Mobile phones and, in particular, the new generation of smart phones, such as the iPhone, now include many additional functions such as an integrated camera, video recording capability, instant messaging, mobile office applications and mobile access to the internet. These allow immediate access to email, searching for information on the internet and other functions such as access to social networking sites e.g. Facebook, twitter and blogging sites.
We recognise and value the increasingly wide opportunities that information technology provides to our staff and pupils. Whilst it is our aim that all members of our school community avail as fully as possible of this technology we also appreciate the need for safeguards to be in place. Young people have many opportunities to benefit from what are becoming very sophisticated hand-held devices outside school. However it should be recognised that at present their usefulness in the school context is limited.
To highlight the responsibility of the School, staff, governors and parents to mitigate risk through reasonable planning and actions. e-Safety covers not only Internet technologies but also electronic communications via mobile phones, games consoles and wireless technology.
is less about restriction and focuses on education about the risks as well as the benefits so that users feel confident online;
is concerned with supporting pupils to develop safer online behaviours both in and out of school; and
is concerned with helping pupils recognise unsafe situations and how to respond to risks appropriately.
Internet Filtering – Improved Websense filtering will give schools the flexibility to control and develop their own Internet Filtering Policy. Individual schools may now select to fully delegate management of their filtering policy to a nominated member of staff by signing up to C2k delegated filtering access. This nominated user will receive additional training for this responsibility and can further amend the local filtering policy to the needs and demands of the school. This is in direct response to feedback from schools, who wish to access more internet sites to enhance teaching and learning. However there are a number of agreed locked down sites that can never be overridden by the local school policy.
Meru Wireless – Meru Wi-Fi will provide increased wireless coverage and improved speed. Meru supports multiple devices and school controlled secure guest access and allows schools to plan for and implement a further purchase by the school or/and a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy.
Cloud Storage – Data and information will be stored on the Cloud in the new service and no longer in the school itself. This means it can be securely accessed from any location removing the need to carry data and files on insecure data pens and portable devices.
Personal Devices – Schools will be able to explore the introduction of new internet enabled devices to support teaching and learning.
The Principal has a duty of care for ensuring the safety (including e-safety) of members of the school community, though the day to day responsibility for e-safety will be delegated to the C2k Manager.
The Principal and the Designated Teacher for Child Protection should be aware of the procedures to be followed in the event of a serious e-safety allegation being made against a member of staff.
takes day to day responsibility for e-safety issues and has a leading role in establishing and reviewing the College’s e-safety policies / documents
ensures that all staff are aware of the procedures that need to be followed in the event of an e-safety incident taking place.
they have an up to date awareness of e-safety matters and of the current school e-safety policy and practices
all digital communications with pupils / parents / carers should be on a professional level and only carried out using official school systems
pupils have a good understanding of research skills and the need to avoid plagiarism and uphold copyright regulations
they monitor the use of digital technologies, mobile devices, cameras etc in lessons and other school activities (where allowed) and implement current policies with regard to these devices
should be trained in e-safety issues and be aware of the potential for serious child protection / safeguarding issues to arise from:
are responsible for using the School’s technology systems in accordance with the Pupil Acceptable Use Policy.
have a good understanding of research skills and the need to avoid plagiarism and uphold copyright regulations
need to understand the importance of reporting abuse, misuse or access to inappropriate materials and know how to do so
will be expected to know and understand policies on the use of mobile devices and digital cameras. They should also know and understand policies on the taking / use of images and on cyber-bullying.
should understand the importance of adopting good e-safety practice when using digital technologies out of school and realise that the College’s e-Safety Policy covers their actions out of school, if related to their membership of the school.
Parents / Guardians play a crucial role in ensuring that their children understand the need to use the internet / mobile devices in an appropriate way. The School will take every opportunity to help parents understand these issues through parents’ evenings, newsletters, letters, website / VLE and information about national / local e-safety campaigns / literature. Parents and carers will be encouraged to support the College in promoting good e-safety practice and to follow guidelines on the appropriate use of:
It is essential that all staff receive e-safety training and understand their responsibilities, as outlined in this policy. Training will be offered as follows:
A planned programme of formal e-safety training will be made available to staff at the beginning of each academic year. This will be regularly updated and reinforced. An audit of the e-safety training needs of all staff will be carried out as part of the PRSD review.
All new staff should receive e-safety training as part of their induction programme, ensuring that they fully understand the school e-safety policy and Acceptable Use Agreements.
The C2k Manager will receive regular updates through attendance at external training events and by reviewing guidance documents released by relevant organisations.
This E-Safety policy and its updates will be presented to and discussed by staff in staff / departmental meetings / training days.
The C2k Manager (or other nominated person) will provide advice / guidance / training to individuals as required
Whilst regulation and technical solutions are very important, their use must be balanced by educating pupils to take a responsible approach. The education of pupils in e-safety is therefore an essential part of the School’s e-safety provision. Pupils need the help and support of the school to recognise and avoid e-safety risks and build their resilience.
E-safety should be a focus in all areas of the curriculum and staff should reinforce e-safety messages across the curriculum. The e-safety curriculum should be broad, relevant and provide progression, with opportunities for creative activities and will be provided in the following ways:
A planned e-safety curriculum will be provided as part of ICT/PSHE classes and will be regularly revisited
Key e-safety messages will be reinforced as part of a planned programme of assemblies (e.g. Safe Internet Day) and form time activities
Pupils will be taught in all lessons to be critically aware of the materials / content they access on-line and be guided to validate the accuracy of information
Pupils will be taught to acknowledge the source of information used and to respect copyright when using material accessed on the internet
Pupils will be helped to understand the need for the pupil Acceptable Use Agreement and encouraged to adopt safe and responsible use both within and outside school
Staff will act as good role models in their use of digital technologies the internet and mobile devices
In lessons where internet use is pre-planned, it is best practice that pupils should be guided to sites checked as suitable for their use and that processes are in place for dealing with any unsuitable material that is found in internet searches
Where pupils are allowed to freely search the internet, staff should be vigilant in monitoring the content of the websites the young people visit
It is accepted that from time to time, for good educational reasons, pupils may need to research topics (eg racism, drugs, discrimination) that would normally result in internet searches being blocked. In such a situation, staff can request that the Technical Staff (or other relevant designated person) can temporarily remove those sites from the filtered list for the period of study by availing of the improved Websense filtering as defined above. Any request to do so, should be auditable, with clear reasons for the need.
21st century life presents dangers including violence, racism and exploitation from which pupils need to be reasonably protected. At an appropriate age and maturity they will need to learn to recognise and avoid these risks — to become “Internet-wise” and ultimately good “digital citizens”. Schools need to perform risk assessments on the technologies within their school to ensure that they are fully aware of and can mitigate against the potential risks involved with their use. Pupils need to know how to cope if they come across inappropriate material or situations online. The school risk assessments should inform the teaching and learning, develop best practice and be referenced in the school’s Acceptable Use Policy.
Bullying, intimidation and harassment are not new in society; however bullying via electronic methods of communication both in and out of school represents a new challenge for schools to manage.
Staff should be aware that pupils may be subject to cyber bullying via electronic methods of communication both in and out of school. This form of bullying should be considered within the College’s overall Anti-bullying Policy and pastoral services as well as the eSafety policy.
Care should be taken when making use of social media for teaching and learning. Each of the social media technologies can offer much to schools and pupils but each brings its own unique issues and concerns. Each social media technology that is to be utilised should be risk assessed in the context of each school situation.
Instant Messaging (IM) and Chat Rooms – potential to transmit threatening or abusive messages perhaps using a compromised or alias identity.
Social Networking Sites – typically includes the posting or publication of nasty or upsetting comments on another user’s profile.
Mobile Phones – examples can include abusive texts, video or photo messages. Sexting can also occur in this category, where someone is encouraged to share intimate pictures or videos of themselves and these are subsequently transmitted to other people.
Abusing Personal Information – may involve the posting of photos, personal information, fake comments and blogs, or pretending to be someone online without that person’s permission.
Whilst cyber-bullying may appear to provide anonymity for the bully, most messages can be traced back to their creator and pupils should be reminded that cyber-bullying can constitute a criminal offence. While there is no specific legislation for cyber-bullying, the following may cover different elements of cyber-bullying behaviour:
It is important that pupils are encouraged to report incidents of cyber-bullying to both the school and, if appropriate, the PSNI to ensure the matter is properly addressed and the behaviour ceases.
Staff should also keep good records of cyber-bullying incidents, following the College’s Anti-Bullying Policy to monitor the effectiveness of their preventative activities, and to review and ensure consistency in their investigations, support and sanctions.
These guidelines are intended to help a school make explicit the expectations of the school on pupil use of mobile phones and the restrictions which are placed on their use in school and on school grounds. The guidelines sit alongside the Acceptable Use Policy which all pupils sign and is shared with parents and carers. They also give clear guidance to staff, pupils and parents about the consequences for breaches of the guidelines.
Misuse of the mobile phone will be dealt with using the same principles set out in the Behaviour for Learning Policy, with the response being proportionate to the severity of the misuse.
The Deputy Head will deal with serious incidents of misuse, particularly where there has been a victim of cyberbullying.
Pupils should be aware that serious misuse may lead to the confiscation of their mobile phone, communication with parents and the imposition of other sanctions up to and including exclusion from school. If the offence is criminal in nature it will be reported to the PSNI.
Where it is deemed necessary to examine the contents of a mobile phone this will be carried out by a designated member of staff. The action will be properly recorded in case it later becomes evidence of criminal activity. The record will include the time, who was present and what is found.
The school will consider any of the following to be unacceptable use of the mobile phone and a serious breach of the school’s Behaviour for Learning resulting in sanctions being applied:
Using the mobile phone outside school hours to intimidate or upset staff and pupils will be considered a breach of these guidelines in the same way as unacceptable use which takes place in school time.
Pupils and parents are notified that appropriate action will be taken against those who are in breach of the acceptable use guidelines following the Behaviour for Learning policy. In addition pupils and their parents should be very clear that the school is within it rights to confiscate the phone where the guidelines have been breached.
If a phone is confiscated school will make it clear for how long this will be and the procedure to be followed for its return.
Pupils should be aware that the PSNI will be informed if there is a serious misuse of the mobile phone where criminal activity is suspected
If a pupil commits an act which causes serious harassment, alarm or distress to another pupil or member of staff the ultimate sanction may be permanent exclusion. School will consider the impact on the victim of the act in deciding the sanction and parents will be involved.
The Head Teacher or a designated staff member will have the right to view files stored in confiscated equipment and will seek the cooperation of parents in deleting any files which are in clear breach of these Guidelines unless these are being preserved as evidence.
If required evidence of the offence will be preserved, preferably by confiscation of the device and keeping it secure or by taking photographs of the screen.
Advice can be sought from the EA Southern Child Protection Team and/or the PSNI. School should consider whether an incident should be reported to the school Designated Teacher.
The designated staff member should monitor repeat offences to see if there is any pattern in the perpetrator or the victim which needs further investigation in line with the school’s Anti-Bullying Policy.
An e–Safety training programme will be established across the school to raise the awareness and importance of safe and responsible internet use amongst pupils.
An e–Safety module will be included in the pastoral and ICT programmes covering both safe school and home use.
e-Safety rules or copies of the student Acceptable Use Policy will be posted in all rooms with Internet access.
Safe and responsible use of the Internet and technology will be reinforced across the curriculum and subject areas.
Particular attention to e-Safety education will be given where pupils are considered to be vulnerable.
It is important that all staff feel confident to use new technologies in teaching and the School’s e–Safety Policy will only be effective if all staff subscribe to its values and methods.
Staff will be made aware that Internet traffic can be monitored and traced to the individual user. Discretion and professional conduct is essential.
Up-to-date and appropriate staff training in safe and responsible Internet use, both professionally and personally, will be provided for all members of staff.
Staff who manage filtering systems or monitor ICT use will be supervised by the Senior Leadership Team and have clear procedures for reporting issues.
The College will highlight useful online tools which staff should use with children in the classroom. These tools will vary according to the age and ability of the pupils.
All members of staff will be made aware that their online conduct out of school could have an impact on their role and reputation within school. Civil, legal or disciplinary action could be taken if they are found to bring the profession or institution into disrepute, or if something is felt to have undermined confidence in their professional abilities.
In the school context (as in the business world), email should not be considered private. C2k recommend that all staff and pupils should be encouraged to use their C2k email system. It is strongly advised that staff should not use home email accounts for school business.
The C2k Education Network filtering solution provides security and protection to C2k email accounts. The filtering solution offers scanning of all school email ensuring that both incoming and outgoing messages are checked for viruses, malware, spam and inappropriate content.
Staff and pupils accessing the Internet via the C2k Education Network will be required to authenticate using their C2k username and password. This authentication will provide Internet filtering via the C2k Education Network solution.
Access to the Internet via the C2k Education Network is fully auditable and reports are available to the school principal.
This section is designed to inform users of potential legal issues relevant to the use of electronic communications.
Many young people and indeed some staff use the Internet regularly without being aware that some of the activities they take part in are potentially illegal. Please note that the law around this area is constantly updating due to the rapidly changing nature of the internet.
This Act makes it a criminal offence to stir up hatred or arouse fear. Fear and Hatred both mean fear/hatred of a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief, colour, race, sexual orientation, disability, nationality or ethic or national origins
Commonly referred to as N.I. ‘Hate Crime’ legislation. This empowers courts to impose tougher sentences when an offence is aggravated by hostility based on the victims actual or presumed religion, race, sexual orientation or disability.
It is an offence to take, permit to be taken, make, possess, show, distribute or advertise indecent images of children in Northern Ireland. A child for these purposes is anyone under the age of 18. Viewing an indecent image of a child on your computer means that you have made a digital image. An image of a child also covers pseudo-photographs (digitally collated or otherwise). This can include images taken by and distributed by the child themselves (often referred to as “Sexting”). A person convicted of such an offence may face up to 10 years in prison.
The offence of grooming is committed if you are over 18 and have communicated with a child under 16 at least twice (including by phone or using the Internet). It is an offence to meet them or travel to meet them anywhere in the world with the intention of committing a sexual offence.
Causing a child under 16 to watch a sexual act is illegal, including looking at images such as videos, photos or webcams, for your own gratification.
It is also an offence for a person in a position of trust to engage in sexual activity with any person under 18, with whom they are in a position of trust. (Typically, teachers, social workers, health professionals, connexions staff etc fall in this category of trust).
Article 3.This legislation can be considered where a person is pursuing a course of conduct which amounts to harassment. This includes alarming a person or causing a person distress. This course of conduct must be on more than one occasion
Sending by means of the Internet a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or sending a false message by means of or persistently making use of the Internet for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety is guilty of an offence liable, on conviction, to imprisonment. This wording is important because an offence is complete as soon as the message has been sent: there is no need to prove any intent or purpose.
The Act requires anyone who handles personal information to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office of the type of processing it administers, and must comply with important data protection principles when treating personal data relating to any living individual. The Act also grants individuals rights of access to their personal data, compensation and prevention of processing.
impair the operation of a computer or program (for example caused by viruses or denial of service attacks).
UK citizens or residents may be extradited to another country if they are suspected of committing any of the above offences.
This legislation makes it a criminal offence to send an electronic message (email) that conveys indecent, grossly offensive, threatening material or information that is false; or is of an indecent or grossly offensive nature if the purpose was to cause a recipient to suffer distress or anxiety.
Copyright is the right to prevent others from copying or using his or her “work” without permission. The material to which copyright may attach (known in the business as “work”) must be the author’s own creation and the result of some skill and judgement. It comes about when an individual expresses an idea in a tangible form. Works such as text, music, sound, film and programs all qualify for copyright protection. The author of the work is usually the copyright owner, but if it was created during the course of employment it belongs to the employer.
It is an infringement of copyright to copy all or a substantial part of anyone’s work without obtaining the author’s permission. Usually a licence associated with the work will allow a user to copy or use it for limited purposes. It is advisable always to read the terms of a licence before you copy or use someone else’s material.
It is also illegal to adapt or use software without a licence or in ways prohibited by the terms of the software licence.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) regulates the interception of communications and makes it an offence to intercept or monitor communications without the consent of the parties involved in the communication. The RIP was enacted to comply with the Human Rights Act 1998.
The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, however, permit a degree of monitoring and record keeping, for example, to ensure communications are relevant to school activity or to investigate or detect unauthorised use of the network. Nevertheless, any monitoring is subject to informed consent, which means steps must have been taken to ensure that everyone who may use the system is informed that communications may be monitored.
Covert monitoring without informing users that surveillance is taking place risks breaching data protection and privacy legislation.
Sec 62-68 Includes the Coroners and Justice Act. It is an offence to possess a drawing or painting which depicts a child in an indecent pose or participating in an indecent act.
63 (7) this includes images of “threats to a person life or injury to anus, breasts or genitals, sexual acts with a corpse or animal whether alive or dead” must also be “explicit and realistic”. Penalties can be up to 3 years imprisonment.
Education and Inspections Act 2006 outlines legal powers for schools which relate to Cyberbullying/Bullying:
Head teachers have the power “to such an extent as is reasonable” to regulate the conduct of pupils off site.
School staff are able to confiscate items such as mobile phones etc when they are being used to cause a disturbance in class or otherwise contravene the school behaviour/anti bullying policy.
Impact: What would be the impact to the school (e.g. this could be in terms of legality, reputation, complaints from parents, reporting in press etc.)
Owner: The person who will action the risk assessment and recommend the mitigation to Headteacher and Governing Body.