The Archbishop s School E Safety Policy 2015 Page 1 of 11
THE ARCHBISHOPS SCHOOL E-SAFETY POLICY This policy applies to all members of The Archbishops School community (including staff, students / pupils, volunteers, parents / carers, visitors, community users) who have access to and are users of school ICT systems, both in and out of the school. The Education and Inspections Act 2006 empowers the Headteacher to such extent as is reasonable, to regulate the behaviour of students / pupils when they are off the school site and empowers members of staff to impose disciplinary penalties for inappropriate behaviour. This is pertinent to incidents of cyber-bullying, or other e- safety incidents covered by this policy, which may take place outside of the school, but is linked to membership of the school. The 2011 Education Act increased these powers with regard to the searching for and of electronic devices and the deletion of data. In the case of both acts, action can only be taken over issues covered by the published Behaviour Policy. The school will deal with such incidents within this policy and associated behaviour and anti-bullying policies and will, where known, inform parents / carers of incidents of inappropriate e-safety behaviour that take place out of school. Headteacher and Senior Leaders: The Headteacher 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 E-Safety Co-ordinator. The Headteacher / Senior Leaders are responsible for ensuring that the E-Safety Coordinator / Officer and other relevant staff receive suitable training to enable them to carry out their e-safety roles and to train other colleagues, as relevant. The Headteacher/Senior Leaders/Pastoral Team will ensure that there is a system in place to allow for monitoring and support of those in school who carry out the internal e-safety monitoring role. This is to provide a safety net and also support to those colleagues who take on important monitoring roles. Page 2 of 11
E-Safety Coordinator / Officer: Leads the e-safety committee Takes day to day responsibility for e-safety issues and has a leading role in establishing and reviewing the school e-safety policies / documents Provides training and advice for staff Network Manager / Technical staff: The Network Manger is responsible for ensuring: that the school s technical infrastructure is secure and is not open to misuse or malicious attack that users may only access the networks and devices through a properly enforced password protection policy, in which passwords are regularly changed the filtering policy, is applied and updated on a regular basis and that its that the use of the netw00ork / internet / remote access is regularly monitored in order that any misuse / attempted misuse can be reported to the Headteacher / Senior Leaders; E-Safety Coordinator / Pastoral Team for investigation. that monitoring software / systems are implemented and updated as agreed in school policies Teaching and Support Staff Teaching and Support Staff are responsible for ensuring that: they have an up to date awareness of e-safety matters and of the current school e- safety policy and practices they report any suspected misuse or problem to the Headteacher / Senior Leader ; E-Safety Coordinator / Pastoral Team for investigation / action / sanction all digital communications with students / pupils / parents / carers should be on a professional level and only carried out using official school systems e-safety issues are embedded in all aspects of the curriculum and other activities students / pupils have a good understanding of research skills and the need to avoid plagiarism and uphold copyright regulations Page 3 of 11
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 in lessons where internet use is pre-planned students / 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 Child Protection / Safeguarding Designated Person / Officer should be trained in e-safety issues and be aware of the potential for serious child protection / safeguarding issues to arise from: sharing of personal data access to illegal / inappropriate materials inappropriate on-line contact with adults / strangers potential or actual incidents of grooming cyber-bullying Students / pupils: are responsible for using the school s digital technology systems in accordance with the Student / 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 school s E-Safety Policy covers their actions out of school, if related to their membership of the school Parents / Carers Parents / Carers 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, and the schools website. Parents and carers will be Page 4 of 11
encouraged to support the school in promoting good e-safety practice and to follow guidelines on the appropriate use of: digital and video images taken at school events access to parents sections of the website / VLE and on-line student / pupil records their children s personal devices in the school (where this is allowed) Page 5 of 11
CYBER-BULLYING POLICY The Archbishops School embraces the advantages of modern technology in terms of the educational benefits it brings, however the school is mindful of the potential for bullying to occur. Central to the School s anti-bullying policy is the belief that all pupils have a right not to be bullied and that bullying is always unacceptable. The School also recognises that it must take note of bullying perpetrated outside School which spills over into the School. DEFINITION OF CYBER-BULLYING Cyber-bullying is an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual using electronic forms of contact repeatedly over time against a victim who cannot easily defend himself/herself. By cyber-bullying, we mean bullying by electronic media: Bullying by texts or messages or calls on mobile phones The use of mobile phone cameras to cause distress, fear or humiliation Posting threatening, abusive, defamatory or humiliating material on websites, to include blogs, personal websites, social networking sites Using e-mail to message others Hijacking/cloning e-mail accounts Making threatening, abusive, defamatory or humiliating remarks in chat rooms, to include Facebook, Bebo, Youtube, Ratemyteacher and any other similar website. LEGAL ISSUES Cyber-bullying is generally criminal in character. The law applies to cyberspace. It is unlawful to disseminate defamatory information in any media including internet sites. Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 makes it an offence to send, by public means of a public electronic communications network, a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or one of an indecent, obscene or menacing character. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 makes it an offence to knowingly pursue any course of conduct amounting to harassment. Page 6 of 11
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POLICY The Archbishop s School educates its pupils both in the proper use of telecommunications and about the serious consequences of cyber-bullying and will, through PSHE and in ICT lessons and assemblies, continue to inform and educate its pupils in these fast changing areas. The Archbishop s School trains its staff to respond effectively to reports of cyberbullying or harassment and has systems in place to respond to it. The Archbishop s School endeavours to block access to inappropriate web sites, using firewalls, antivirus protection and filtering systems. Where appropriate and responsible, The Archbishops audits ICT communications and regularly reviews the security arrangements in place. Whilst education and guidance remain at the heart of what we do, The Archbishop s School reserves the right to take action against those who take part in cyber-bullying. All bullying is damaging but cyber-bullying and harassment can be invasive of privacy at all times. These acts may also be criminal acts. The Archbishop s School supports victims and, when necessary, will work with the Police to detect those involved in criminal acts. The Archbishop s School will use, as appropriate, the full range of sanctions to correct, punish or remove pupils who bully fellow pupils or harass staff in this way, both in or out of school. The Archbishop s School will use its power of confiscation where necessary to prevent pupils from committing crimes or misusing equipment. All members of the School community are aware they have a duty to bring to the attention of the Headteacher any example of cyber-bullying or harassment that they know about or suspect. Page 8 of 11
GUIDANCE FOR STAFF If you suspect or are told about a cyber-bullying incident, follow the protocol outlined below: Mobile Phones Ask the pupil to show you the mobile phone Make a transcript of a spoken message, again record date, times and names Tell the pupil to save the message/image Male a transcript of a spoken message, again record date, times and names Tell the pupil to save the message/image Go with the pupil and see the Headteacher, or in his absence, a member of the Senior Leadership Team Computers Ask the pupil to get up on-screen the material in question Ask the pupil to save the material Print off the offending material straight away Make sure you have got all pages in the right order and that there are no omissions Accompany the pupil, taking the offending material, to see the Headmaster Normal procedures to interview pupils and to take statements will then be followed particularly if a child protection issue is presented. Page 9 of 11
GUIDANCE FOR PUPILS If you believe you or someone else is the victim of cyber-bullying, you must speak to an adult as soon as possible. This person could be a parent/guardian, your tutor, your matron or the Headmaster. Do not answer abusive messages but log and report them Do not delete anything until it has been shown to your Form Teacher, Matron, parents/guardian or the Headmaster (even if it is upsetting, the material is important evidence which may need to be used later as proof of cyberbullying) Do not give out personal IT details Never reply to abusive e-mails Never reply to someone you do not know Stay in public areas in chat rooms GUIDANCE FOR PARENTS It is vital that parents and the school work together to ensure that all pupils are aware of the serious consequences of getting involved in anything that might be seen to be cyber-bullying. The Archbishop s School informs parents of the cyber-bullying policy and the procedures in place to deal with cyber-bullying. Parents can help by making sure their child understands the school s policy and, above all, how seriously The Archbishop s School takes incidents of cyber-bullying Parents should also explain to their sons or daughters legal issues relating to cyberbullying If parents believe their child is the victim of cyber-bullying, they should save the offending material (if need be by saving an offensive text on their or their child s Page 10 of 11
mobile phone) and make sure they have all relevant information before deleting anything Parents should contact the Headmaster as soon as possible. A meeting can then be arranged with the Headmaster, which may involve other relevant members of staff If the incident falls in the holidays The Archbishop s School reserves the right to take action against bullying perpetrated outside the school which spills over into the school. Page 11 of 11