At Icknield Community College, we take the safety of our staff and students very seriously and this includes a focus on working with parents and young people to promote e-safety.
We have robust systems in place to filter and monitor all Internet access and email through the school’s network, using the Securus system to flag up any potential breaches of our policy.
Staff training is provided on an annual basis and students receive clear messages about e-safety through ICT and computing lessons, tutor time, Citizenship lessons and through assemblies that focus on staying safe in the virtual world. We remind young people that whilst modern technology provides them with many wonderful opportunities, our expectation of them, both inside and outside of school, is that they behave responsibly and respectfully towards themselves and others.
We have clear policies in place to help us to deal with e-safety incidents, including cyber-bullying. We aim to be proactive as well as reactive.
Support is provided for young people if they need help in dealing with a situation that they find difficult. We work closely with our students, their parents/carers and where necessary, the Police.
At Icknield, further work on e-safety is included in our Anti-Bullying Week plans and we also celebrate Safer Internet Day.
E-Safety is an important part of our partnership work and by working with our colleagues in local primary schools, we aim to create a strong foundation for our students to become responsible digital citizens.
Information for Parents/Carers
There are a number of excellent sources of information on the web, many of which we use in school. The following sites are particularly helpful, though please be aware that Icknield Community College cannot take responsibility for the content or availability of external websites.
We also subscribe to the Digital Parenting Magazine, copies of which are free to parents from the school's reception. This excellent resources keeps parents informed of the latest trends in technology, as well as how to protect children on home devices.
e-Safety - The Law
At Icknield, students are reminded of the importance of behaving appropriately whilst online or when using a mobile device.
There are several key pieces of legal legislation that young people should be aware of when considering their behaviour in the virtual world. There are criminal laws that can apply in terms of harassment and threatening and menacing communications:
- Public Order Act 1986
- Malicious Communications 1988
- Protection from Harassment Act 1997
- Communications Act 2003
The latter makes it clear that: ‘A person is guilty of an offence if he sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character or causes any such message or matter to be sent’.
Students are reminded that they must not pass on offensive or defamatory messages. Parents/carers should not involve themselves in disputes between students, but should report them to the school or to the Police.
Young people aged between 10-14 years are criminally responsible, but their age is taken into account in deciding whether to charge/reprimand/warn them.
However, young people aged 14 and over are regarded as capable of committing a crime in the same way as an adult.
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