Online Safety Policy

Policy Owner: IT Manager / DSL

Policy Approval Date: Jul 2025

Policy Review Cycle: Annually

Policy Next Review Date: Jul 2026

Rationale

New technologies have become integral to the lives of young people today, both within schools and colleges and in their lives outside school and college.
The internet and other digital and information technologies are powerful tools, which open new opportunities for everyone. Electronic communication helps teachers and students learn from each other. These technologies can stimulate discussion, promote creativity and increase awareness of context to promote effective learning. Young people should always have an entitlement to safe internet access.
The aim of this policy is to ensure safe and appropriate ICT use and guard against the dangers that new technologies may bring. The Prevent Duty expects the use of content filtering as a means of restricting access to harmful material online and is paramount in our strategy to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

Inappropriate internet use includes:

• Access to illegal, harmful, or inappropriate images or other content
• Unauthorised access to / loss of / sharing of personal information
• The risk of being subject to grooming by those with whom they make contact on the internet
• The sharing / distribution of personal images without an individual’s consent or knowledge
• Inappropriate communication / contact with others, including strangers
• Cyber-bullying
• Access to unsuitable video / internet games
• An inability to evaluate the quality, accuracy and relevance of information on the internet
• Plagiarism and copyright infringement
• Illegal downloading of music or video files
• The potential for excessive use which may impact on the social and emotional development and learning of the young person.
• The danger of becoming radicalized and/or becoming involved in extremism by online videos or through social media

It is impossible to eliminate these risks completely. The school and college will provide the necessary safeguards to help ensure that we manage and reduce these risks to acceptable levels.

The school aims through good educational provision to build the resilience of students to the risks to which they may be exposed, so that they have the confidence and skills to face and deal with these risks.

Scope of the Policy

This policy applies to all members of the school and college (including staff, young people, volunteers, parents / carers, visitors, and governors) who have access to the ICT systems, either in school or from home.
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 empowers principals, to such extent as is reasonable, to regulate the behaviour of young people when they are off the school and college site and empowers members of staff to impose disciplinary penalties for inappropriate behaviour. This is pertinent to incidents of cyber-bullying, or other online safety incidents covered by this policy, which may take place out of school, but is linked to membership of the school and college.
The school and college 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 online safety behaviour that take place out of school and college.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Principal is responsible for ensuring the safety (including online safety) of members of the school and college community. The day to day responsibility for online safety will be delegated to the DSL.

The IT Manager is responsible for ensuring that the ICT infrastructure is secure and is not open to misuse or malicious attack and that the school meets the online safety technical requirements as required by this policy.

All staff, volunteers and governors are responsible for ensuring that:
• They have an up-to-date awareness of online safety matters and of the current St Rose’s online safety policy and practices
• They have read, understood, and signed the ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy and current IT Password Policy
• They must monitor ICT activity in lessons, extracurricular and extended school activities, if applicable
• They must report any suspected misuse or problems to the principal for investigation

In the event of an online safety incident taking place, the witnessing member of staff would report the online safety incident to the Principal/DSL. A log of the incident would be created, and appropriate action taken by the Principal. The SCMT will regularly review online safety incidents to inform future online safety developments.

The students who can understand the issues are responsible for using the ICT systems in accordance with the ICT Usage Agreement (see Appendix), which they will be expected to sign before being given access to the ICT systems. It would be expected that parents / carers would sign on behalf of many of our students.

Parents and carers will be responsible for endorsing (by signature) the ICT Usage Agreement.

Education

Pupils and students will receive online safety education in the following ways:

• A planned online safety programme is provided and delivered as part of ICT and PHSE and should be regularly revisited – this will cover both the use of ICT and new technologies in and outside St Rose’s.
• Opportunities in our Pathway 1 formal curriculum lessons including English, mathematics, RE, humanities and science lessons, where students are accessing ICT, will also be used to discuss online safety where appropriate.
• Young people will be taught at all times to be critically aware of the materials / content they access online and be guided to validate the accuracy of information

The school and college will provide information and awareness to parents and carers.

All new staff will receive online safety training as part of their induction programme, ensuring that they fully understand the Online Safety Policy, Staff ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy and current IT Password Policy.

ICT systems and internet filtering

The school and college will be responsible for ensuring that the ICT network is as safe and secure as is reasonably possible and that policies and procedures approved within this policy are implemented. It will also need to ensure that the relevant people named in the above sections will be effective in carrying out their online safety responsibilities.

ICT systems will be managed in ways that ensure that St Rose’s meets the online safety technical requirements outlined in the Information Security Policy and ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy and any relevant Local Authority online safety policy and guidance.

There will be regular reviews and audits of the safety and security of ICT systems.

The nature of our school and college and students’ difficulty for the majority of them to access computers completely independently means that we have a general user log in for our students with a password which gives access to the student files, photos and internet. Some students, where appropriate are given their own log in to access the system. There is an understanding that students will not access the internet in an unsupervised situation unless they have been given permission.

Staff, including volunteers and governors will be responsible for the security of their username and password. They must not allow others to access the ICT systems using their log on details and must immediately report any suspicion or evidence that there has been a breach of security. The school and college provide content and web filtering through a Smoothwall hardware appliance.

Requests from staff for sites to be removed from the blocked list will be considered by the IT Manager who will seek advice from the Online Safety Lead. If the request is agreed, this action will be recorded, and logs of such actions will be reviewed termly by the Online Safety Lead.

Staff can report any actual / potential online safety incidents to the IT Manager or DSL who will log their concern and contact the principal if necessary.

The IT Manager will regularly monitor the activity on the ICT systems and users of these systems are made aware of this in the ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy agreements.
The IT department have use of remote management tools to control workstations and view activity at any time.

The IT Manager will ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to protect the servers, firewalls, routers, wireless systems, workstations, and mobile devices etc. from accidental or malicious attempts to threaten the security of the ICT systems and data.
The IT Manager will ensure that the school infrastructure and individual workstations are protected by an up-to-date anti-virus software.

Staff are not allowed to install software on school/college workstations/mobile devices.

The school utilises Apple iPads as a tool for learning and as communication aids and there are safeguards in place for these devices.
iPads users should not:
• Add or remove applications
• Create an Apple ID/iTunes account
• Change any configuration settings on the iPad
• Jailbreak the iPad
• Erase the iPad on another computer
• Synchronise the iPad with a computer outside of school
• Change or disable the access password, or PIN on the iPad
• Store or leave an iPad unattended in a vehicle

Curriculum

Online safety is a focus in all areas of the curriculum and staff will reinforce online safety messages in the use of ICT across the curriculum. The prevention of radicalisation and extremism through online videos or social media are addressed through the PSHE curriculum.

Use of digital photos and video images

The development of digital imaging technologies has created significant benefits to learning, allowing staff and young people instant use of images that they have recorded themselves or downloaded from the internet. However, staff and young people need to be aware of the risks associated with sharing images and with posting digital images on the internet. Those images may remain available on the internet forever and may cause harm or embarrassment to individuals in the short or longer term. When using digital images, staff will, where appropriate, inform and educate young people about the risks associated with the sharing, distribution, and publication of images. They should recognise the risks attached to publishing their own images on the internet e.g. on social networking sites.

Staff are allowed to take digital / video images to support educational aims but must follow the St Rose’s policies concerning the sharing, distribution, and publication of those images. Those images should only be taken on the school’s equipment. Personal equipment of staff should not be used for such purposes unless permission has been given in accordance with the ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy agreement.

Students must not use, share, publish or distribute images of others without their permission. Photographs published on the website, or elsewhere that include young people will be selected carefully and will comply with good practice guidance on the use of such images. Photographs on the website will only be used with parental permission. Young people’s full names will not be used anywhere on a website, particularly in association with photographs. Young people’s work can only be published with the permission of the student and parents or carers.

Data Protection

Personal data will be recorded, processed, transferred, and made available according to the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 which states that personal data must be:
• Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way in relation to individuals
• Collected for specific, explicit, and authentic purposes
• Adequate, relevant, and limited to what is needed
• Accurate and kept up-to-date
• Retained only for as long as necessary
• Processed in a way to maintain security

Staff must ensure that they:
• At all times take care to ensure the safe keeping of personal data, minimising the risk of its loss or misuse.
• Use personal data only on secure password protected computers and other devices, ensuring that they are properly “logged-off” at the end of any session in which they are using personal data.
• Transfer data using encryption and secure password protected devices where applicable
• Paper records taken off site must be kept secure. For example, if travelling on a school trip you must always keep documents with you where possible, and if they need to be stored away, they must be kept out of sight. Documents should be kept in a locked case if left unattended overnight

Communications
A wide range of rapidly developing communications technologies has the potential to enhance learning. The following table shows how the school currently considers the benefit of using these technologies for education outweighs their risks / disadvantages

Communication Technologies	Staff and other adults	Students / Pupils
Personal mobile phones may be brought to school	Yes	Yes
Use of mobile phones in lessons	No	No
Use of personal mobile phones during working time (outside of lessons)	Some (1)	Yes (2)
Use of Voice Output Communication Aid (VOCA) to take photos	Yes	Yes (2)
Use of school and college tablets to take photos	Yes	No
Use of personal email in school, or on school network (during breaks)	Yes	Yes (2)
Use of school email for personal reasons	No	Yes
Use of chat rooms / instant messaging (during breaks)	Yes	Yes (2)
Use of social networking sites (during breaks)	Yes	Yes (2)

(1) Assume not allowed unless you have been given permission by Leadership and Management Team
(2) Allowed with staff supervision

When using communication technologies, the school considers the following as good practice:

• The official school email service may be regarded as safe and secure and is monitored
• Users need to be aware that email communications may be monitored
• Users must immediately report to the nominated person – in accordance with the school policy, the receipt of any email that makes them feel uncomfortable, is offensive, threatening or bullying in nature and must not respond to any such email
• Any digital communication between staff and students / pupils or parents / carers (email, chat, VLE etc) must be professional in tone and content.

Unsuitable or inappropriate activity

Activities referred to in the following section would be inappropriate and users, as defined below, should not engage in these activities when using the school’s equipment or systems.

Users shall not visit Internet sites, make, post, download, upload, data transfer, communicate or pass on, material, remarks, proposals, or comments that contain or relate to:
• Child sexual abuse images
• Promotion or conduct of illegal acts, e.g. under the child protection, obscenity, computer misuse and fraud legislation
• Adult material that potentially breaches the Obscene Publications Act in the UK
• Criminally racist material in UK
• Promotion of extremism or terrorism
• Pornography
• Promotion of any kind of discrimination
• Promotion of racial or religious hatred
• Threatening behavior, including promotion of physical violence or mental harm
• Any other information which may be offensive to colleagues or breaches the integrity of the ethos of the school or brings the school into disrepute

User Actions	Staff and other adults	Students / Pupils
Using school systems to run a private business	No	No
Use systems, applications, websites, or other mechanisms that bypass the filtering or other safeguards employed by the school	No	No
Uploading, downloading, or transmitting commercial software or any copyrighted materials belonging to third parties, without the necessary licensing permissions	No	No
Revealing or publicising confidential or proprietary information (e.g. financial / personal information, databases, computer / network access codes and passwords)	No	No
Creating or propagating computer viruses or other harmful files	No	No
Educational online gaming	Yes	Yes (1)
Non-educational online gaming (during breaks)	Yes	Yes (1)
Online gambling	No	No
Online shopping / commerce	Yes	No

(1) Allowed with staff supervision

Responding to incidents of misuse

Listed below are the responses that will be made to any apparent or actual incidents of misuse:
Illegal activity
If any apparent or actual misuse appears to involve illegal activity i.e.
• child sexual abuse images
• adult material which potentially breaches the Obscene Publications Act
• criminally racist material
• other criminal conduct, activity or materials
The principal should be informed immediately and take appropriate action.
Inappropriate Activity

It is more likely that the school will need to deal with incidents that involve inappropriate rather than illegal misuse. It is important that any incidents are dealt with as soon as possible in a proportionate manner, and that members of the school are aware that incidents have been dealt with. Other incidents of misuse will be dealt with as follows:

Young People	Actions / Sanctions
Incidents	Refer to class teacher / tutor	Refer to head of department / head of year / other	Refer to principal	Refer to the police	Refer to technical support staff	Inform parents / carers	Removal of network / internet access rights	Warning	Further sanction e.g. detention / exclusion
Deliberately accessing or trying to access material that could be considered illegal (see list in earlier section on unsuitable / inappropriate activities)		X	X	X
Unauthorised use of non-educational sites during lessons	X		X
Unauthorised use of mobile phone / digital camera / other handheld device	X		X
Unauthorised use of social networking / instant messaging / personal email	X		X
Unauthorised downloading or uploading of files	X		X		X
Allowing others to access school network by sharing username and passwords	X		X		X
Attempting to access or accessing the school/college network, using another student’s account	X		X
Attempting to access or accessing the school network, using the account of a member of staff	X		X		X
Corrupting or destroying the data of other users	X		X		X
Sending an email, text or instant message that is regarded as offensive, harassment or of a bullying nature	X		X			X
Continued infringements of the above, following previous warnings or sanctions	X		X			X	X
Actions which could bring the school into disrepute or breach the integrity of the ethos of the school	X		X			X	X
Using proxy sites or other means to subvert the school’s filtering system	X		X		X
Accidentally accessing offensive or pornographic material and failing to report the incident	X		X		X
Deliberately accessing or trying to access offensive or pornographic material	X		X	X	X	X	X
Receipt or transmission of material that infringes the copyright of another person or infringes the Data Protection Act	X		X

  

Staff and other adults	Actions / Sanctions
Incidents	Refer to line manager	Refer to principal	Refer to police	Refer to technical support staff
Deliberately accessing or trying to access material that could be considered illegal (see list in earlier section on unsuitable / inappropriate activities)		X	X
Excessive or inappropriate personal use of the internet / social networking sites / instant messaging / personal email		X		X
Unauthorised downloading or uploading of files		X		X
Allowing others to access school network by sharing username and passwords or attempting to access or accessing the school network, using another person’s account		X		X
Careless use of personal data e.g. holding or transferring data in an insecure manner		X		X
Deliberate actions to breach data protection or network security rules		X		X
Corrupting or destroying the data of other users or causing deliberate damage to hardware or software		X		X
Sending an email, text or instant message that is regarded as offensive, harassment or of a bullying nature		X
Using personal email / social networking / instant messaging / text messaging to carrying out digital communications with students / pupils		X		X
Actions which could compromise the staff member’s professional standing		X
Actions which could bring the school into disrepute or breach the integrity of the ethos of the school		X
Using proxy sites or other means to subvert the school’s filtering system		X		X
Accidentally accessing offensive or pornographic material and failing to report the incident		X		X
Deliberately accessing or trying to access offensive or pornographic material		X	X	X
Breaching copyright or licensing regulations		X		X
Continued infringements of the above, following previous warnings or sanctions		X

NB If the allegation is involving the principal then the designated safeguarding officer would contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and the Chair of Governors.

Acknowledgements
This policy has been based on the Self Review Framework produced by SWGfL.

© SWGfL 2009

Appendix

ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy Agreement
IT Password Policy
Young people and/or Parents/Carers ICT Usage Agreement

APPENDIX

St Rose’s and St Martin’s
ICT USAGE AGREEMENT
Rules for Safe and Responsible Computer and Internet Use
• I will not access other people’s files
• I will only use the computers for school/college work or approved activities
• I will not bring in any USB stick or other media from outside school/college without permission
• I will not use the Internet without a member of staff in the room, unless I have been given permission
• I will only email people I know, or my teacher/tutor has approved
• The messages I send will be polite and responsible
• I will not give my home address, telephone number or arrange to meet anyone over the internet
• I will report any unpleasant material or messages sent to me. I understand my report would be confidential and would protect other students and myself
• I understand that St Rose’s or St Martin’s may check my computer files and may monitor my use of the Internet
• I understand that if I deliberately break these rules I could be stopped from using computers at St Rose’s or St Martin’s
• I understand that I can only use social networking sites with staff permission/supervision
AGREEMENT
Student (where applicable)
As a user of the St Rose’s or St Martin’s network I agree to abide by the rules above, which are there to keep everyone safe and to help us to be fair to others.
Name: ……………………………………….
Signed: ……………………………………… Class: ………………………. Date: …………………….
Parent
As a parent of a student at St Rose’s or St Martin’s, I grant permission for my son/daughter to use email and the Internet, in a supervised situation. I have read and understood the above.
Name: ………………………………………. Signed: …………………………………
Date: …………………………………………

This Policy Statement is considered part of the Terms and Conditions of Employment for all staff at St Rose’s.

The policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies:
ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy
Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy
Safeguarding Adults with Care and Support Needs
Data Breach Policy and Procedure
Data Protection Policy
Information and Records Retention Policy
Information Security Policy
Counter Bullying including Cyberbullying
IT Password Policy
IT Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy

Also with the following documents:
Keeping Children Safe in Education,
Prevent Risk Assessment
St Rose’s and St Martin’s E Safety Curriculum
St Rose’s and St Martin’s PSHE Curriculum
Online safety resources www.saferinternet.org.uk
Student guide to safeguarding St Rose’s
Student guide to safeguarding St Martin’s