Royal School, Armagh

Acceptable Use Policy (ICT)

We are pleased to announce that networked Internet access is now available to staff and pupils at the Royal School Armagh (RSA).

The staff at RSA strongly believes in the educational value of such electronic services and recognises their potential to support teaching and learning within the NI curriculum and at the same time support the integration of ICT within and across all subjects. Every effort will be made to provide quality experiences to pupils and teachers using this information service, however, inappropriate and/or illegal interaction with any information service is strictly prohibited.

Please read this document carefully. Listed below are the provisions of this agreement. If any student violates these provisions, access to the Internet will be denied and the student will be subject to disciplinary action.

Terms And Conditions of This Agreement

1. Personal Responsibility

As a representative of the school, each pupil must accept personal responsibility for reporting any misuse of the network to a staff member. Misuse may come in many forms, but it is commonly viewed as any message(s) sent or received that indicate or suggest pornography, unethical or illegal requests, racism, sexism, inappropriate language, any use which may be likely to cause offence and other issues described below.

2. Acceptable Use

The use of electronic services must be in support of education and research in accordance with the educational goals and objectives of RSA. Each pupil must be personally responsible for this provision at all times when using the electronic information service.

· Use of other networks or computing resources must comply with the rules appropriate to that network.

· Transmission of any material in violation of any United Kingdom or other national laws is prohibited. This includes, but is
  not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material or material protected by trade laws.

· Use of commercial activities by for-profit organisations is generally not acceptable.

3. Privileges

The use of the Internet and other electronic services is a privilege and inappropriate use will result in that privilege being withdrawn. Pupils with access to the Internet will participate in a discussion with a member of the school staff as to proper behaviour and use of the facilities. RSA staff will rule upon inappropriate use and may deny, revoke or suspend usage.

4. Network Etiquette and Privacy

Each pupil is expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These rules include, but are not limited to the following:

1. USE APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE . Remember that you are a representative of the school on a global public system. You may be the only one logged onto your computer, but what you say and do can be viewed by others. Never swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language. Illegal activities of any kind are strictly forbidden.
2. BE POLITE. Never send or encourage others to send abusive messages.
3. PRIVACY. Do not reveal any personal information to anyone, especially the home address or personal telephone number of yourself or any other pupils.
4. PASSWORDS. Do not reveal your password to anyone. Furthermore, with regard to password use on the C2k network the following security principles should be applied by all users.

Passwords should not be obvious. For example, words such the user’s name or the name of a favourite pop group should not be used.
Passwords should be at least eight characters long.
Passwords should contain letters as well as numbers.
Passwords should remain confidential.
Passwords should never be written down.
Passwords should be regularly changed.

If a user believes their password is known by someone else then they should see the ICT technician or an ICT teacher immediately or alternatively email passwords@royalschool.com stating their username and Year group.

5. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

(a) Be brief. Few people will bother to read a long message.
(b) Proof read your message to ensure that it is error free and easy to understand.
(c) Remember that humour and satire are very often misinterpreted.
(d) Respect the rights and beliefs of others.

5. Services

RSA makes no warranties of any kind whether expressed or implied, for the network service it is providing. RSA will not be responsible for any damages suffered whilst on this system. These damages include loss of data as a result of delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries or service interruptions caused by the system or elements of the system, or your errors or omissions. RSA specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy of information obtained via its Internet services.

6. Security

Security on any computer system is a high priority because there are so many users. If you identify a security problem, notify a member of the ICT staff at once. Never demonstrate the problem to another student. All use of the system must be under your own username and password unless specifically directed by a member of staff. Remember to keep your password private. Do not share it with friends. Anyone caught disclosing passwords may have their access denied and may be subject to disciplinary action. Any user identified as a security risk may be denied access to the system and be subject to disciplinary action.

7. Vandalism

Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy any equipment or data of another user or of any other networks that are connected to the system. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses, the wilful damage of computer hardware, whether connected to the network or not and the deletion of data from its place of storage.

8. Online Ordering systems

One of the many facilities available via the Internet is the ability to order goods and services whilst online. This technology is still undergoing development and several questions have been raised with regard to the issue of security of online credit card ordering etc. Because of the security and other ethical issues attached to this facility, RSA has a moral responsibility in this area. It is therefore strictly forbidden for pupils to use the Internet for ordering goods or services regardless of their nature. In addition it is also forbidden for pupils to subscribe to any newsletter, catalogue or other form of correspondence via the Internet, regardless of its nature.

9. Electronic Mail

Electronic mail (Email) is widely available via the Internet. Pupils are expected to use this facility in a responsible manner. The sending or receiving of any email, which contains any inappropriate material, is strictly forbidden. This material includes, but is not limited to, pornography, unethical or illegal requests, racism, sexism, inappropriate language or any use which may be likely to cause offence. Disciplinary action will be taken in all cases. It is also forbidden to send large volume Emails (SPAMMING).

The C2k system monitors all outgoing and incoming email. The C2k system also contains an email filtering facility and any email which is considered to have inappropriate content such as viruses, dangerous attachments and SPAM will be blocked and held by the C2k system. All blocked emails will be scrutinised and will only be forwarded to the addressee(s) when their content falls within the email policy of the school (see above). This applies to all outgoing and incoming email sent and/or received by ALL users on the C2k system.

Revised March 2007

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Note: Use of ICT as defined in this policy is subject to the existing and future school policies on Child Protection, Anti-Bullying and Discipline.