Responsible use of ICT in school
As part of your child’s curriculum and the development of ICT skills Dwr-y-Felin School is providing supervised access to the internet. Please would you read and sign the ‘Acceptable Use of ICT’ rules in your child’s planner so that your child may use the internet at school.
We believe that the use of the World Wide Web and e-mail is worthwhile and is an essential skill for children as they grow up in the modern world. But we do understand that there can be concerns about pupils having access to undesirable materials, therefore we are taking positive steps to deal with this risk in school. Internet content is filtered to restrict access to inappropriate materials and we use monitoring software on the school ICT network which ‘listens’ for a list of keywords defined by us. If any ICT user types one of these keywords a screenshot of the offending computer is automatically taken, the ICT manager is immediately notified and necessary action can be taken.
Whilst every endeavour is made to ensure that suitable restrictions are placed on the ability of children to access inappropriate materials, the school cannot be held responsible for the nature or content of materials accessed through the internet. The school will not be liable for any damages arising from your child’s use of the internet facilities.
Useful online resources for safe internet use
Share Take Care
Child Exploitation & Online Protection
Rules for pupils:
Pupils are informed of the rules for using ICT equipment in the school, and posters have been put in all ICT suites to remind pupils of their responsibilities with regards to the use of ICT; these inlude:
- Do not type any profanity
- Do not play online games that depict acts of violence
- Do not attempt to search for any unsuitable material
- Do not download any music, movies or games
- Do not attempt to install any software on school PC’s
- Do not attempt to access any part of the school file system other than those you have been shown
- Do not allow other pupils to use your ICT account
In year 7 pupils are taught how to use school ICT safely and responsibly. They are shown how to logon with their ICT account and how to access and save work in their User Area of the school ICT network. The following rules are reinforced to ensure pupil’s understand their responsibilities:
- I will use only my own login details.
- I will use the computers only for school work and homework.
- I will only email people my teacher has approved.
- The messages I send will be polite and sensible.
- I will not give my home address or phone number, or arrange to meet someone, unless my parent, carer or teacher has given permission.
- To help protect other pupils and myself, I will tell a teacher if I see anything I am unhappy with or I receive messages I do not like.
- I understand that the school may check my computer files and may monitor the internet sites I visit.
- I will ensure that no unsuitable material (files) are stored in my user area, or elsewhere (e.g. downloaded programs, games, unsuitable images, inappropriate text).
- I understand that I should not download any files, without the permission of a member of the ICT Department.
Pupils discovered in the process of unsuitable use of ICT resources will be removed from the network, and where necessary, their Head of Year will be notified.
Guidance for parents
Stay in touch with what your children are doing by spending time with them whilst they are online, i.e. make online time a family activity. Make sure that you know the services your child uses. Find out what types of information and services are offered and whether there are ways for parents to protect their child.
- Keep the computer in a family room rather than a child’s bedroom.
- Teach yourself about how to access the services – ask your child to explain the services to you.
- Go online yourself so that you are familiar with and understand the potential benefits and risks associated with internet access. If you don’t know how to log on, let your child show you.
- Get to know your child’s ‘online friends’ just as you do their other friends.
- Develop an agreed set of ‘Family Internet Rules’ and make sure that your child adheres to these rules. For example:
- Always keep to the agreed times of day to be online, the length of time to be online, and the areas that you can visit.
- Never give any passwords to anyone outside your family.
- Always tell a parent about any threatening or bad language you see online.
- Never give out any of the following information during a ‘chat’ session:
- your real name (use a pseudonym – a false name)
- your parents or brothers’/sisters’ real names (use pseudonyms – false names)
- home address
- home telephone number
- parents’ work address/telephone number
- the name, address or location of your school
- Never send an online person any photographs or anything else without first checking with a parent.
- Never arrange for someone you meet online to visit your house.
- Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user without parental permission.
- Remember that what you read online is not necessarily true, e.g. the person who says she is a 15 year old girl could in fact be a middle aged man.
- Make sure that you’re dealing with someone you trust.
Whilst the internet introduces new potential dangers it also brings some really fantastic benefits to children and their learning which need to be balanced against the possible risks. The points covered by this agreement are not necessarily going to affect your child directly, but they are real risks for which your family needs to be prepared.