Cybersafety is an important issue in today’s world. By the time young children arrive at school many are already online or using digital technologies. Students in the 21st century spend increasing amounts of time online, learning and collaborating.
We recognise the need for students to be safe and responsible users of digital technologies. We believe that explicitly teaching students about safe and responsible online behaviours is essential in the lives of students and is best taught in partnership between home and school.
To be safe online and to gain the greatest benefit from the opportunities provided through an online environment, students need to do the right thing by themselves and others, particularly when no one is watching.
At St Mary’s we:
- support the rights of all members of the school community to engage in and promote a safe, inclusive and supportive learning environment
- educate our students to be safe and responsible users of digital technologies
- raise our students’ awareness of issues such as online privacy, intellectual property and copyright
- supervise students when using digital technologies for educational purposes
- provide a filtered internet service but acknowledge that full protection from inappropriate content can never be fully guaranteed
- regularly monitor student traffic on school’s computer networks to identify potential problems using monitoring programs such as ‘HAPARA’
- respond to issues or incidents that have the potential to impact on the wellbeing of our students
- require students and parents / carers to sign Acceptable Use Agreements for their technology use at the school