Name f Schl Gverning Bdy Ratified Plicy, 08.12.11 Date f next Review Wh reviewed this plicy? The Jenny Hammnd Primary Schl Signed Chair f Gvernrs As Apprpriate Stephné Hpe-ICT Curriculum Lead Leadership and Teaching Staff Curriculum Cmmittee 17.11.11 Plicy: managing e-mail Hw e-mail be managed in the schl E-mail is nw an essential means f cmmunicatin fr staff in ur schls and increasingly fr pupils and hmes. Directed use f regulated e-mail in schls can bring significant educatinal benefits, increasing the ease f cmmunicatin within the schl cmmunity and facilitating lcal and internatinal schl prjects. Hwever, e-mail can prvide a means f access t a pupil that bypasses the traditinal schl physical bundaries. The central questin is the degree f respnsibility fr self-regulatin that may be delegated t an individual. Use f freely available, unregulated email within a schl is nt apprpriate. Technlgy: Regulated email is filtered and accuntable. Use may als be restricted t apprved addresses and filtered fr unsuitable cntent and viruses. This is the first line f defence. Schls in Lndn have apprpriate educatinal, filtered Internet-based e-mail ptins thrugh the Lndn Grid fr Learning (LGfL). LndnMail pwered by Micrsft Safemail a service prviding restricted email is currently due t be launched acrss Lndn in January 2010 subject t Micrsft releasing required safety enhancements. Visualmail Pwered by Frnter (aimed at primary) StaffMail pwered by Micrsft (perated by LGfL). LndnMail is an email slutin, which is filtered fr inapprpriate language and unslicited mail, designed fr pupil use in accrdance with Becta Standards. It uses a cmmn frmat fr identity but at the same time appears annymus. This means a pupil s schl (and thus their age grup, gender and lcatin) are nt identifiable. This cnfrms t Becta standards. e.g. jblggs031.301@lgflmail.net Althugh this seems annymus, because the accunt is linked t a LGfL sign-n database (USO) the accunt is always accuntable and traceable. Last LGfL update September 2009 www.esafety.lgfl.net Page 1 f 5
Pupils will receive apprpriate e-safety training befre given access t a schl e-mail address. Pupils will knw that this facility is nt fr private use and that the class teacher will mnitr it. Safemail is an email slutin which will ffer further restrictins n wh the email can be sent t r received frm. The aim will be t prvide functinality that will restrict the email use t a selected level f Class, Schl r LA. (Please nte: this is t prvide an alternative t the existing Digital Brain safemail currently used by many schls as the current cntract with Digital Brain VLE is ending in July 2010) Visualmail is a feature f the Lndn MLE and is an internal mail restricted t yur schl s MLE envirnment. Additinally the Lndn MLE prvides a variety f alternative ptins fr cmmunicatins within a clsed netwrk ther than email. Spam, phishing and virus attachments are all ptential risks t be cnsidered. Filtering sftware must be used t stp unsuitable mail. LGfL s filtering prvisin is highly efficient in this respect. StaffMail is available t staff and gvernrs within LGfL cnnected schls and LAs. It has the full functinality f a Micrsft Exchange accunt. It is nly accessible where the LA has Unified Sign On (USO) in place. The service is suitable fr thse LAs that d nt have a LA Crprate email system. If yu have a serius child prtectin issue using email yu shuld refer this t yur LA, (e.g. a child s disappearance may require investigative access). Prcedures: In the schl cntext, e-mail shuld nt be cnsidered private and mst schls, and indeed Cuncils and businesses, reserve the right t mnitr e-mail. There is a balance t be achieved between mnitring t maintain the safety f pupils and the preservatin f human rights, bth f which are cvered by recent legislatin. The use f persnal e-mail addresses, such as Htmail, must be avided by all wrking in schls and staff shuld be required t use apprpriate LA r LGfL systems fr prfessinal purpses. Public e- mail facilities are blcked frm the schl internet facilities. Individual pupil e-mails such as jbrwn026.302@lgflmail.net which allw pupils t send and receive messages t and frm the wider wrld, still need t be carefully allcated t apprpriate situatins, e.g. nly student cuncil fr specific and mnitred prjects. A schl may nt even need t use email anymre as cmmunicatin can be achieved within the Learning Platfrm. Email must nt be used by staff t transfer infrmatin abut pupils unless it is within an encrypted, secured email system, s yu need t check with yur Lcal Authrity what their prcedures are. It is wrth knwing that the data (in emails r ther systems) des nt belng t the User but t the rganisatin and they are nt authrised t d as they please with the rganisatin's data. Therefre a schl user culd be persnally liable fr breaching the Data Prtectin Act (DPA98) if persnal infrmatin was disclsed because f their unauthrised actins. Last LGfL update September 2009 www.esafety.lgfl.net Page 2 f 5
[Email practice thus has relevance t yur schl Infrmatin Handling / security plicy and shuld be cnsider bth by the Schl s Senir Infrmatin Risk Officer (SIRO) and the Infrmatin Asset Owner shuld be named. Please see link t the Becta site n Infrmatin Handling Guidelines belw.]. Educatin: Staff and pupils will be made aware f the risks and issues assciated with cmmunicating thrugh e- mail and t have strategies t deal with inapprpriate e-mails. This shuld be part f the schl s e- Safety and anti-bullying educatin prgramme. In additin t the Visualmail feature in the LMLE, there are prgrams that can be used with the yungest pupils that simulate an E-mail system. This prvides a useful envirnment t teach the skills f sending and receiving an e-mail with r withut an attachment t very yung pupils. Pupils need t understand gd netiquette style f writing, (this links t English) and apprpriate e- mail behaviur. [Please nte: t achieve a level 4 r abve in ICT, pupils must have experienced sending and receiving e-mails.] Plicy statements: In The Jenny Hammnd Primary Schl: We d nt publish persnal e-mail addresses f pupils r staff n the schl website. We use psthlder r grup e-mail addresses, fr example inf@schlname.la.sch.uk / head@schlname.la.sch.uk / cmmunicatin with the wider public. If ne f ur staff r pupils receives an e-mail that we cnsider is particularly disturbing r breaks the law we cntact the Plice. Accunts are managed effectively, with up t date accunt details f users. Messages relating t r in supprt f illegal activities will be reprted t the relevant Authrity and Plice. We use the Lcal Authrity / LGfL anti-virus prduct Sphs and additinal email spam, phishing sftware Sphs prvided by ur LA / LGfL. Pupils: We use cmmunicatin tls within the clsed Learning Platfrm (Lndn MLE) with the pupils fr cmmunicatin with staff and ther pupils. All this is audited. We d nt use email that identifies the name and schl f the pupil. We nly use LGfL safemail with pupils. / We nly use the LGfL Lndn pupil email service. Pupils can nly use the LGfL / schl dmain e-mail accunts n the schl system. Pupils are intrduced t, and use e-mail as part f the ICT scheme f wrk. Year R/1 pupils are intrduced t principles f e-mail thrugh the Visual Mail facility in the Lndn MLE OR clsed simulatin sftware. Last LGfL update September 2009 www.esafety.lgfl.net Page 3 f 5
Pupils are taught abut the safety and netiquette f using e-mail bth in schl and mre generally (fr example persnal accunts set-up at hme) i.e. nt t give ut their e-mail address unless it is part f a schl managed prject r smene they knw and trust and is apprved by their teacher r parent/carer; that an e-mail is a frm f publishing where the message shuld be clear, shrt and cncise; that any e-mail sent t an external rganisatin shuld be written carefully and authrised befre sending, in the same way as a letter written n schl headed paper; they must nt reveal private details f themselves r thers in e-mail, such as address, telephne number, etc; t Stp and Think Befre They Click and nt pen attachments unless sure the surce is safe; the sending f multiple r large attachments shuld be limited; persnal infrmatin shuld nt be sent as attachments n pen email. A secure methd f encrypted transfer shuld always be used; embedding adverts is nt allwed; that they must immediately tell a teacher / respnsible adult if they receive an e-mail which makes them feel uncmfrtable, is ffensive r bullying in nature; nt t respnd t malicius r threatening messages; nt t delete malicius f threatening e-mails, but t keep them as evidence f bullying; nt t arrange t meet anyne they meet thrugh e-mail withut having discussed with an adult and taking a respnsible adult with them; that frwarding chain e-mail letters is nt permitted. Pupils sign the schl Agreement Frm t say they have read and understd the e-safety rules, including e-mail and we explain hw any inapprpriate use will be dealt with. Staff: Staff use LA r LGfL e-mail systems fr prfessinal purpses this is mail.lgflmail.rg; Staff are allwed t nly use the LGfL / schl dmain e-mail accunts n the schl system; We have a clsed LA secure email system which is used fr sme LA apprved transfers f infrmatin we cnsider t be sensitive (sme prtect-level data); We never use email t transfer staff r pupil level data. We use secure, LA / DCSF apprved systems. These include: S2S (fr schl t schl transfer); secure XML transfer f management infrmatin data transfer; USO-FX (fr LGfL user authenticatin); We blck access t external persnal e-mail accunts in schl. We d nt allw staff t access persnal email during the schl day; What abut accessing n wn mbiles? Staff knw that e-mail sent t an external rganisatin must be written carefully, (and may require authrisatin), in the same way as a letter written n schl headed paper. That it shuld fllw the schl huse-style ; the sending f multiple r large attachments shuld be limited persnal infrmatin must nt be sent as attachments n pen email. A secure methd f encrypted transfer shuld always be used. the sending f chain letters is nt permitted; embedding adverts is nt allwed; Last LGfL update September 2009 www.esafety.lgfl.net Page 4 f 5
All staff sign ur LA / schl Agreement Frm t say they have read and understd the e- safety rules, including e-mail and we explain hw any inapprpriate use will be dealt with. Further infrmatin n LGfL email services is available at www.email.lgfl.net Becta email advice: http://schls.becta.rg.uk/index.php?sectin=lv&catcde=ss_lv_cm_02&rid=14906 Becta Infrmatin Handling Guidelines: http://schls.becta.rg.uk/index.php?sectin=lv&catcde=ss_lv_mis_im03&rid=14734 DCSF advice n secure data transfer: http://www.teachernet.gv.uk/management/ims/newsinf/bulletin/ Last LGfL update September 2009 www.esafety.lgfl.net Page 5 f 5