St Francis de Sales Catholic

Online Safety in School

All pupils need to understand how they can help protect themselves online and how to report any incident which has caused them concern. Pupils in KS2 participate in Online-safety assemblies where they are taught about safeguarding personal information, what a stranger is, that cyberbullying is unacceptable and to report anything that does not feel right to a trusted adult. During national internet safety week all classes take part in an assembly and participate in online safety lessons in PSHE.
When using a network workstation all access to the internet is protected by a number of different filters. These filters are designed to prevent accidental or deliberate access to unsuitable materials. In addition, the network administrator can manually add site addresses which are considered to be unacceptable. Pupils are taught that the Internet contains many websites that are useful but that there are also websites that are unpleasant, offensive, not child-friendly or can damage your computer. We expect pupils to make no attempt to access a website that they know to be unsuitable for children and/or containing offensive language, images, games or other media.

Pupils accessing the Internet at home are subject to the controls placed upon them by their parents. However, any home use of the Internet made in connection with the school or school activities by any of its staff, pupils, governors or any partnership organisation will be subject to this policy and any breach dealt with as if the event took place at school. We expect all members of our school community to behave as positive ambassadors of the school in all school related activities made through the Internet.

Online safety is immersed into the Computing curriculum that we use.

Only the network administrators have access to the school’s wi-fi password and control which devices are given access.

Social Networking:

Social Networking sites are very popular and most users are genuine. However, because it is so easy to hide your real identity, it is possible to come into contact with people you would normally avoid.
Pupils are taught that social networking sites can be interesting and entertaining but not all users are genuine. They are taught that they should take great care if using social networking sites at home and never give out personal information, become ‘friends’ with people they don’t know or arrange to meet someone they have met online. We expect pupils and staff to make no attempt to access social networking sites at school.

Email Safety:

Some pupils will have their own webmail accounts at home. As these are independent of the school they do not necessarily come with the safeguards that we set for email usage. Therefore we do not permit the use of personalised email accounts by pupils at school or at home for school purposes. Pupils are taught that using a personalised webmail account in school or for school use is not permitted.

Digital Images:

Digital still and video cameras are used for recording special events as well as being essential tools for everyday learning experiences across the curriculum. When children enter the school in Nursery, parents are asked to sign an opt-out form if they do not wish images of their children to be used for school purposes. Some images celebrating the work of pupils involved in everyday and special event activities may be selected to be shown on the school website. On the website we never state a child’s full name with their image. The school will happily remove any image of a child on the school website at their parent’s request.

Parents/Carers are allowed to tae photographs and videos of their children at school events such as class assemblies.

E-Bullying:

The school takes bullying very seriously and has robust procedures for dealing with it in any form. E-bullying is the use of any communication medium to offend, threaten, exclude or deride another person or their friends, family, gender, race, culture, ability, disability, age or religion.

Pupils are taught about bullying as part of the PSHE curriculum and in Online-Safety assemblies. We expect all members of our community to communicate with each other with respect and courtesy. Bullying of any type will not be tolerated by the school.

Mobile Phones:

We recognise that our oldest pupils may walk on their own to and from school and parents may wish them to have a mobile phone for emergencies. For this reason, pupils in year 5 and 6 are permitted to bring a mobile phone to school. They must be handed to the class teacher who locks them away safely during the day. They are returned to children at home time. Children may not use their phones in the playground before or after school. Children are not permitted to take mobile phones on school trips.

Copyright:

Though there are lots of free to use resources on the internet, the majority of image, sound and music files are covered by copyright laws. Some can be used for educational reasons without permission provided that the source is stated and that they are not made available outside the school. Some cannot be used under any circumstances, this is particularly so for music but can apply to other types of file e.g. photographic images. Care therefore needs to be taken with multi-media work which incorporates anything downloaded from the Internet or any other published source that it is not uploaded onto the school’s website or broadcast through any other technology.

Pupils are taught that the people who put their work on the Internet may not always want people to copy or use their work and that they should check whether they have permission. This is embedded in the Computing scheme we use. We expect all users to respect copyright laws.

Physical Safety:

All electrical equipment in the school undergoes PAT testing in accordance with HSE guidelines to ensure that it is safe to use.

Pupils are taught about the dangers of electricity as part of the science curriculum. We expect pupils to behave appropriately near electrical sockets and appliances.
We expect all users to take responsibility for their own physical well-being by adopting good practices.

Computers and other ICT equipment can be easily damaged. Pupils are taught the correct way to use ICT equipment. We expect pupils to respect ICT equipment and take care when handling and using, whether it is in the ICT suite, using the ipads or using the digital cameras.

Network Safety:

Pupils are taught that they should only access the network using that particular log in. We expect all users to only logon using their username.

Each class has a given folder for the storage of their work. Pupils are taught how to save their work into their class folder with their name as part of the file name. We expect pupils to save and keep their work to build up a portfolio of evidence, particularly for use in ICT assessment but also across other subjects. Access to other users’ folders is possible. Pupils are taught not to access another user’s work without permission. We expect pupils to respect the privacy of all other users and to make no attempt to access or interfere with another user’s work. We expect all users to make no attempt to alter the way the computer is set up. Only the network administrators and the school’s head of ICT are permitted to install software on to computers. Other staff members are unable to do so. We expect all users to make no attempt to load or download any programme onto the network.

All users of the network can be monitored remotely by the network administrators. Pupils are taught that their use of the network can be monitored. We expect all users to understand that their use is subject to monitoring.
External Websites

NSPCC Net Aware:

www.net-aware.org.uk

CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre):

www.ceop.police.uk

In - game chat: A guide for parents and carers - YouTube

Childline:

www.childline.org.uk

Childnet:

www.childnet.com

Digizen:

www.digizen.org.uk

Think U Know website:

www.thinkuknow.co.uk