Acceptable Use Policy

The aim of this Acceptable Use Policy is to ensure that pupils will benefit from learning opportunities offered by the school’s Internet resources in a safe and effective manner. Internet use and access is considered a school resource and privilege. Therefore, if the school AUP is not adhered to this privilege will be withdrawn and appropriate sanctions-as outlined in the AUP- will be imposed.

It is envisaged that the AUP will be reviewed regularly.

School’s Strategy

The school will employ a number of strategies in order to maximise learning opportunities and reduce risks associated with Internet use. These strategies are as follows:

General

Students are expected to follow the same rules for good behaviour and respectful conduct online as offline – See Code of Behaviour Policy
Internet sessions will always be supervised by a teacher.
Filtering Software provided by the Nation Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) is used through the school in order to minimise the risk of exposure to inappropriate material.

The school and teachers will regularly monitor pupils’ Internet usage.

Uploading and downloading of non-approved software will not be permitted.
Virus protection software will be used and updated on a regular basis.
The use of personal external and or portable memory devices1 in school requires a teacher’s permission.
Students will treat others with respect at all times, observe good “netiquette” (i.e., etiquette on the internet) and will not undertake any actions that may bring the school into disrepute.

Education

Students and teachers will be provided with training in the area of Internet safety.
Students will be educated on the benefits and risks associated with using the internet.
The children at St. Joseph’s Primary School will be made aware of the importance of keeping their personal information private.
The students will learn about the importance of informing and telling someone they trust if they feel unsafe or discover something unpleasant.
The children will learn about the importance of treating ICT equipment with care, consideration and respect.

World Wide Web

Students will not intentionally visit Internet sites that contain obscene, illegal, hateful or otherwise objectionable materials.
Students will report accidental accessing of unpleasant material to help protect other pupils.
Students will use the Internet for educational purposes only.
Students will learn not to copy information into assignments without acknowledging the source or author of the original work (plagiarism and copyright infringement).
Students will never disclose or publicise personal information.
Downloading materials or images not relevant to their studies, is in direct breach of the school’s acceptable use policy.
Students will be aware that any usage, including distributing or receiving information, school-related or personal, may be monitored for unusual activity, security and/or network management reasons.

Email

This will be relevant to staff only, nevertheless, students may be taught how to use email.
Students will not send or receive any material that is illegal, obscene, defamatory or that is intended to annoy or intimidate another person.
Students will not reveal their own or other people’s personal details, such as addresses or telephone numbers or pictures.
Students will never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they only know through emails or the internet.
Students will note that sending and receiving email attachments is subject to permission from their teacher.

Internet Chat

Students will only have access to chat rooms, discussion forums, messaging or other electronic communication that have been approved by the school and sanctioned by the class teacher.
Chat rooms, discussion forums and other electronic communication forums will only be used for educational purposes and will always be supervised.
Usernames and passwords will be used to avoid disclosure of identity.
Face-to-face meetings with someone organised via Internet chat will be forbidden.

St. Joseph’s Primary School’s own mobile devices.

St. Joseph’s Primary School may provide students with mobile computers, digital recorders or other devices to promote learning both inside and outside of the school. Students should abide by the same expected use policies, when using school devices off the school network, as on the school network. Students are expected to treat these devices with respect. They should report any loss, damage, or malfunction to their teacher immediately. Use of school-issued mobile devices will be monitored.

Mobile devices in the possession of St. Joseph’s Primary School students

Students may not use personally-owned devices in school (e.g. laptops, tablets computers, digital-cameras, and smart-phones) for educational purposes, unless explicitly recommended and sanctioned by relevant professionals.

Security

We ask that our students use common sense if they think a website does not look ‘right’. They must inform their teacher of any concerns. They must think twice before they click on anything they feel is not right. If they believe a computer or mobile device they are using might be infected with a virus, they must alert their teacher.

Netiquette

Netiquette may be defined as appropriate social behaviour over computer networks and in particular in the online environment.

Students should always use the internet, network resources, and online sites in a courteous and respectful manner.
Students should be polite, use correct language and not harass others or provoke fights online.
Students should also recognize that among the valuable content online, there is unverified, incorrect, or inappropriate content.
Students should use trusted sources when conducting research via the Internet.
Students should not post anything online that they wouldn’t want parents, teachers, or future colleges or employers to see. Once something is online, it is out there – and can sometimes can be shared and spread in ways you never intended.

School Website – www.stjosephskilmuckridge.scoilnet.ie/blog

Pupils will be given the opportunity to publish projects, artwork or school work on the school website.
The website will be regularly checked to ensure that there is no content that compromises the safety of pupils or staff.
The publication of student work will be co-ordinated by a teacher.
Pupils’ work will appear in an educational context on Web pages.
Digital photographs, audio or video clips will feature groups of children only.
The school will endeavour to use digital photographs, audio or video clips focusing on group activities. Content focusing on individual students will not be published on the school website.
Personal pupil information including home address and contact details will be omitted from school web pages.
The school website will avoid publishing the names of individuals in photographs.
The school will ensure that the image files are appropriately named – will not use pupils’ names in image file names or ALT tags if published on the web.
Pupils will continue to own the copyright on any work published.

Photographs

St. Joseph’s Primary School use the blog Facebook (StJosephs) and Twitter (@scoiliosafnaofa )to celebrate the success stories and great achievements of our students. We use photographs/video/other multimedia to compliment text content on the blog. We advise the following:

Photographs of the children will only be displayed online through our various platforms with explicit consent from parents/guardians.
Children will not be named in full – first name will suffice. Should their full name be used at any stage, verbal permission will be sought from parents/guardians.
No child shall be photographed and named under that photograph specifically if they are the only student photographed.

Mobile Phones

Children are not allowed to use mobile phones in the school. If a child is required to bring a mobile phone to school to make contact with their parents after school, a note to this effect should be furnished by parent/guardian and the mobile phone should be left in the area designated by the class teacher for the duration of the school day.

The school will not accept responsibility for mobile phones.

Cyber-bullying

Harassing, flaming, denigrating, impersonating, outing, tricking, excluding and cyber-stalking are all examples of cyber-bullying. Such bullying will not be tolerated in St. Joseph’s Primary School we advise the following:

Our students must not send messages or post comments or photos with the intent of scaring, hurting, or intimidating someone else. Engaging in any online activities intended to harm (physically or emotionally) another person, will result in severe disciplinary action and loss of privileges
In some cases, cyber-bullying is a crime
Remember that your activities are monitored and retained
The school will support students, teachers and parents in dealing with cyberbullying. St. Joseph’s Primary School is committed to the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools (Circular 0065/2011) and will act as required by the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Department of Justice and Equality and the Health Service Executive.

Legislation

Teachers, students and parents should familiarise themselves with the following legislation :

Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998
Interception Act 1993
Video Recordings Act 1989
The Data Protection Act 1988
Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003

Sanctions

Misuse of the Internet, including bullying or discrediting others, may result in disciplinary action, including written warnings, withdrawal of internet access privileges and, in extreme cases, suspension or expulsion (as outlined in the Code of Behaviour Policy). The school also reserves the right to report any illegal activities to the appropriate authorities.

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