Acceptable Use Policy:
Saint Mary’s National School
School Name: Saint Mary’s National School.
Address: Racehill,
Ashbourne, Co. Meath.
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 and is valid throughout their time at Saint Mary’s NationalSchool.
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Therefore, if the school AUP is not adhered to this privilege will be withdrawn and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 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 updated in March 2017
by _______________________________________________________________
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 pupils’ 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 memory sticks, CD-ROMs, or other digital storage media in school
requires a teacher’s permission and these always be scanned for viruses
before use.
Students will treat others with respect at all times and will not undertake any
actions that may bring the school into disrepute.
Acceptable Use Policy:
Saint Mary’s National School
World Wide Web
Students will not intentionally visit Internet sites that contain obscene, illegal,
hateful or otherwise objectionablematerials.
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 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 may use approved class email accounts under supervision by or
permission from a teacher.
User-names will be used to avoid disclosure of identity.
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.
School Website
Pupils will be given the opportunity to publish projects, artwork or school work
on the school’s web-site in accordance with clear policies and approval
processes regarding the content that can be uploaded.
The website will be regularly checked to ensure that there is no content that
compromises the safety of pupils or staff.
Where photographs of children appear on the web-site, the children
will not be identified by name.
The publication of student work will be coordinated by a teacher.
Acceptable Use Policy:
Saint Mary’s National School
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.
Personal pupil information including home address and contact details
will not be published on school web pages.
Pupils will continue to own the copyright on any work published.
Personal Devices
Pupils 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.
Cyber-bullying
Any form of cyber-bullying is unacceptable and contravenes the terms of this AUP. The
school is obliged to investigate reports of cyber-bullying as this form of bullying is rarely done in isolation and has a direct impact on the school lives of our pupils.
Incidents of cyber-bullying will be dealt with in accordance with the school’s anti-bullying policy.
Support Structures
The school recommends visiting the following websites, for information & advice
with regard to staying safe and protected on the web:
www.webwise.ie
www.cybersafeireland.org
www.thinkb4uclick.ie
www.watchyourspace.ie
Note:
Our experience of dealing with issues arising from children’s
misuse of information technology and/or social media, leads
us to recommend in the strongest possible terms that
parents supervise and control their children’s access to the
above and respect the age-appropriate rules and guidelines
for all social media.
Acceptable Use Policy:
Saint Mary’s National School
Permission Form: Version 1: Middle/Senior
Please review the attached school Internet Acceptable Use Policy, sign and return
this permission form to the Principal.
Saint Mary’s National School Ashbourne
**********************
Name of Pupil: ______________________
Class/Year: ______________________
Pupil
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.
Pupil’s Signature: __________________________ Date:
Parent/Guardian
As the parent or legal guardian of the above pupil, 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.
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 my child’s schoolwork and/or a photo,
may be chosen for inclusion on the website. I understand and accept the terms of
the Acceptable Use Policy relating to publishing children’s work on the school
website.
As stated in this policy, under school web-site, children in photographs will
not be identified by name.
I accept the above paragraph □ I do not accept the above paragraph □
(Please tick as appropriate)
Signature: _____________________________ Date: ___________________
Address: ______________________________ Telephone: ____________
______________________________
______________________________
