Safeguarding our children is of the utmost importance to us. Our children are taught, within the curriculum, the potential dangers of the internet and how to keep safe. Parents are also sent information regarding the safety of their children.
On admission to school we ask parents to discuss the information contained in our Internet Safety Policy with their children. A consent form is also required before any child is able to access the internet.
Please read our Internet Safety policy for further details regarding the use of the internet at Mawgan in Pydar Primary School
Mawgan in Pydar Primary School
A Policy for the Use of the Internet
Introduction:
The resources used by pupils in school are carefully chosen by the teacher and determined by curriculum policies. Use of the Internet, by its nature, will provide access to information which has not been selected by the teacher. Whilst pupils will often be directed to sites which provide reviewed and evaluated sources, at times, they will be able to move beyond these, to sites unfamiliar to the teacher.
The problems and issues that have been highlighted by the media concern all schools. Whilst some of the media interest is hype, there is genuine cause for concern that children might access unsuitable material either accidentally or deliberately.
The purpose of this policy is to:
. Establish the ground rules we have in school for using the Internet.
. Describe how these fit into the wider context of our discipline and school policies
. Demonstrate the methods used to protect the children from sites containing
pornography, racist or politically extreme views and violence. The school believes that the benefits to pupils from access to the resources of the Internet far exceed the disadvantages. Ultimately, the responsibility for setting and conveying the standards that children are expected to follow, when using media and information resources, is one the school shares with parents and guardians.
At Mawgan in Pydar Primary, we feel that the best recipe for success lies in a combination of site filtering, of supervision and by fostering a responsible attitude in our pupils in partnership with parents.
Parents will be sent an explanatory letter and the rules which form our Internet Access
Agreement. This can be seen as an extension to the Home School Agreement.
Using the Internet for Education:
The benefits include:
. access to a wide variety of educational resources including libraries, art galleries and museums
. rapid and cost effective world wide communication
. gaining an understanding of people and cultures around the globe
. staff professional development through access to new curriculum materials, experts’
knowledge and practice
. exchange of curriculum and administration data with the Local Authority
. social and leisure use.
. greatly increased skills in Literacy, particularly in being able to read and appraise critically and
then communicate what is important to others
The school intends to teach pupils about the vast information resources available on the Internet,
using it as a planned part of many lessons. All staff will review and evaluate resources available on web sites appropriate to the age range and ability of the pupils being taught and the ICT subject leader will assist in the dissemination of this information.
Initially the pupils may be restricted to sites which have been reviewed and selected for content. They may be given tasks to perform using a specific group of web sites accessed from a common ‘Favourites’ list. Pupils will have the opportunity to exchange information via email. They will be taught how to use the address book, how to attach files to an email and how to follow conventions of politeness,
As pupils gain experience, they will be taught how to use searching techniques to locate and specific information for themselves. Comparisons will be made between researching from different sources of information (CD Rom, books, WWW).
We hope that pupils will learn to decide when it is appropriate to use the Internet, as opposed to other sources of information, in terms of: the time taken; the amount of information found; the usefulness and reliability of information located,
At times, information, such as text, photos etc may be ‘downloaded” from the Internet for use in pupil& presentations. Tasks will be set to encourage pupils to view web sites and information with a critical eye.
Pupils’ Access to the Internet
Mawgan in Pydar Primary School will use a County Council’s “filtered” Internet Service, which will minimise the chances of pupils encountering undesirable material. Mawgan in Pydar Primary will normally only allow children to use the Internet when there is a responsible adult present to supervise. However it is unrealistic to suppose that the teacher’s attention will always be directed toward the computer screen.
Members of staff will be aware of the potential for misuse, and will be responsible for explaining to pupils, the expectation we have of pupils, Teachers will have access to pupils’ emails and other Internet related files and willcheck these on a regular basis to ensure expectations of behaviour are being met.
Expectations of Pupils using the Internet
. All pupils are expected to read and agree the Internet Agreement.
. At Mawgan in Pydar Primary, we expect all pupils to be responsible for their own
behaviour on the Internet, just as they are anywhere else in school. This includes materials they choose to access, and language they use.
. Pupils using the World Wide Web are expected not to deliberately seek out
offensive material. Should any pupils encounter any such material accidentally, they
are expected to report it immediately to a teacher, so that the Service Provider can
block further access to the site:
. Pupils are expected not to use any rude language in their email communications
and contact only people they know or those the teacher has approved. They have
been taught the rules of etiquette in email and are expected to follow them
. Pupils must ask permission before accessing the Internet and have a clear idea
why they are using it
. Pupils should not access other people’s files unless permission has been given.
.Computers should only be used for schoolwork and homework unless permission
has been granted otherwise,
. No program files may be downloaded to the computer from the Internet, This to
prevent corruption of data and avoid viruses.
. No programs on disc or CD Rom should be brought in from home for use in
school, for legal and security reasons.
. Homework completed at home may be brought in on floppy/USB but this will have
to be virus scanned by the class teacher before use,
. No personal information such as phone numbers and addresses should be given
out and no arrangements to meet someone made unless this is part of an approved
school project,
. Pupils consistently choosing not to comply with these expectations will be warned,
and subsequently, may be denied access to Internet resources, They will also come
under the general discipline procedures of the school which comprises an escalating
set of measures including a letter to parents and withdrawal of privileges.
