Anagh Coar Primary School
e-Safety Policy
UNCRC: Article 17: help protect children from materials that could harm them.
What is e-Safety?
E-safety is safeguarding children in a digital world - ensuring that they feel safe, that they understand the risks as well as the benefits of being online both in and out of school.
The DEC has an Acceptable Use Policy which provides clear information regarding all aspects of safety when using Department networks and equipment. Anagh Coar Primary School will work within this policy.
Online
There is access to the Internet in school which is filtered and only when adults are present.
If children have the opportunity to take laptops/iPads home on a 1:2:1 scheme their parents are made aware that children will be able to gain access to the Internet and it is their responsibility to supervise this. Children and their parents will have signed agreement to the AUP prior to this.
Web filtering provided by DEC will be used.
Social networking sites may not be used by children of Primary School Age.
Personal Data
All images taken in school will be stored on school servers and removed from all other equipment as soon as it is practical to do so.
Holding sensitive data will be restricted where practical to the school servers. When it is necessary to make use of data away from the school, users must be aware of issues to do with security and confidentiality when making use of the data, such as for assessment and report writing, e.g. laptops must be logged out when not being used and a security password (the default password must be changed to your own) should be enabled to gain any access to the device. Once the data has been used it must be stored, if necessary, back on the school server and deleted from personal laptops.
Pupils use of personal information should be limited to their own data used in their own personal area of the school network.
Passwords - Access to all equipment and corporate data will be by password.
Curriculum
Education and training for pupils and parents.
Delivery mechanism
The main elements of e-safety at Key Stage 1.
Inappropriate images - what should children do if they come across an unsuitable image.
Looking after equipment - how to handle equipment appropriately, including the use of electricity.
Treating others responsibly - behaving well, including online.
Gaming - look at the age ratings of games - they should be not too violent and they should play for a short time.
Friends sites (social networking) - know age restrictions and that people may not be who they say they are.
Personal information - what is personal information and why shouldn't we tell people.
Top tips
People may not be who they say they are.
Be nice
Keep personal information private
Tell a grown up that you trust if you get the 'uh-oh' feeling!
The main elements of e-safety at KS2. These elements are in addition to & build upon the elements for KS1.
The elements can be categorised into the following groups:
Content
Dealing with nasty or unwanted comments.
Dealing with junk mail, email attachments.
Age inappropriate content that causes offense.
Racist or biased content.
Reliability of websites, pop up windows.
Security risks of viruses, adverts and spam.
Contact
Chat rooms, gaming and social networking sites.
Personal Online spaces. Keeping personal information safe - what is personal information? The potential dangers of posting details online.
Cyberbullying, stalking and harassment that threaten psychological well being.
Instant messaging/text messaging.
Conduct
Understanding copyright and illegal downloading and plagiarism.
Gambling.
Harassment and bullying.
Creating inappropriate material including videos.
Misleading information.
For older children, another category -
Commercial
Understanding how credit cards are used online
Abuse of details and scams (or cyber tricks)
Mobile phone rates
Advertising and sponsorship
'SMART' thinking is a useful way of judging what is appropriate and/or acceptable:
Safe Meeting Acceptable Reliable Tell
Devices
Use of handheld devices (including mobile phones).
Mobile phones may not be used by pupils during the school day. Phones brought to school are to be handed into the School Office at the beginning of the day and collected at the end of the day
Use of personal equipment may only be used with the express permission of the DEC ICT team.
Enabling access to the school network is controlled by the DEC ICT team.
Sanctions for Misuse
If deemed necessary items will be confiscated if they are being used inappropriately.
Personal devices brought into school will be taken to the School Office to be collected by the child’s parent.
Use of school equipment will be denied if necessary.
Clarity over accidental access to inappropriate material should be reported to a class teacher.
Deliberate or illegal access to inappropriate material will be dealt with using the sanctions listed here.
Sanctions for bullying, harassment, sexual exploitation, racial or hate motivated incidents will be in accordance with school’s behaviour and anti-bullying policies.
Staff Responsibilities
Staff have a responsibility to:
Model good practise.
Adhere to policies.
Embedding e-safety across the curriculum.
Know how and when to escalate e-safety issues.
Maintain a professional level of conduct in their personal use of technology both within and outside school.
Take personal responsibility for their professional development in this area.
Vulnerable Groups
Provision for vulnerable pupils and parents to understand e-safety issues will be made by class teachers in consultation with SEN staff who are best placed to understand and know the needs of these pupils.
Unsuitable Sites & Images
Occasionally pupils will access unsuitable or inappropriate material on the Internet. The DEC provide secure, filtered web access but not all unsuitable material can be filtered out. For example, using Google image search, the 'thumbnail' images are not filtered but the sites they come from are. It is not possible to filter these thumbnail images without blocking 'Google Images'.
If a child finds an image or site that is inappropriate, They must be encouraged not to show it to their peers. They should not close the browser, but close the lid on the laptop, then tell the teacher who is supervising them. The teacher needs to ask the pupil what they were searching for and who saw the image. The teacher needs to keep the URL (website address) of the offending site and send it to the ICT Helpdesk for blocking. The teacher involved needs to inform their line manager and the parents informed. This usually happens by accident and sometimes the child is upset by it. Informing the parents of the nature of the image gives them the decision whether to discuss it further at home. If parents are not informed by the school, but by the child, parents can, quite rightly worry about the way the school handles these types of incident and the supervision of Internet access. If a child is wilfully trying to access unsuitable material, they are breaking the school's Acceptable Use Policy and we recommend that sanctions are enforced in alignment with the school's behaviour policy.
In summary -
Close the lid and notify the teacher
Copy and paste URL onto an email
Ask if other children have seen the image
Investigate what the pupil was searching for
Inform line manager
Inform parents including the nature of the image and if there was any blame on the child
Send email to helpdesk for blocking
Taking Pictures
Always make sure you delete the images from the device when you have finished with it. Pen drives can be made secure by encrypting but SD cards on cameras can't. The AUP states that all data needs to be secure, including pictures.
When taking pictures in the classroom, make sure there are no notices, class lists or details of children in the background.
Reviewing Policy
Responding to Issues
Logs of e-safety incidents, actions and follow up will be kept by the ICT coordinator/Headteacher.
Evaluating Effectiveness (accountability)
As part of the ICT Curriculum, the school will monitor the extent to which learners feel safe in how to deal with incidents, talk confidently to staff about feeling at risk.
Involving Pupils & Parents
Pupils and parents will be involved in contributing to policy and procedures. The draft policy will be offered to both these groups and any suggestions for amendment will be given consideration.
Pupils will be informed of the school’s e-safety policy.
Parents be informed of the school's e-safety policy. Parents will be encouraged to liaise with school if they think a pupil is either at risk or showing risky behaviour online.
The e-safety curriculum will be taught during ICT lessons, as part of the PSHE curriculum and referred to at other relevant times.
Responsibilities
Anagh Coar Primary School has an AUP (Acceptable Use Policy), e-safety policy and a designated ICT co-ordinator. Their role is to develop and maintain an e-safe culture. The school's Headteacher and leadership teams will review the e-safety resources and the key issues involved. INSET training will be made available and, where possible, pupils will be included in decisions about what should be included. Our Anti-bullying Policy includes cyberbullying.
Reviewed/Agreed: September 2019 Next Review: September 2022