School Name: St. Peter’s N.S.

Address:         Dromiskin, Dundalk, Co. Louth

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 Therefore, if the school AUP is not adhered to, this privilege will be withdrawn and appropriate sanctions – as outlined in the AUP – will be imposed.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 school and parent representatives will revise the AUP annually. Before signing, the AUP should be read carefully to indicate that the conditions of use are accepted and understood.

This AUP was created in November 2004 by the staff, B.O.M. and Parents’ Committee of St. Peter’s N.S. and is reviewed every 3 years or as matters affecting the policy arise.

School’s Strategy

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

General

  • Internet sessions will always be supervised by a teacher.
  • Filtering software and/or equivalent systems will be used in order to minimise the risk of exposure to inappropriate material. The filtering system is centrally managed by the NCTE under the auspices of the DES. The level of filtering will be reviewed as appropriate and not changed without proper consultation
  • The school will regularly monitor pupils’ Internet usage.
  • Students and teachers will be provided with training/advice in the area of Internet safety.
  • Uploading and downloading of non-approved software will not be permitted.
  • Virus protection software will be used and updated on a regular basis. Again, from 2005, it is proposed that virus protection and firewall issues will be centrally managed by the Dept. of Education. The school will use AVG Free virus protection on our machines
  • The use of personal CD-ROMs/Mass storage devices in school requires a teacher’s permission.
  • Students will observe good “netiquette” (i.e., etiquette on the Internet) at all times and will not undertake any actions that may bring the school into disrepute. (see Webwise)
  • Students will be encouraged to report immediately to class teacher or person in charge on any inappropriate material inadvertently or otherwise viewed on the internet.

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 inappropriate materials in accordance with school procedures to class teacher or person in charge
  • Students will use the Internet for educational purposes only.
  • Students will be familiar with copyright issues relating to online learning. Students who copy information into assignments must acknowledge the source (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.
  • Students will not type in URL addresses without the permission of their teacher

Email

  • Students will use approved class e-mail accounts under supervision by or permission from a teacher.
  • Students will not send or receive any material that is illegal, obscene, defamatory or that is intended to annoy, intimidate or bully 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 e-mails or the internet.
  • Students will note that sending and receiving e-mail attachments is subject to permission from their teacher.

Internet Chat

  • Students will not have access to chat rooms. Other fora of electronic communication may be approved by the teachers involved.
  • Such forums of electronic communication will only be used for educational purposes and will always be supervised by class teacher or person in charge.
  • Due care will be taken to avoid disclosure of identity.
  • Face-to-face meetings with someone organised via Internet communication will be forbidden.
  • Parents and children will be alerted as to the dangers of internet social networking sites. Their attention will be drawn on a regular basis to such sites as Webwise which offers detailed advice and guidelines re. Internet safety (see Anti Bullying Policy, SPHE Policy and Internet Safety Policy).

School Website

  • Pupils will be given the opportunity to publish projects, artwork or school work on the World Wide Web in accordance with clear policies and approval processes regarding the content that can be loaded on to the school website.
  • The website will be regularly checked to ensure that there is no content that compromises the safety of pupils or staff
  • Website using facilities such as guestbooks, noticeboards or weblogs will be checked frequently to ensure that they do not contain personal details
  • The publication of student work will be co-ordinated by a teacher.
  • Pupils’ work will appear in an educational context on Web pages with a copyright notice prohibiting the copying of such work without express written permission.
  • Digital photographs, audio or video clips of individual students will not be published on the school website. Instead photographs, audio and video clips will focus on group activities. Video clips may be password protected.
  • Personal pupil information including home address and contact details will be omitted from school web pages.
  • The school website will avoid publishing the first name and last name, together, of individuals in a photograph
  • 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. 

Legislation

The school will provide information on the following legislation relating to use of the Internet which teachers, students and parents should familiarise themselves with:

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

Support Structures

The school will inform students and parents of key support structures and organisations that deal with illegal material or harmful use of the Internet. (i.e. Webwise) 

Sanctions

Misuse of the Internet may result in disciplinary action, including written warnings, withdrawal of access privileges and, in extreme cases, suspension or expulsion. The school also reserves the right to report any illegal activities to the appropriate authorities.

Review

Reviewed by the BOM on 24 February 2013 and in view of the rapid changes occurring in information technology will be reviewed on an ongoing basis