distress to others, nor will I try to use any programs or software that may allow me to bypass the filtering/security systems in place to prevent access to such materials. I will immediately report any damage or faults involving equipment or software, however this might have happened.

·  I will not open any attachments to e-mails, unless I know and trust the person/organisation that sent the e-mail, owing to the risk of the attachment containing viruses or other harmful programs.

·  I will not install or attempt to install programs of any type on a machine, or store programs on a computer, nor will I try to alter computer settings.

·  I will not deliberately attempt to access systems without authorisation.

·  I will not purposely damage any hardware or software.

Personal Safety

·  I will not share my username or password, nor will I try to use any other person’s username and password.

·  I will be aware of the risks associated with strangers when I am communicating on-line and will not arrange to meet these people when I am alone.

·  I will be mindful not to disclose or share personal information about myself or others when on-line.

·  I will not be involved in sexting (the sharing of words or images of an explicit sexual nature by mobile phone or any electronic device).

·  Students who use social networking sites must ensure that they protect themselves from potential harm by deploying the necessary level of security on their page. Students are reminded of the potentially serious consequences for inappropriate use of mobile and on-line technologies and the ease with which inappropriate material can be passed onto a very wide audience of people, including other students, staff and parents.

·  Students who use social networking sites will not create false profiles to contact others.

·  I will not lie about my age to have a Facebook account.

·  I will only watch age appropriate films unless given permission to do so by a member of staff.

·  I will only play age appropriate games.

Student /Staff communications

·  Students are advised that electronic communication with others, including members of staff, must at all times be professional. This applies largely to e-mail communication via the school network, and to the exchange of mobile telephone numbers (for example, sporting fixtures and trips).

·  Students are strongly advised to refrain from e-mail communication with teaching staff via home computers, but should use the portal on the School website to access school e-mail. Students are explicitly advised not to communicate with staff via social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo or LinkedIn.

·  Students MUST NOT request or accept current staff as friends on social networking sites.

Personal devices

·  I will not use my personal hand held devices (e.g. mobile phones, USB devices, etc.) in lessons unless I have permission from my subject teacher.

·  I understand that, if I do use my own devices in School, I will follow the rules set out in this agreement, in the same way as if I were using School equipment.

·  I will not use chat and social networking sites, unless I have permission to do so.

Cyber bullying

·  I will immediately report any unpleasant or inappropriate material or messages or anything that makes me feel uncomfortable when I see it on-line to a member of staff and, where appropriate, to CEOP and the police.

·  I will be polite and responsible when I communicate with others, I will not use strong, aggressive or inappropriate language and I appreciate that others may have different opinions.

·  I will not redistribute messages, images, e-mails without permission of the original sender.

Copy-write/plagiarism

·  I will respect others’ work and property and will not access, copy, remove or otherwise alter any other user’s files, without the owner’s knowledge and permission.

·  I should ensure that I have permission to use the original work of others in my own work in accordance with the School Plagiarism Policy.

·  Where work is protected by copyright, I will not try to download copies (including music and videos).

·  When I am using the internet to find information, I should take care to check that the information which I access is accurate; as I understand that the work of others may not be truthful and may be a deliberate attempt to mislead me.

·  I will reference any work I use appropriately.

Digital Images and recordings

·  I will not take or distribute images or recordings of anyone without their permission.

·  Students are not permitted to use any electronic device to take pictures/images/recordings of themselves or others when in School or on School trips, unless given permission to do so by a member of staff.

·  All images/recordings of students must be taken using a School camera and uploaded to the network by a member of staff or under supervision in the editing suite.

·  Senior students entering the Nursery School to assist MUST hand in their mobile device to the Head of School.

Maintaining the reputation of the school

·  Unless authorised to do so, you must not post content on websites that may appear as if you are speaking for the School.

·  You should not post any material on-line that can be clearly linked to the School that may damage the School’s reputation.

·  You should avoid posting any material clearly identifying yourself, another member of students, or a member of staff, which could potentially be used to embarrass, harass or defame the subject.

Fair use

·  I understand that the School ICT systems are primarily intended for educational use and that I will not use the systems for personal or recreational use unless I have permission to do so.

·  I will not use the School ICT systems for on-line gaming, on-line gambling, internet shopping (unless I have permission to do so), file sharing or video broadcasting (unless I have permission from a member of staff to do so).

To be returned to the class teacher/form tutor

I acknowledge receipt of the AUP and confirm that I have read the AUP and understand and accept the terms of the policy. I understand that the School reserves the right to update or amend this policy at any time.

Name of pupil ………………………………...... Form ......

Signature of pupil……………………………….. Date ……………………