Schools e-Safety Policy
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- Why write an e-safety policy?
- What is e-safety?
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- Statement of authority
- Responsibilities of school staff
- Routes to e-safety - primary pupils
- Routes to e-safety – secondary pupils
- e-Safety for vulnerable children and young people
- Response to an incident of concern
- School responsibilities
- Use of Social Media Tools as a school or establishment
Responsibilities of school staff
Information technologies are developing rapidly and can leave staff unsure of best practice or how to discuss e-Safety issues with pupils. Advice and training can be obtained from the CFE e-Safety officer, ASK advisers or child protection officers.
The trust between pupils and school staff is essential to education but very occasionally it can break down. This is not new, but has been highlighted by better awareness of human failings and greater respect for children. Nationally, CEOP was set up by the Home Office to “safeguard children’s online experiences and relentlessly track down and prosecute offenders” and their work should be acknowledged and built upon by schools.
In industry and indeed within KCC, a member of staff who flouts security advice or uses email or the Internet for inappropriate reasons risks dismissal.
All staff should sign an information systems Code of Conduct or Acceptable Use Policy on appointment. Staff thereby accept that the school can monitor network and Internet use to help ensure staff and pupil safety.
Staff that manage filtering systems or monitor ICT use have great responsibility and must be appropriately supervised. Procedures must define how inappropriate or illegal ICT use is reported to the Senior Leadership Team. Staff must be aware of dangers to themselves in managing ICT use, for instance in viewing inappropriate images to investigate their source.
Any allegation of inappropriate behaviour must be reported to the Senior Leadership Team and investigated with care. Advice should be sought from the Children’s Officer for Child Protection and/or Kent Police.
Email, text messaging, Social Networking and Instant Messaging (IM) all provide additional channels of communication between staff and pupils. Inappropriate behaviour can occur and communications can be misinterpreted. Staff should be aware of the power of the Police to identify the sender of inappropriate messages. Schools should provide establishment email accounts for all staff and also consider providing phones for staff-pupil contact to protect staff from false accusations.
Staff should be aware that students may be subject to cyberbullying via electronic methods of communication both in and out of schools. Head teachers should be aware that they have the power “to such an extent as is reasonable” to regulate the conduct of pupils off site (Education and Inspections Act 2006)
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 (Education and Inspections Act 2006). It must be noted that staff should not examine devices themselves but they should be handed to the Senior Leadership Team and potentially the police for investigation.
Page last updated: 06/05/2010
