Use of the Internet and E-mail
As part of the school’s ICT curriculum, Prestbury St. Mary’s
Junior School offers supervised access to the Internet, including
e-mail.
Although there may be concerns about pupils having access
to undesirable materials when they use the internet,
we believe that the educational
advantages of allowing the children supervised access to the
internet, greatly outweigh the likely problems if safeguards
are put in place;
• we have purchased our internet access from RM plc., an educational
supplier which operates a filtering system to block access to
inappropriate materials
• our computer screens will be in public view and internet access
will be supervised.
We believe that these restrictions will prevent your child
from accessing inappropriate material.
However,
the school cannot be held responsible for the nature or content
of the materials accidentally accessed
through
the Internet.
The school will not be liable under any circumstances
for any damages arising from your child’s use of the Internet
facilities.
The school has a detailed Internet Access Policy, which
is intended to help us make the most of the opportunities
that
the Internet
offers whilst minimising the possible risks. It includes
a set of Rules for Responsible Internet Use, which
is displayed by
computers with Internet access and I enclose a copy
of these. In order to
allow your child access to the school Internet, you
must grant
your permission. Please could you sign and return
the slip overleaf to indicate your approval. We would
also
ask that
you discuss
the rules with your child and that they also sign
to show that they
will abide by the Rules for Responsible Internet
Use. Non-response will mean that your child will not
be
allowed to access
the Internet or emailing facilities on the school
system. The
school will
keep permission slips and your child’s class teacher will
be given a list of all those children who have parental permission
to access
the internet at school.
We regret that, because it is not possible to be
certain of the originator of an e-mail message,
the school
is unable to
accept
e-mails as parental authorisation of a pupil absence.
We would like to assure you that we are confident
that the system we have in place will safeguard
your children,
provided
they follow
the rules.
Should you wish to read our school Internet Access
Policy, copies are held in the school office.
Yours sincerely,
Donna Hygate
ICT Co-ordinator
