E-Safety Policy This policy was reviewed: November, 2014. This policy will be reviewed: January, 2016. Statutory policy: No Our School Vision Together, the best that we can be. Our School Mission Reflecting Christian Values expressed in all aspects of the school’s life displaying acceptance and mutual respect. Caring and Nurturing with children and adults having high expectations, celebrating success and making their contribution to a safe, fun, positive and stimulating environment. Exceptional Children who are encouraged to make exceptional progress in academic, creative, moral, social and spiritual development and to become lifelong learners. Partnerships with strong relationships between children, families, staff, governors, the church and the community as a whole. Introduction: The Internet is now regarded as an essential resource to support teaching and learning. The statutory curriculum requires pupils to learn how to locate, retrieve and exchange information using ICT. In delivering the curriculum, teachers need to plan to integrate the use of communications technology such as web-based resources and e-mail and mobile learning, such as phones. Computer skills are vital to access life-long learning and employment; indeed computing and the use of ICT is now seen as an essential life-skill. Young people have access to the Internet from many places, home, school, friends’ homes, libraries and in some cases mobile phones. Ravenshead C of E has a number of services to help ensure that curriculum use is safe and appropriate, however, access out of school does not usually have these services and has a range of risks associated with its use. Ravenshead C of E is therefore ideally placed to help its pupils to learn to become e-safe. Aims: At Ravenshead C of E Primary School, we aim to provide a learning environment with the highest standard of opportunity for children to achieve their full potential. As part of this aim we see access to the Internet as a powerful tool. We believe that access to the Internet will: Enrich the quality of curriculum provision and extend learning activities Help us raise children’s attainment Support teachers’ planning and resourcing of lessons Enhance the school’s management and administration systems Enhance staff development through access to educational materials, as well as the sharing of information and good curriculum practice between schools, support centres and the LEA and DfEE. This policy should be read in conjunction with the Nottinghamshire Email and Internet Code of Practice Policy and the Computing Policy (all available on the school website www.ravensheadcofe.co.uk) Inappropriate Material: Unfortunately, along with a wealth of useful educational sites on the Internet, there are also sites which contain inappropriate materials which it would be unacceptable for children to gain access to. To ensure that children access the Internet within a safe environment, we use Nottinghamshire County Council and the EMBC as our Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP excludes unacceptable material through filtering lists of inappropriate sites to which access is barred when using the school’s line. However, there is a very small risk that inappropriate material may occasionally get through unfiltered. We therefore follow the agreed guidelines below to ensure that children can access the Internet safely. Guidance for staff: Teachers should: Ensure that they have received adequate training with Internet use before they supervise children’s use of the Internet. Supervise children’s use of the Internet. Supervise children at all times when accessing the Internet, with all monitors clearly visible by the teacher. Train children in how to use the Internet. There is now a requirement within the 2014 National Curriculum that all children are taught about esafety and the safe use of ICT (see Appendix 3). Ensure that children are aware of and agree with the ‘Rules for Responsible Internet Use’. Give children clear objectives for Internet use (e.g. structure children’s access by specifying a site within which they are allowed to browse or by providing lists of suitable web sites from which the children should not stray). Preview any web sites they intend to allow children access to, to ensure the sites do not contain inappropriate material and are suitable for the age and maturity of their pupils. Add sites they have tested and approved to the school server via the Computing Coordinator (Miss S Orton) for other teachers to use. Ensure that children are aware of the need to respect copyright of materials on the Internet and acknowledge the source of materials taken for use in their own work. Be aware of the increase in Cyberbullying and should immediately report any concerns to the Computing Coordinator (Miss Orton), the Strategic Headteacher (Mrs H Thomas) or Head of Pupils and Personnel (Miss S Orton) who will then take appropriate action. Reporting unsuitable/inappropriate material on the Internet: Teachers should take prompt action if they or their pupils encounter inappropriate material on the Internet. Ensure children are shielded from unpleasant material (e.g. switch off the monitor and move children away). Record the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or web site address, the content of the site and any other relevant information. Inform the Computing Coordinator/Strategic Headteacher of the site details as soon as possible. The Computing Coordinator/Strategic Headteacher will then: Report the inappropriate material and web site address to NCC via the Helpdesk. Check files on the system if they believe a child may have been attempting to access unsuitable material. The Computing Coordinator and Strategic Headteacher will make occasional checks on files to monitor compliance with the school’s Internet Access policy. Discipline children if they make inappropriate use of the Internet. Punishments should be in line with the ‘Escalating Scale of Sanctions’ described in the school’s Behaviour policy. These may include suspending a child’s access to the Internet and informing parents of serious incidents. The Strategic Headteacher should be informed of all incidents where a child has needed sanctioning for irresponsible use of the Internet. Ensure that use of CD discs and memory sticks is kept to a minimum with the school computer network. No discs brought in from home by the children should be used on the network as this may introduce a virus to the system. Monitoring the use of e-mail: Incoming e-mail to children should be checked by a teacher wherever possible, before being read by children. Outgoing e-mail sent by children should be checked by a teacher before it is sent. The forwarding of chain letters is not allowed. Children should not send personal information (e.g. address and ‘phone number) or arrange to meet someone, over the Internet. Guidance for Children: Children should: Agree and follow the “Rules for Responsible Internet Use” (Appendix 1) Respect copyright and acknowledge the source of material they have used from the Internet. Inform a teacher immediately if they encounter any material that they feel is offensive or they think may cause offence to others. Be aware that their files held on the system may be reviewed by the teacher at any time. Be aware that they will incur sanctions if they make irresponsible use of the Internet. Not bring in discs or memory sticks from home. Only send polite e-mail messages to the addresses their teacher has specified and not include personal details (e.g. address, ‘phone number). The School will: Inform all parents (and new intake parents after first year) that their children will be provided with supervised Internet access as part of the school’s curriculum. (Appendix 2) Inform all parents (and new intake parents after first year) of the school’s “Rules for Responsible Internet Use” which their children will be expected to abide by in order to ensure a safe environment. Answer parents’ queries and concerns about their child’s use of the Internet and our safeguards to protect them from unpleasant material. (Parental permission will not be called for by the school before a child is allowed to gain access to the Internet). APPENDIX 1 RAVENSHEAD C OF E PRIMARY SCHOOL’S “RULES FOR RESPONSIBLE INTERNET USE” We 'always treat the computer equipment with care and respect. We only use the Internet when a teacher has given us permission and they are supervising us. We always write on our work where we have got any Internet information from. We tell a teacher straight away if we find something unpleasant. We never try to find unpleasant material on purpose. Our files will be checked by our teachers to make sure we are keeping to the rules. We will only e-mail and open attachments from people I know, or my teacher has approved. We never bring in disks or memory sticks from home without permission from the teachers. We only send polite e-mail messages to the people we know at the addresses our teacher gives us. We ask a teacher to check our e-mail messages before we send them. We do not give our address or 'phone number, or arrange to meet anyone, over the Internet. If we don't keep to the rules: We might have to stop using the Internet. Our parents might have to be told. Signed: _____________________________ Date: __________ APPENDIX 2 LETTER TO PARENTS Dear Parents, Responsible use of e-mail and the Internet I am sure you will have heard about some of the problems that can arise when young children use e-communication systems such as the Internet and e-mail. The Internet is now part of everyday life, and so we cannot ignore it. But at the same time the school takes every precaution to ensure that your child is safe when using the Internet and e-mail at school. At Ravenshead C of E Primary, we aim to provide a high quality learning environment for your child, using the best resources and equipment available. As part of this aim, we encourage children to make use of the Internet for research work and to extend their learning activities. The Internet allows us to access a wealth of exciting, informative and up-tothe-minute information. In addition to the school taking its own precautions, we are aided by our colleagues at Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) who provide the Internet filtering service to the school to ensure that all children are as safe as possible when using the Internet and email at school. The Internet filtering service restricts access to sites containing inappropriate content. All our screens are in public view and an adult is present to supervise. No system is perfect, however, and you should be aware that it is not possible to remove entirely the risk of finding unsuitable material. We have been asked by NCC to inform you of the rules which the children are expected to follow to help with our precautions. Early indications are that the children benefit enormously from this facility and are using it very responsibly already. I would ask you to look through these rules and discuss them with your child RULES FOR RESPONSIBLE INTERNET USE We always treat the computer equipment with care and respect. We only use the Internet when a teacher has given us permission and they are supervising us. We tell a teacher straight away if we find something unpleasant. We never try to find unpleasant material on purpose. We will only e-mail and open attachments from people I know, or my teacher has approved. Our files will be checked by our teachers to make sure we are keeping to the rules. We never bring in disks or memory sticks from home without permission from the teachers. We only send polite e-mail messages to the people we know at the addresses our teacher gives us. We ask a teacher to check our e-mail messages before we send them. We do not give our address or phone number, or arrange to meet anyone, over the Internet. If we don't keep to the rules: We might have to stop using the Internet. Our parents might have to be told. There may be a sanction in line with the behaviour policy in school. The Internet is an exciting and stimulating resource which will enhance your child's education. It will also assist us in ensuring that your child develops a good understanding of Information Communication Technology which is so important in today's world. If you do not wish for any of your child’s work to appear on the school or county website, or images, sound files and videos that include your son/daughter, please ensure that you complete the slip below and return to school. By not returning the slip, you are giving permission to your child’s work, images, sound files and videos that include your son/daughter being used on the website. Yours sincerely, Miss Orton Head of Pupils and Personnel -----------------------------------------------Parent’s consent for web publication of work and photographs Cross out as appropriate I do not wish my son/daughter’s work to be published on the school or county Website. I do not consent to images, sound files and videos that include my son/daughter being published on the school website subject to the school rules that this content will not clearly identify individuals and that full names will not be used. Signed: _____________________________ Child’s name: __________________________ Date: ________________________________ Class: ____________ APPENDIX 3 (National Curriculum – Computing) Key stage 1 Pupils should be taught to: understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions create and debug simple programs use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content recognise common uses of information technology beyond school use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private; identify where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact onthe internet or other online technologies. Key stage 2 Pupils should be taught to: design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.