E-Safety Policy ___
Springwell Junior School
E-Safety Policy
Aspire…Create…Achieve
2015
CONTENTS:
Our Mission Statement:…………………………………………………………………………….…….Page 4
Introduction:…………………………………………………………………………………………………...Page 4
Context and Background…………………………………………………………………………………Page 5
Whole School Approach……………………………………………………………………………….…Page 5
Roles and responsibilities: ……………………………………………………………….………….…Page 6
o Leadership Team…………………………………………………………………………..……Page 6
o E-Safety Co-ordinator……………………………………………….…………………..……Page 6
o Governors………………………………………..…………………………………………..….…Page 6
o School Staff…………………………………………………………………………………..….…Page 6
o Pupils.…………………………………………………………………………………………..…….Page 7
o Parents………………………………………………………………………………………….……Page 7
Technical and Hardware Guidance:
o School Internet Provision……………………………………………………………….….Page 7
o Content Filter……………………….…………………………………………………………..Page 7
o Downloading Files and Applications ……………………….………………………..Page 8
o Portable Storage Media ………………………………….………………………………..Page 8
o Security and Virus Protection …………………………………………………………..Page 8
E-Safety for Pupils: ………………………………………………………………………………………Page 9
o Internet Access at School ………………………………………………………………..Page 9
o Using the Internet for Learning………………………………………………………..Page 10
o Teaching Safe Use of the Internet and ICT ……………………………………….Page 11
o Suitable Material……………………………………………………………………………..Page 11
o Non-Educational Materials ……………………………………………………………..Page 12
o Unsuitable Materials………..……………………………………………………………..Page 12
o Using E-Mail and School ………………………………………………………………….Page 12
o Chat, Discussion and Social Networking Sites ………………………………….Page 13
o Internet-Enabled Mobile Phones and Handheld Devices …………………Page 13
o Cyberbullying – Online Bullying and Harrassment …………………………..Page 14
o Contact Details and Privacy ……………………………………………………………..Page 14
o School and Pupil Websites – Pictures and Pupil Input……………………….Page 15
o Deliberate Misuse of the Internet Facilities………………………………………Page 15
How Complaints Regarding E-Safety Will be Handled ………………………………….Page 16
Internet Availability ……………………………………………………………………………….…….Page 16
ICT Equipment ……………………………………………………………………………….……………Page 17
Professional Use ……………………………………………………………………………….………..Page 17
Personal Use of the Internet and ICT Resources …………………………………………Page 17
o E-Mail …………………………………………………………………………………………….Page 17
o Online Discussion Groups, Bulletin Boards and Forums,
Online Chat and Messaging ……………………………………………………………Page 18
o Social Networking ………………………………………………………………………….Page 18
o Data Protection and Copyright ……………………………………………………….Page 18
o Data Protection policy ………………….………………………………………………..Page 18
o Staff Laptop and ICT Equipment Loans …………………………………………..Page 18
Appendicies:
1) E-Safety Policy Staff Agreement Form
2) Staff Laptop and Computer Loans Agreement
3) Pupil Responsible ICT Use Agreement
4) Code of Practice for Using Images of Children
5) Home-School Agreement
6) Permission Forms
Aspire…Create…Achieve
Our e-Safety Policy has been written by the school, building on The London Grid for Learning (LGfL) Exemplar Policy and other example policies and documents. It has been discussed with staff, agreed by the senior management and is awaiting approval by Governors. It will be reviewed annually.
It is the duty of the school to ensure that every child in our care is safe, and the same principles should apply to the ‘virtual’ or ‘digital’ world as would be applied to the school’s physical buildings.
This Policy document is drawn up to protect all parties: the students, the staff and the school and aims to provide clear advice and guidance on how to minimise risks and how to deal with any infringements.
Created by: Kayleigh Gundry (Computing Lead)
To be revised: September 2015
ICT in the 21st Century has an all-encompassing role within the lives of children and adults. New internet and online technologies are enhancing communication and the sharing of information. Current and emerging Internet and online technologies used in school and, more importantly in many cases, used outside of school by children include:
o The Internet – World Wide Web
o e-mail
o Instant messaging
o Web based voice and video calling (e.g. Skype)
o Online chat rooms
o Online discussion forums
o Social networking sites (e.g. Facebook)
o Blogs and Micro-blogs (e.g. Twitter and school blogs)
o Podcasting (radio / audio broadcasts downloaded to computer or MP3/4 player)
o Video broadcasting sites (e.g. You Tube)
o Music and video downloading (e.g. iTunes)
o Mobile phones with camera and video functionality
o Smart phones with e-mail, messaging and internet access (Use of Snapchat, FaceTime, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat etc.)
Creating a safe ICT learning environment includes three main elements at this school:
o An effective range of technological tools;
o Policies and procedures, with clear roles and responsibilities
o E-Safety teaching is embedded into the school curriculum and schemes of work
E-Safety is recognised as an essential aspect of strategic leadership in Springwell Junior School and the Head, with the support of Governors, aims to embed safe practices into the culture of the school.
The SLT ensures that the policy is implemented across the school via the usual school monitoring procedures and supports staff by keeping them up to date with new guidance.
Our school e-Safety Co-ordinator is Dominic Hughes (acting Deputy Headteacher)
He is responsible for keeping up to date on all e-Safety issues and ensuring that staff are updated as necessary.
The School Governing body is responsible for overseeing and reviewing all school policies, including the e-Safety Policy.
All teachers are responsible for promoting and supporting safe behaviours in their classrooms and following school e-Safety procedures. Central to this is fostering a ‘No Blame’ culture so pupils feel able to report any bullying, abuse or inappropriate materials.
Staff should ensure they are familiar with the school e-Safety policy, and ask for clarification where needed. They should sign the Staff Acceptable Internet Use agreement annually. Class teachers should ensure that pupils are aware of the e-Safety rules, introducing them at the beginning of each new school year and embedding them in the teaching of computing throughout the year.
Pupils are expected to take an active part in planned lessons and activities to support their understanding and confidence in dealing with e-Safety issues, both at home and school. They are asked to agree to a set of guidelines and rules covering their responsibilities when using ICT at school.
Parents are given information about the school’s e-safety policy at the Admission interview. They are given copies of the pupil e-safety guidelines for information, and asked to support these rules with their children. Parents are also kept up to date with e-Safety guidance through the newsletter and supportive meetings with school staff and/or guest speakers where the need arises.
Springwell Junior School uses an ICT Managed Service provided by Gaia Technologies. Gaia Technologies have a contract with Virgin Media.
Virgin provides an always-on broadband connection at speeds up to 100 MB.
Gaia Technologies use a sophisticated content filter to ensure that as far as possible, only appropriate content from the Internet finds its way into school. Whilst this filtering technology is robust and generally effective at blocking unsuitable material, it is still possible for unsuitable material to occasionally get past the filter.
• All pupils and staff have been issued with clear guidelines on what to do if this happens, and parent will be informed where necessary.
• Pupils or staff who deliberately try and access unsuitable materials will be dealt with according to the rules outlined elsewhere in this document.
The Internet is a rich source of free files, applications, software, games and other material that can be downloaded and installed on a computer. Whilst some of this material may be useful, much is inappropriate, and may adversely affect the performance and reliability of school equipment.
• Pupils are not allowed to download any material from the Internet unless directed to do so by an appropriate staff member. Software downloads are restricted and can only be carried out by the ICT Administrator (Mrs Kaura), or through a request to Gaia.
• Staff are allowed to use their own portable media storage (USB Keys etc). If use of such a device results in an anti-virus message they should remove the device and immediately report to the ICT Administrator.
Through our subscription to Gaia Technologies ICT Managed Services, we are provided with both Internet filtering and E-mail filtering: These are Websense and Sophos respectively.
The software is monitored and updated regularly by the Gaia technical support staff.
• Any software messages or pop-up screens reporting evidence of viral infection should always be reported immediately to the ICT Administrator and be placed on the Gaia Helpdesk with a screen shot.
We at Springwell Juniors, believe it is our responsibility to prepare pupils for their lives in the modern world, and ICT is an integral part of that world. At our school we are committed to teaching pupils to use ICT effectively and appropriately in all aspects of their education.
Springwell Junior operates the following policy on its website regarding the use of photographs, to ensure the privacy and safety of pupils at the school:
1. Where pupils are named, only their first names are given;
2. Where a pupil is named, no photograph of that pupil is displayed;
3. Where a photograph is used which shows a pupil, no name is displayed.
By observing these points, the school ensures that visitors to the website cannot link images of pupils to names of pupils. When choosing photographs for the website, the school is mindful of the way pupils may appear in them, and will not include images which are in any way inappropriate. The school follows a policy of seeking parents' permission before using images which show pupils on the website. No other private information about pupils is ever published on the website such as surnames or contact details.
Use of the Internet by pupils:
Internet access is carefully controlled by teachers according to the age and experience of the pupils, and the learning objectives being addressed. Pupils are always actively supervised by an adult when using the Internet, and computers with Internet access are carefully located so that screens can be seen at all times by all who pass by.
Access for all pupils:
In line with our inclusion policies across the school, we want to ensure that all of our pupils have access to the Internet, particularly where this will directly support their learning. To this end, we provide lunchtime access for pupils 12:30 – 1.20 pm. This time is allotted for children to complete any online homework/classwork that they cannot do at home, or to access online packages used for progression for example: Lexia, My Maths, RM Maths, I Am Learning, Sumdog, etc.
The Internet is now an invaluable resource for learning for all our pupils, and we use it across the curriculum both for researching information and a source of digital learning materials. Using the Internet for learning is now a part of the Computing Curriculum (Sept 2014). We teach all of our pupils how to find appropriate information on the Internet, and how to ensure as far as possible that they understand who has made this information available, and how accurate and truthful it is.
o Teachers carefully plan all Internet-based teaching to ensure that pupils are focussed and using appropriate and relevant materials.
o Children are taught how to use search engines and how to evaluate Internet-based information as part of the ICT curriculum, and in other curriculum areas where necessary, such as History (analysing which sources are reliable).
o They are taught how to recognise the difference between commercial and non-commercial web sites, and how to investigate the possible authors of web-based materials.
o They are taught how to carry out simple checks for bias and misinformation.
o They are taught that web-based resources have similar copyright status as printed and recorded materials such as books, films and music, and that this must be taken into consideration when using them.
We think it is crucial to teach pupils how to use the Internet safely, both at school and at home, and we use the following rules for using the internet safely:
I will:
v only visit websites suitable for children my age;
v be polite and show respect when communicating with others;
v keep my personal information secret (including passwords);
v report any unpleasant messages/inappropriate websites to a member of staff.
All teachers at Springwell Junior School take part in highlighting Safer Internet Day across the school each year. Alongside this, the following organisations’ information is disseminated to the children through regular computing lessons and wherever the need arises in a whole class situation:
http://www.kidsmart.org.uk - Kidsmart has been developed by the Childnet charity, and is endorsed by the DfES
http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ - All information on the page delivered by the NCA Ceop Command. The NCA's CEOP Command (formerly the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) works with child protection partners across the UK and overseas to identify the main threats to children and coordinates activity against these threats to bring offenders to account. We protect children from harm online and offline, directly through NCA led operations and in partnership with local and international agencies.
http://www.childline.org.uk – A service provided by the NSPCC. Registered charity numbers 216401 and SC037717.
http://www.childnet.com - A non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.
We encourage pupils to see the Internet as a rich and challenging resource, but we also recognise that it can be difficult to navigate and find useful and appropriate material. Where possible, and particularly with younger children, we provide pupils with suggestions for suitable sites across the curriculum, and staff always check the suitability of websites before suggesting them to children, or using them in teaching.
We believe it is better to support children in finding their way around the Internet with guidance and positive role modelling rather than restrict Internet use to strict curriculum based research. As well as Internet material directly related to the curriculum, we encourage children to visit appropriate entertainment and child-oriented activity sites that have interesting and relevant activities, games and information, in free time and at home.
There is a selection of links to such resources available on class blogs, when set up by the teacher for research into topics and also in the ‘Kids’ Zone’ on the school website.
Despite the best efforts of the LA and school staff, occasionally pupils may come across something on the Internet that they find offensive, unpleasant or distressing. Pupils are taught to always report such experiences directly to an adult at the time they occur, so that action can be taken.