Internet and E-Safety Policy

E-Safety/Acceptable Use Aims

Ensure that pupils benefit from all learning opportunities offered by the internet resources provided by the school in a safe and controlled manner
Ensure that all staff and pupils have clear guidance on safe and acceptable use.
Provide guidance to staff and pupils about the acceptable use of mobile technologies, both the school’s and personal items that are brought into school if applicable.

Our ICT Vision:

We will develop the learning environment to provide a range of ICT opportunities and tools. The use of Google Classroom will help us empower our children to make relevant and safe choices and be flexible as they develop their personalised learning, in line with our school’s vision.

GENERAL

ENSURING PUPILS INTERNET ACCESS IS SAFE AND APPROPRIATE

The Internet is a communications medium that is freely available to any person wishing to send e-mail or publish a web site, and in common with other media such as magazines, books and videos, some of the material available is unsuitable for children. The measures outlined below are designed to ensure that children do not encounter upsetting, offensive or otherwise inappropriate material on the Internet.

Internet access provided throughout school has a service designed for children including a “firewall” filtering system intended to prevent access to material inappropriate for children.
Children using the Internet will be working in the presence of the class teacher or other approved adult helper.
Staff will check that sites pre-selected for children’s use are appropriate for their age and maturity.
Staff will be particularly vigilant when children are undertaking their own search and will ensure that they are following an agreed search plan.
Children will be taught to use e-mail and the Internet responsibly in order to reduce the risk to themselves and others.
Members of staff will be aware of the potential for misuse, and will be responsible for explaining to pupils acceptable use and risks.
Teachers will have access to pupils’ emails and other Internet related files, and will check these on a regular basis to ensure expectations of behaviour are being met.
Methods to quantify and minimise the risk of children being exposed to inappropriate material will be reviewed by the ICT co-ordinator.

The experience of many schools has shown these measures to be highly effective, although it is not possible to guarantee that particular types of material will never appear on the computer screen due to the international scale and linked nature of information available via the Internet.

Children will be taught to tell a teacher immediately if they encounter any material that makes them feel uncomfortable. Should an incident occur in which children are exposed to offensive or upsetting material, the school will respond to the situation quickly and on a number of levels.

The class teacher and Headteacher will give appropriate support to the children. The children’s parents will be informed and given an explanation of the course of action taken.
The IT co-ordinator will report the URL (address) and content of unsuitable sites to the Internet service provider and the ICT technician in school. If it is thought that the material is illegal, after further consultation with the Internet service provider the site will be referred to the police.
All teaching staff will be made aware of the incident at the weekly Staff Meeting.
Responsibility for handling incidents involving children will be taken by the ICT co-ordinator and the Headteacher in consultation with the class teacher.

THE CHILDRENS RESPONSIBILITIES

It is important for children to realise that they are expected to play their part in reducing the risk of viewing inappropriate material by obeying the rules of responsible Internet access.
Pupils and staff consistently choosing not to comply with these expectations will be warned, and subsequently, may be denied access to Internet resources. They will also come under the general discipline procedures of the school.
Pupils and staff using the Internet are expected not to deliberately seek out offensive materials. Should any pupils or staff encounter any such material accidentally, they are expected to report it immediately to the ICT Coordinator or Headteacher, so that the Service Provider can block further access to the site.
Pupils are expected to contact only people they know or those the teacher has approved.
They have been taught the rules of etiquette in email and are expected to follow them. Eg Pupils may only use the approved Loydence Academy domain e-mail accounts on the school system.
Pupils must ask permission before accessing the Internet and have a clear idea why they are using it.
Pupils and staff should not access other people’s files unless permission has been given.
Computers should only be used for schoolwork and homework unless permission has been granted otherwise.
No program files may be downloaded to the computer from the Internet. This is to prevent corruption of data and avoid viruses.
No programs on disc or CD Rom should be brought in by pupils from home for use in school, although staff can seek permission from the Headteacher. This is for security reasons.
No personal information such as phone numbers and addresses should be given out.
Uploading and downloading of non-approved software will not be permitted.
There will be no access to social networking/gaming from school equipment.
Pupils are advised that the use of social networking sites outside of school is inappropriate. This is reinforced with educational materials.
Pupils must not share their usernames or passwords with anyone.

USING THE INTERNET TO ENHANCE LEARNING;

When accessing the Internet, children will be given clear learning objectives relating to schemes of work, in order to enrich and extend learning activities.
Access to the Internet may be by teacher (or sometimes other adult) demonstration.
Children may work offline to access prepared material, rather than the open Internet.
Children may be given a suitable web page or a single web site to access.
Children may be provided with a list of suitable and relevant web sites, which they may access.
Older, more experienced children may be allowed to undertake their own Internet search having agreed a search plan with the class teacher.

USING INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNET

Children will be taught to understand that much of the information available on the Internet is intended for an adult audience, is not properly edited and is subject to copyright.
Children will be made aware of the need to validate information from an alternative source wherever possible.
Children will be taught to observe copyright and how to select and record relevant information.
Children will be made aware that the author of web pages or e-mails may not be who they say they are.

Using e-mail

The children will learn how to use an e-mail application and be taught e-mail conventions as part of the ICT scheme of work. They will send emails using a local network within school as part of planned lessons. The e-mail messages they compose and receive will not be regarded as private and will be checked by a member of staff.

E-mails sent to and received from our link schools will be accessed through separate password protected accounts.

Internet access and home/school links

Parents will be informed that children are provided with supervised Internet access as part of their lessons and will be kept informed of future developments through weekly newsletters.
Parents and children will be expected to sign a permission form before they begin using the Internet to share responsibility with the school.
Parents are required to inform to the school if they have any objections to their child’s work or photographs being published. If the parent has not specified a wish for their child to be excluded it will be assumed we have the parents’ permission.
Children may complete homework online using their e-mail ID’s and Google Classroom.

Personal Devices

Teachers are trusted to use their own technology in school and on school trips, so long as the use is for educational purposes only. Phones can be used in support with Class Dojo and to take pictures on school trips. Children should be made aware what you are using your mobile for. Once pictures are uploaded they should always be deleted from your device and never shared on social media sites. Inappropriate use is in direct breach of the school’s acceptable use policy.

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Internet and E-Safety Policy

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