Internet Safety: Acceptable Use Policy

Suggested steps to follow in developing and revising/updating this policy:

• Decide on who will have responsibility for putting this policy in
Initiate and place
1 establish • Establish a co-ordinating group or committee, if considered
structures necessary.
• Reference the key document Be wise on the Net: Information
and Advice for Schools (Download from the NCTE website)
Review and (published by the National Centre for Technology in
2 Education (NCTE) in 2002) which is a resource to support
Research
schools in being proactive in the area of Internet safety and is
designed to be adaptable to the needs of individual schools.

ƒ Print the following template materials developed by the NCTE

(see below):
• Sample Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) – template
format
Preparation of • Permission slip for signature by parent/guardian –
3 draft policy appended to template
• Letter to parents/guardians
• AUP checklist.
ƒ Amend the AUP to suit the needs of the school - each school’s
own context will influence the approach adopted.
ƒ Circulate the draft policy and consult with school staff, students,
Circulation/ parents/guardians, board of management/trustees.
4 ƒ Amend the draft policy, as necessary, in light of the consultation
Consultation
process.
ƒ Present the policy to the Board of Management for ratification.
ƒ Make provision for the circulation of the policy to all
Ratification and parents/guardians and arrange to provide it to all students,
5 including new entrants.
Communication
ƒ Communicate the ratified policy to other members of the school
community.
ƒ Implement the provisions of the policy over a three week period
6 Implementation initially

ƒ Check, at regular intervals, that the policy is being implemented

7 Monitoring and identify any issues arising.
ƒ Review and evaluate the impact of the policy (AUP checklist will
assist this process).
Review, ƒ Review it after the first three weeks of operation and at pre-
8 Evaluation and determined intervals thereafter, and revise as necessary, in light of
Revision the evaluation process, feedback from school community and
other developments.
 Internet Safety: Acceptable Use Policy Template

Note: This template was developed by the National Centre for Technology in
Education (NCTE). It has been tailored for use by post-primary schools and is
the latest version of a template originally developed for inclusion in the NCTE’s
2002 publication, Be wise on the Net: Information and Advice for Schools.
(Download from the NCTE website)

School Name: ______________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________

The aim of this Acceptable Use Policy is to ensure that students 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 ensure that the conditions of use
are accepted and understood.

This version of the AUP was created on _______________ (date)

by _______________________________________________________________
(name of parties involved in drawing up the AUP)

School’s Strategy
The school employs 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 school will regularly monitor students’ Internet usage.
• Students and teachers will be provided with training 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.
• The use of personal floppy disks, memory sticks, CD-ROMs, or other digital
storage media in school requires a teacher’s permission.
• Students will treat others with respect at all times and will not undertake any
actions that may bring the school into disrepute.
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.
• Students will use the Internet for educational purposes only.
• Students will not copy information into assignments and fail to acknowledge
the source (plagiarism and copyright infringement).
• Students will never disclose or publicise personal information.
• Downloading by students of 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
• Students will use approved class email 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 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 fora that have been approved by the school.
• Chat rooms, discussion forums and other electronic communication forums
will only be used for educational purposes and will always be supervised.
• Usernames will be used to avoid disclosure of identity.
• Face-to-face meetings with someone organised via Internet chat will be
forbidden.
School Website
• Students 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 to the school’s website
• The website will be regularly checked to ensure that there is no content that
compromises the safety of students 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.
• Students’ work will appear in an educational context on Web pages with a
copyright notice prohibiting the copying of such work without express written
permission.
• The school will endeavour to use digital photographs, audio or video clips of
focusing on group activities. Content focusing on individual students will not
be published on the school website with out the parental permission..
Photographs, audio and video clips will focus on group activities. Video clips
may be password protected.
• Personal student 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 of
individuals in a photograph.
• The school will ensure that the image files are appropriately named – will not
use students’ names in image file names or ALT tags if published on the web.
• Students will continue to own the copyright on any work published.

Personal Devices
Students using their own technology in school, such as leaving a mobile phone turned
on or using it in class, sending nuisance text messages, or the unauthorized taking of
images with a mobile phone camera, still or moving is in direct breach of the school’s
acceptable use policy.

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.

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.
Permission Form Template
Please review the attached school Internet Acceptable Use Policy, sign and return this
permission form to the Principal.
School Name

Name of Student: ______________________

Class/Year: ______________________

Student
I agree to follow the school’s Acceptable Use Policy on the use of the Internet. I will
use the Internet in a responsible way and obey all the rules explained to me by the
school.

Student’s Signature: __________________________ Date:

Parent/Guardian
As the parent or legal guardian of the above student, I have read the Acceptable Use
Policy and grant permission for my son or daughter or the child in my care to access
the Internet. I understand that Internet access is intended for educational purposes. I
also understand that every reasonable precaution has been taken by the school to
provide for online safety but the school cannot be held responsible if students access
unsuitable websites.

I accept the above paragraph □ I do not accept the above paragraph □

(Please tick as appropriate)

In relation to the school website, I accept that, if the school considers it appropriate,
my child’s schoolwork may be chosen for inclusion on the website. I understand and
accept the terms of the Acceptable Use Policy relating to publishing students’ work
on the school website.
I accept the above paragraph □ I do not accept the above paragraph □
(Please tick as appropriate)

Signature: _____________________________ Date: ___________________

Address: ______________________________ Telephone: ____________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________
Sample Letter to Parents/Guardians

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Re: Internet Permission Form

As part of the school’s education programme we offer pupils supervised access to the
Internet. This allows students access to a large array of online educational resources
that we believe can greatly enhance students’ learning experience.

However, access to and use of the Internet requires responsibility on the part of the
user and the school. These responsibilities are outlined in the school’s Acceptable Use
Policy (enclosed). It is important that this enclosed document is read carefully, signed
by a parent or guardian and returned to the school.

Although the school takes active steps to promote safe use of the Internet, it
recognises the possibility that students may accidentally or deliberately access
inappropriate or objectionable material.

The school respects each family’s right to decide whether or not to allow their
children access to the Internet as defined by the school’s Acceptable Use Policy.

Having read the terms of our school’s Acceptable Use Policy, you may like to take a
moment to consider how the Internet is used in your own home, and see if there is any
way you could make it safer for your own family.

Yours sincerely
AUP checklist
For an AUP to be robust it needs to be reviewed and updated regularly, taking into
consideration implementation issues that may arise. The following is a checklist that
may be used when developing or revising an AUP.

1. Have AUP implementation issues arisen since the AUP was designed/revised?

2. Have these issues been discussed with parents, students and teachers and
incorporated into an updated AUP?

3. Given that an AUP is in place, can the school confidently address the
following scenarios?
• A student is found using a chat room to arrange a face-to-face meeting
with a friend.
• The school uses filtering software but a student accidentally accesses a
pornographic website while in your care.
• A student publishes defamatory information on a personal website about a
peer.

4. Has the AUP had a positive impact on curriculum delivery?

5. Has internal or external expertise assisted the formulation or reformulation of

the AUP?

6. Has the school discussed the use of the Internet with parents and guardians?

7. Has the AUP as a code of Internet use transferred to home use?

8. Does an open dialogue exist between students and teachers relating to Internet
misuse and safety issues?

9. Are teachers’ and students’ Internet safety training needs being met?