The Ravensbourne School News

Use of the Internet and technologies inside and outside of school: An e-safety issue

Dear Parent/Carer,

Use of the Internet and technologies inside and outside of school: An e-safety issue

As I am sure you are aware, students are very computer literate. They find it very easy to use the latest technologies whether it is the latest mobile phone or the Internet. The modern communications revolution has made it easier to stay in contact with friends and family from all over the world at any time of the day or night.

We manage safe use of technologies that are used in school; all students are routinely asked to sign an acceptable use policy for the use of the Internet in school hours as part of our whole school Internet policy. However students now use a huge range of devices outside school hours. Technologies include home PC's, lap-top computers and hand-held computers, mobile phones and even blackberries (if not in your home, it could be at a friends home); all have the possibility of accessing the web from almost any part of the United Kingdom even if the nearest plug or telephone socket is miles away. Mobile phone coverage in this country is over 90% of the whole population.

Specific technologies that are becoming more commonly used for communication by students outside of schools hours include email, MSN messaging (instant messaging), chatrooms, mobile-camera phones, websites, Blogs managed by students and social networking sites (such as “MySpace”, “Bebo” or “Facebook”). The majority of use of these devices are safe and has the potential to greatly enrich the lives of students, however, you need to be aware that e-safety issues including bullying can happen via new technologies, they are simply a new way of communicating for a bully.

As you know, the school has an anti-bullying policy, which has a high profile with all our students and staff. It is due to be updated to include the responsible use of technology and we would welcome your input on this. If our policy is to be effective we need your support as a parent/carer, to share responsibility in reducing the opportunities for bullying to take place outside school hours, to ensure that your child is neither a victim nor sender of offensive or threatening messages.

If you require further guidance on the technologies discussed and how you can support your child in using them safely we encourage you to visit the link below where you will find easy-to-follow help. www.broadbandsecurity.bt.com/img/teacherparentguide.pdf

To keep your child safe the following basic rules will help.

Have the computer in an ‘open’ area.
Know what your child is doing online.
Talk to your child about acceptable ways of communicating with others
If your child receives unsuitable or bullying messages related to the school, save the messages, print them off if possible and let the school know.

Attached to this letter is the Student Acceptable Use Policy. Please read it carefully. Your son/daughter will be asked to sign it by a teacher. If you DO NOT WISH your son/daughter to sign this policy, please contact the school on the following e-mail address: celliot@ravensbourne.info within two weeks of receiving this letter.

Introduction:

Our e-Safety Policy has been written by the school. It has been agreed by the senior management and approved by Governors. It will be reviewed annually.

It is the duty of The Ravensbourne School to ensure that every child in our care is safe, and the same principles that apply to the physical world must also apply to the ‘virtual’ world.

Our aim is to encourage the safe use of digital technology in all its forms by staff and students, both onsite and off site.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Our school e-Safety Co-ordinator is The Assistant Headteacher Learning Technologies: Mr C. Elliott

Should anyone who has contact with The Ravensbourne School feel that the use of technology has made any member of our community feel uncomfortable the e-safety Co-ordinator must be informed immediately.

The Ravensbourne School will create an environment where we are all responsible for promoting and supporting safe digital usage both at School and outside of School. Our aim is to both supervise the use of digital technology at school and to educate our community in the safe use of digital technology outside of the school. Central to this is fostering a ‘No Blame’ culture so students feel they able to report any issues they face.

It is a staff responsibility to read this policy and fully comply with all requirements and advice.

Parents/guardians/carers have a responsibility to discuss the acceptable use of digital technology with students in their care. Having done so the school requires all students to sign an acceptable use agreement before full access to the internet and e-mail usage is granted to the student.

Managing Digital Technology

Due to the international scale and linked nature of information available via the Internet, it is not possible to guarantee that unsuitable material will never appear. Our policy is to provide supervision whenever students are using computers.

Objective 1: the safe use of the Internet

· As far as is reasonable the staff at The Ravensbourne School will supervise students use of the Internet at all times.

· The Ravensbourne School uses the London Grid for learning filtering system which blocks sites that fall into categories such as pornography, race hatred, gaming and sites of an illegal nature. We also have additional filtering at School to adapt to the age of students. We only use picsearch for raw image searches.

· The Ravensbourne School monitors all Internet usage within the school.

· Staff and students are to report any failure of the filtering systems directly to any member of staff who is to report the problem to the e-safety co-ordinator.

· The Ravensbourne School blocks all chat rooms and social networking sites except those that are part of an educational network or approved Learning Platform.

· The Ravensbourne School only uses approved or checked webcam sites.

TRS does not publish personal e-mail addresses of students or staff on the school website. We use anonymous or group e-mail addresses.

· Uploading of information to The Ravensbourne School website is restricted and is monitored by the school’s Assistant Head, Learning Technologies.

· Student photographs or credits on videos published on the The Ravensbourne School website are not to have full names attached and parental permission should be sought to publish photographs of students. Student names are not to be part of a filename.

· Students are to be educated in the safe use of social network sites and the dangers of using them. including not publishing or keeping personal details.

· The Ravensbourne School staff are recommended not to invite students or ex students onto any Social Network site other than the approved Think.com site used at school and monitored by the Oracle group.

· The Ravensbourne School will investigate any issues arising from inappropriate behaviour of a student or staff on any social network sites

Objective 2: the safe use of the e-mail

E-mail is now an essential means of communication for staff and increasingly for students and homes. Directed e-mail use can bring significant educational benefits through increased ease of communication between students and staff, or within local and international school projects.

· If a member of staff or student receives an e-mail that is considered disturbing it should be reported to the e-safety co-ordinator. The School will investigate any relevant inappropriate e-mails sent to staff or students on any system. Staff or students should not respond to malicious or threatening messages.

· The Ravensbourne School electronically filters e-mails to exclude spam e-mails or use of inappropriate language, where possible.

· Students at The Ravensbourne School are educated in the appropriate use of e-mail from Year 7.

· Student e-mail addresses are not published in any address books available to anyone but staff. Staff e-mail addresses (issued by the school) can be provided to students for educational use but are not to be published in student address books.

· The Ravensbourne School Staff are to use School e-mail systems for professional purposes only and to use professional language at all times.

· The Ravensbourne School Staff should not send or read e-mails during contact time with students.

· Staff should not give students their personal e-mail addresses not accept communication from a students’ personal e-mail address.

Objective3: Managing Equipment Safely

To ensure the network is used safely The Ravensbourne School:

The Ravensbourne School provides students with an individual network log-in username. From Year 7 students are also expected to use a personal password.
The Ravensbourne School staff and students are to keep passwords secure. Each person is wholly responsible for any action conducted using their password.
The Ravensbourne School expects all users to always log off when they have finished working or are leaving the computer unattended. If a user finds a logged-on machine, we require them to always log-off and then log-on again in their own name.
The network is configured so that users cannot download executable files / programmes to reduce the risk of infringing Copyright law.
The network is managed with anti-virus software.
Staff are responsible for ensuring that any computer or laptop loaned to them by the school, is used solely to support their professional responsibilities and that they notify the school of any “significant personal use” as defined by HM Revenue & Customs.
The Ravensbourne School maintains equipment to ensure Health and Safety is followed.
TRS expects staff not to allow “third party” use of laptops or other equipment and are responsible for all content on the equipment in their care.

How will infringements be handled?

Whenever a student or staff member infringes the e-Safety Policy, the final decision on the level of sanction will be at the discretion of the school management.

All infringements will be dealt with by reference to the school Behaviour and Discipline Policy for students and the school Discipline Policy for staff.

Policy review Date
Date of next Review
Who reviewed this policy?

Appendix A: Student acceptable use policy acceptance form.

Computer, Internet & E-Mail use Policy

General Guidelines:

Access should only be made via the authorised account and password issued to you which should not be given to any other person.
Sites and materials accessed must be appropriate to work in school. Students must tell the supervising adult if they see anything they are unhappy with, or receive a message they do not like.
Users are responsible for all e-mail sent and for contacts made that may result in e-mail being received. Posting anonymous messages and forwarding chain letters is forbidden.
Usual high professional levels of language and content should be applied to e-mails and other web work. This is particularly important as e-mails and web work may be forwarded.
The user must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any computer systems, network, data or resources.
Use for personal financial gain, gambling, political purposes or advertising is forbidden.
No attempt must be made to circumvent the internet filtering system to gain access to any site to which access would normally be restricted.

The Computer facilities may not be used for the following:

Accessing or attempting to access any type of on-line chat facility
Any activity that may be considered unethical, immoral or illegal. The Headteacher has the final say on what is considered unethical or immoral.
Sending messages that may annoy other people, interfere with the work of others, or result in the person receiving them losing their work or systems
The creation or distribution of any images, sounds, messages or other material which are obscene, harassing, racist, inflammatory, malicious, fraudulent or libellous
Any activity that threatens or is damaging to the school ICT systems, or that attacks or corrupts other systems, is forbidden.
Any use of the Internet that would bring the name of school into disrepute
Interfering with the functioning of the network in the school, the service providers network, or any other network that can be accessed through the Internet.

The school reserves the right to examine or delete any files that may be held on, or run via its computer systems or to monitor any Internet sites visited.

This policy has been sent to the parent/guardian and the school has not received a reply from the parent/guardian saying they do not agree.

Students Name

Signature of Student

Date

Appendix B: Staff acceptable use policy acceptance form.

Computer, Internet & e-Mail use Policy

Covers use of digital technologies in school: i.e. email, Internet, intranet and network resources, mobile phones, learning platform, software, equipment and systems.

I will only use the school’s digital technology resources and systems for professional purposes or for uses deemed ‘reasonable’ by the Head.
I will only use the approved, secure email system for any school business
I will not browse, download or send material that could be considered offensive to colleagues or students. The Headteacher holds the final decision on that which is considered offensive.
I will report any accidental access to, or receipt of inappropriate materials, or filtering breach to the appropriate line manager and the Assistant Head of Learning Technologies
I will not allow unauthorised individuals to access personal details of any member of The Ravensbourne School.
I will not download any software or resources from the Internet that can compromise the network, or are not adequately licensed.
I understand that all Internet usage and network usage is logged and this information could be made available to a line manager on request.
I will ensure all documents are saved, accessed and deleted in accordance with the school’s network security and confidentiality protocols.
I will not connect a computer, laptop or other device (including USB flash drive), to the network that does not have up-to-date anti-virus software, and I will keep any ‘loaned’ equipment up-to-date, using the school’s recommended system.
I will not use personal digital cameras or camera phones for transferring images of students or staff without written permission from the Assistant Headteacher Learning Technologies.
I will ensure that any private social networking sites / blogs etc that I create or actively contribute to are not confused with my professional role.
I will not engage with any student or past student on a social networking site unless that site is approved by TRS.
I agree and accept that any computer or laptop loaned to me by the school, is provided solely to support my professional responsibilities and that I will notify the school of any “significant personal use” as defined by HM Revenue & Customs.
I will ensure any confidential data that I wish to transport from one location to another is protected by encryption and that I follow school data security protocols when using any such data at any location.
I understand that data protection policy requires that any information seen by me with regard to staff or student information, held within the school’s information management system, will be kept private and confidential, EXCEPT when it is deemed necessary that I am required by law to disclose such information to an appropriate authority.
I will ensure I am aware of digital safety-guarding issues so they are appropriately embedded in my classroom practice.
I understand that providing students with any private telephone number or private e-mail addresses could lead to inappropriate use by others and that I will not give these out to students
I understand that failure to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy could lead to disciplinary action.
I will not allow any third party use of equipment, usernames, passwords issued to me. If this should happen I understand that I am accountable for the use that occurs in these circumstances. The only exception to this is theft or reported loss of equipment.

User Signature

I understand that it is my responsibility to ensure that I remain up-to-date and read and understand the school’s most recent Acceptable Use Policy.

I agree to abide by the school’s most recent Acceptable Use Policy.

I wish to have an email account; be connected to the Intranet & Internet; be able to use the school’s ICT resources and systems.

Signature …….………………….………… Date ……………………

Full Name ………………………………….........................................(printed)

Job title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Authorised Signature: Schools e-safety officer.

I approve this user to be set-up.

Signature …….……………………………...... Date ……………………

Full Name ………………………………......…(printed)

Appendix C: Letter to parents

Dear Parent/Carer,

Use of the Internet and technologies inside and outside of school: An e-safety issue

To keep your child safe the following basic rules will help.

Have the computer in an ‘open’ area.
Know what your child is doing online.
Talk to your child about acceptable ways of communicating with others
If your child receives unsuitable or bullying messages related to the school, save the messages, print them off if possible and let the school know.

Appendix D : What do we do if?

An inappropriate website is accessed unintentionally in school by a teacher or student.

1. Play the situation down; don’t make it into a drama.

2. Report to the head teacher and e- safety officer.

3. Inform the school technicians who will ensure the site is filtered.

An inappropriate website is accessed intentionally by a student.

1. Refer to the acceptable use policy that was signed by the student, and report to the e-safety officer.

2. Inform the school technicians.

Malicious or threatening comments are posted on an Internet site about a student or member of staff.

1. Inform and request the comments be removed if the site is administered externally.

2. Secure and preserve any evidence.

3. Send all the evidence to the e-safety officer.

You are concerned that a student’s safety is at risk because you suspect someone is using communication technologies (such as social networking sites) to make inappropriate contact with the student.

1. Report to and discuss with the named child protection officer in school.

2. Advise the child on how to terminate the communication and save all evidence.

All of the above incidents must be reported immediately to the head teacher and e-safety officer.

Students should be confident in a no-blame culture when it comes to reporting inappropriate incidents involving the internet or mobile technology: they must be able to do this without fear.

Comments

No comments have been posted yet. If you'd like to leave a comment then please complete the form below

Please complete the fields below to leave a comment on this item. Comments may be moderated before they are displayed on the website. Fields marked * are required.

The Ravensbourne School

Hayes Lane, Bromley, BR2 9EH

Use of the Internet and technologies inside and outside of school: An e-safety issue

Comments

Leave A Comment