March 2011
King's Grove School
INTERNET POLICY
Policy No. 59
The King’s Grove School’s Internet Access Policy will be reviewed on a
two yearly basis, agreed by the senior management and approved by
governors.
Revised date: February 2011 by J Bird
Agreed by Senior Management date: February 2011
Approved by Governors date: March 2011
1)
Importance of the Internet in King’s Grove School:
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2)
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Internet access is an entitlement for students who show a responsible and
mature approach to its use.
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The Internet is an essential element in 21st century life for education,
business and social interaction. The school has a duty to provide students
with quality Internet access as part of their learning experience.
How does the Internet benefit education?
Benefits of using the Internet in education include:
access to world-wide educational resources including museums and art
galleries;
educational and cultural exchanges between pupils world-wide;
cultural, vocational, social and leisure use in libraries, clubs and at home;
access to experts in many fields for pupils and staff;
staff professional development through access to national developments,
educational materials and good curriculum practice;
communication with support services, professional associations and
colleagues;
improved access to technical support including remote management of
networks;
exchange of curriculum and administration data with the LEA and DfES.
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3)
The purpose of Internet use in school is to raise educational standards, to
promote pupil achievement, to support the professional work of staff and to
enhance the school’s management information and business administration
systems.
Internet use is a part of the statutory curriculum and a necessary tool for
staff and pupils.
How will Internet use enhance learning?
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4)
The school Internet access will be designed expressly for pupil use and will
include filtering appropriate to the age of pupils.
Pupils will be taught what Internet use is acceptable and what is not and
given clear objectives for Internet use.
Internet access will be planned to enrich and extend learning activities.
Access levels will be reviewed to reflect the curriculum requirements and age
of pupils.
Pupils will take part in on-line activities that will support the learning
outcomes planned for the pupils’ age and maturity.
How will pupils learn to evaluate Internet content?
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If staff or pupils discover unsuitable sites, the URL (address) and content
must be reported to the school technical support team or the Internet Service
Provider via the King’s Grove School ICT Co-ordinator (Deputy Headteacher).
The school will ensure that the use of Internet derived materials by staff and
by pupils complies with copyright law.
Pupils will be taught to be critically aware of the materials they read and
shown how to validate information before accepting its accuracy.
5)
How will e-mail be managed?
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6)
How should Web site content be managed?
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7)
Pupils may only use the King’s Grove School e-mail accounts on the school
system when on school premises.
Pupils must immediately tell a teacher if they receive offensive or otherwise
inappropriate material via the school email account.
Pupils must not reveal details of themselves or others in e-mail
communication, such as address or telephone number, or arrange to meet
anyone.
Access in school to external personal e-mail accounts is not available to pupils
E-mail sent to an external organisation should be written carefully in the
same way as a letter written on King’s Grove School headed paper.
The forwarding of chain letters is not permitted.
See further details in Email Policy and the ICT Usage Code of Conduct on the
King’s Grove School website.
The point of contact on the Web site should be the address, school e-mail
and telephone number. Staff or pupils’ home or personal information will not
be published.
Web site photographs that include pupils will be selected carefully and only
used if permission is given on the school Internet Code of Conduct And
Admissions Agreement when they join the school.
The whole school ICT Co-ordinator will take overall editorial responsibility and
ensure that content is accurate and appropriate.
The copyright of all material must be held by the school, or be attributed to
the owner where permission to reproduce has been obtained.
The school will scan regularly our own web site to check links that have been
made into their own sites and to remove links from potentially dangerous
sources.
Newsgroups and e-mail lists?
Newsgroups will not be made available to pupils unless an educational
requirement for their use has been demonstrated.
8)
‘Chat’ sites
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9)
Pupils will not be allowed access to public or unregulated chat rooms.
Children should use only regulated educational chat environments organised
by their teachers. This use will be supervised by the individual teachers and
the importance of chat room safety emphasised.
How can emerging Internet applications be managed?
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Emerging technologies will be examined for educational benefit and a risk
assessment will be carried out before use in school is allowed.
Mobile phones, iPhones and other similar devices will not be used during
lessons or formal school time. The sending of abusive or inappropriate text
messages is forbidden.
10)
How will Internet access be authorised?
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The school will keep a record of all staff and pupils who are granted Internet
access. The record will be kept up-to-date, for instance a member of staff
may leave or a pupil’s access be withdrawn.
Parents will be informed that pupils will be provided with supervised Internet
access on admission subsequent to completing the school ICT Code of
Conduct Admissions Agreement.
11) How will the risks be assessed?
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12)
In common with other media such as magazines, books and video, some
material available via the Internet is unsuitable for pupils. King’s Grove will
take advice on good practice from the local authority (LA) and take all
reasonable precautions to ensure that users access only appropriate material.
However, due to the international scale and linked nature of Internet content,
it is not possible to guarantee that unsuitable material will never appear on a
school computer. Neither the school nor the LA can accept liability for the
material accessed, or any consequences of Internet access.
The use of computer systems without permission or for inappropriate
purposes could constitute a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act
1990.
Methods to identify, assess and minimise risks will be reviewed regularly.
King’s Grove School will ensure that the Internet policy is implemented and
compliance with the policy monitored.
How will filtering be managed?
The ongoing development of technical strategies to restrict access to
inappropriate material falls into several overlapping types (commonly described
as filtering):
Blocking strategies prevent access to a list of unsuitable sites or
newsgroups. Maintenance of the blocking list is a major task as new sites
appear every day.
 A walled-garden or allow list provides access only to a list of approved
sites. An allow list will inevitably restrict pupils' access to a narrow range of
information.
 Dynamic filtering examines the content of Web pages or e-mail for
unsuitable words. Filtering of outgoing information such as Web searches is
also required.
 Monitoring records Internet sites visited by individual user. Access to a site
forbidden by the filtering policy will result in a report. It is also possible to
remove access automatically after a set number of policy violations.
Despite careful design, filtering systems cannot be completely effective due to
the speed of change of Web content. Our school Internet provision includes a
filtering system that restricts access to inappropriate materials.
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If staff or pupils discover unsuitable sites, the URL (address) and content
must be reported to the ICT Technical Support Team or the whole school ICT
Co-ordinator. A decision will be made as to whether the site will be allowable
through the school ‘firewall’.
The whole school ICT Co-ordinator will work closely with the technical
support team and other staff to ensure that the filtering methods selected are
appropriate, effective and reasonable.
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Any material that the school believes is illegal must be referred to the
Internet Watch Foundation (please see www.iwf.org.uk/).
The filtering strategies employed will be selected to suit the age and
curriculum requirements of the pupil.
13) How will the policy be introduced to pupils?
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Rules for Internet access will be made clear through use of posters in
where computers are used and on the school website.
All parents/guardians and staff will be required to sign the school ICT
Code of Conduct And Admissions Agreement when they join King’s
School.
Pupils will be informed that Internet use will be monitored.
Instruction in responsible and safe Internet access will be provided
ongoing basis.
rooms
Usage
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15) How will ICT system security be maintained?
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The school ICT systems will be reviewed regularly with regard to security.
Virus protection will be installed across all networked and stand alone
computer equipment and devices and updated regularly.
Personal data sent over the Internet will be encrypted or otherwise secured.
Use of portable media such as floppy disks, memory sticks and CD-ROMs will
be reviewed. Portable media may not be linked to the network without
specific permission and a virus check.
Unapproved system utilities and executable files will not be allowed in pupils’
work areas.
Files held on the school’s network will be regularly checked.
16) How will complaints regarding Internet use be handled?
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Responsibility for handling incidents will initially dealt with by the senior
manager responsible for whole school ICT systems.
Any complaint about staff misuse must be referred to the senior manager
responsible for whole school ICT systems in the first instance.
How will parents’ support be enlisted?
 Full details regarding internet and email usage will be available on the King’s
Grove School Web site.
 All parents/guardians will be required to sign the school ICT Usage Code of
Conduct and Admissions Agreement when a student joins the school.
 Internet issues will be handled sensitively to inform parents without undue
alarm.
 This policy will be available via the King’s Grove School website.
King’s Grove School ICT Code of Conduct - Admissions
Covers the use of all school computer equipment and facilities
including the ICT network, internet and e-mail facilities
The Code of Conduct applies at all times and on all sites, in and out of school times, whilst using school
equipment. E-mail and internet access will be provided for you to conduct research and enhance your
learning opportunities, but only on the understanding that you agree to follow this code. This Code of
Conduct is not intended to be exhaustive. You should use the school network and the internet in an
appropriate and responsible manner at all times.
You should:
• Only access sites that are appropriate for use in school. This also applies outside lesson times.
• Be aware that information on an internet web site may be inaccurate or biased. Try to verify the
information using other sources, if possible, before using it.
• Be careful what you say to others and how you say it whether using email or other online methods.
Never give out your name, telephone number, address or any other personal information about
yourself or others to any strangers you write to or talk with on the network or the internet. Never
arrange to meet strangers who approach you whilst you are on the computer; anyone can pretend to
be someone else. Someone pretending to be your friend may not have your best interests at heart.
• Treat others, as you would expect to be treated. For example, show respect and be polite.
• Respect copyright and trademarks. You cannot use words and pictures that you see on an internet site
without giving credit to the person that owns the site. You must not copy text or pictures from the
internet and hand it in to teachers as your own work.
• Respect the rooms and the equipment and report any problems to a member of staff.
 Always tell an adult if you ever see, hear or read anything, which makes you feel uncomfortable
while using the internet or e-mail. You will not be blamed and your prompt action may protect
others. This applies at home, in school or elsewhere
You should not:
• Tell anyone your password or try to use someone else’s password.
• Send, access, display offensive messages or pictures or forward chain e-mails.
• E-bully, use or send bad, threatening or annoying language nor any language which might incite hatred
against any ethnic, religious or other minority.
• Waste resources i.e. time, paper and ink.
 Use of chat rooms, chain e-mails and mobile phone sites is prohibited.
• Download .exe files or games or try to load unauthorised software onto a computer.
• Bring food or drink into the computer areas.
Please Note:
Failure to follow this code may result in loss of access and further disciplinary action, up to and including
exclusion if appropriate. External agencies may be involved since certain activities may constitute a
criminal offence (1998 Data Protection Act and the Computer Misuse Act of 1990)
Student Name: __________________________
Age: _____
Parent Name: __________________________
Parent Signature: ________________________
Date: ___________________
Date of Birth: ______________