1.0 Policy Statement s2

Huddersfield New College Further Education Corporation

E-Safety Policy

1.0 Policy Statement

1.1 Huddersfield New College recognises the benefits and opportunities that new technologies offer to teaching and learning. We provide internet access to all learners and staff and encourage the use of technologies in order to enhance skills, promote achievement and enable lifelong learning. However, the accessibility and global nature of the internet and different technologies available mean that we are also aware of potential risks and challenges associated with such use, which include potential safeguarding/child protection concerns.

1.2 Our approach is to implement appropriate safeguards within the College while supporting staff and learners to identify and manage risks independently and with confidence. We believe we can achieve our aims through a combination of security measures, training, guidance and implementation of our policies. In accordance with our duty to safeguard learners and the Every Child Matters agenda, we will do all that we can to make our learners and staff aware of the precautions they should take to be e-safe and to satisfy our wider duty of care.

2.0 Scope of Policy

2.1 This policy applies to all users/all learners and staff/all members of the College community who have access to the College’s IT systems, both on the premises and remotely. Any user of College IT systems must adhere to and accept the Acceptable Use Agreement available on the College’s VLE (Moodle). The e-Safety Policy applies to all use of the internet and forms of electronic communication such as email, mobile phones and social media sites.

3.0 Roles and Responsibilities

3.1 There are clear lines of responsibility for e-safety within the College. The first point of contact is Joe Norton1, the College’s designated e-Safety Officer. All staff are responsible for ensuring the safety of learners and must report any concerns immediately to their line manager. When informed about an e-safety incident, staff members must take particular care not to guarantee any measure of confidentiality towards either the individual reporting it, or to those involved.

3.2 All learners must know what to do if they have e-safety concerns and who to talk to. In most cases, this will be their tutor or the pastoral team in the guidance centre. Where any report of an e-safety incident is made, all parties should know what procedure is triggered and how this will be followed up. Where management considers it appropriate, the child protection officer may be asked to intervene with appropriate additional support from external agencies.

1 Please note that post holders and job titles may be subject to change from time to time. All names are correct at the time of reviewing this policy. 1 3.2 e-Safety Officer: The e-Safety Officer is responsible for keeping up to date with new technologies and their use, as well as attending relevant training. It is the e-Safety Officer’s responsibility to review and update the e-Safety Policy, deliver staff development and training, report any developments and liaise with the local authority and external agencies as needed to promote e-safety within the College community.

3.3 Learner: Learners are responsible for using the College’s IT systems and mobile devices in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy; learners are required to confirm their acceptance of the Acceptable Use Policy via Moodle as part of the tutorial programme. Learners must act safely and responsibly at all times when using the internet and/or mobile technologies. Learners are responsible for attending e-safety lessons as part of the tutorial programme and they are expected to know and act in line with other relevant college policies such as those detailed in section 14, all of which are available to access and download from the College’s VLE (Moodle). Learners must follow reporting procedures when they are worried or concerned, or when they believe an e-safety incident has taken place, involving them or another member of the College community. In the first instance incidents should be reported to a member of the Pastoral team, based in the College’s Guidance Centre.

3.4 Staff: All staff are responsible for using college IT systems and mobile devices in accordance with the College Staff Acceptable Use Policy, which they must sign and submit to the Assistant Principal Human Resources. Staff are responsible for attending staff training on e-safety and displaying a model example to learners at all times through embedded good practice.

All digital communications with learners must be professional at all times and be carried out in line with the College Communications Policy held on Moodle. Online communication with learners is restricted to the College network. External platforms not hosted by the College, such as social media sites, may only where a risk assessment form (contained in appendix 1) has been completed by the member of staff and submitted and accepted by Joe Norton.

This policy will, however, be monitored and kept under review. All staff should apply relevant college policies and understand the incident reporting procedures. Any incident that is reported to or discovered by a staff member must be reported in line with any other safe guarding incident.

Does this section need to be finalised?

4.0 Security

4.1 The College will take all necessary and reasonable steps to ensure the College network is safe and secure. Every effort will be made to keep security software up to date. The College has appropriate security measures in place; these include the use of enhanced filtering and protection of firewalls, servers, routers, work stations etc. to prevent accidental or malicious access of college systems and information. [Digital communications, including email and internet postings, over the College network, will be monitored in line with the communications and e-security policies available at: ______.” [url provided]. ]

5.0 Risk Assessment

2 5.1 In making use of new technologies and external online platforms, all staff must first carry out a risk assessment for e-safety as contained in appendix 1.Where is this appendix? This consists of a series of questions for the requestor to answer as well as a section in which they can record any relevant comments or evidence. A risk assessment must also be carried out where a learner is learning off site e.g. on work placement. All forms must be submitted to the e-Safety Officer for consideration and approval. [For examples of questions that might be included, refer to the JISC Legal Web 2.0 Tutor’s Checklist.]

6.0 Behaviour

6.1 Huddersfield New College will ensure that all users of technologies adhere to the standard of behaviour as set out in the Acceptable Use Policy or Staff/Learners’ Code of Behaviour held on Moodle.

6.2 The College will not tolerate any abuse of IT systems. Whether offline or online, communications by staff and learners must be courteous and respectful at all times. Any reported incident of bullying or harassment or other unacceptable conduct will be treated seriously and in line with the student and staff disciplinary codes, and other relevant policies and procedures, such as the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy and Procedure. These are available on Moodle. Where conduct is found to be unacceptable, the College will deal with the matter internally. Where conduct is considered illegal, the College will report the matter to the police.

7.0 Communications

7.1 Huddersfield New College requires all users of IT to adhere to the Communications policy, which states clearly when email, mobile phones, social media sites, games consoles, chat- rooms, video conferencing and web cameras may be used during the College day.

8.0 Use of Images and Video

8.1 The use of images, or photographs, is popular in teaching and learning and should be encouraged where there is no breach of copyright or other rights of another person (e.g. images rights or rights associated with personal data). This will include images downloaded from the internet and those belonging to staff or learners.

8.2 Huddersfield New College teaching staff will provide information to learners on the appropriate use of images [as detailed in the Academic Misconduct policy do we have this and is it up to date?], including photographs of learners and staff as well as using third party images. Our aim is to reinforce good practice as well as to offer further information for all users on how to keep their personal information safe.

9.0 Personal Information

9.1 Personal information is information about a particular living person. Huddersfield New College collects and stores the personal information of learners and staff regularly e.g. names, dates of birth, email addresses, assessed materials and so on. The College will keep that information safe and secure and will not pass it onto anyone else without the express permission of the learner/parent/carer/employee as appropriate.

9.2 No personal information can be posted to the College website/without the permission of the College’s website manager. Only names and work email addresses of staff will appear on

3 the College website. No personal information pertaining to staff and learners will be available on the website without consent.

9.3 Staff must keep learners’ personal information safe and secure at all times. Staff should only use college online based platforms and all personal information must be password protected. Every user of IT facilities is required to log off on completion of any activity, or where they are physically absent from a device for any period.

9.4 All college mobile devices such as a laptop or USB (containing personal data) must be password protected. Where any personal data is no longer required, it must be securely deleted in line with the Data Protection policy.

10.0 Education and Training

10.1 With the current unlimited nature of internet access, it is impossible for the College to eliminate all risks for staff and learners. It is our view therefore that the College should support staff and learners to stay e-safe through regular training and education. This will provide individuals with skills to be able to identify risks independently and manage them effectively.

10.2 For learners: All learners will have e-safety lessons in a tutorial session. They will read and accept the IT Acceptable Use Policy on Moodle at the start of the year. Issues associated with e-safety apply across the curriculum and learners receive guidance on what precautions and safeguards are appropriate when making use of the internet and technologies. Learners should also know what to do and who to talk to where they have concerns about inappropriate content, either where that material is directed to them, or where it is discovered as part of a random search. E-safety guidelines and materials are available on Moodle for all students.

Within classes, learners will be encouraged to question the validity and reliability of materials researched, viewed or downloaded. They will also be encouraged to respect the copyright of other parties and to cite references properly.

10.3 For staff: Periodically, staff will take part in mandatory e-safety training. Further resources of useful guidance information will be issued to all staff following any such session. Any new or temporary users will receive information on the College IT system and will be asked to sign the College (staff) Acceptable Use Policy and e-Safety Rules.

11.0 Incidents and Response

11.1 Where an e-safety incident is reported to the College, this matter will be treated seriously. The College will act immediately to prevent, as far as reasonably possible, any harm or further harm occurring. If a learner wishes to report an incident, they can do so to their personal tutor, to a member of the Guidance team, or to any member of staff who they trust. Where a member of staff wishes to report an incident, they must contact their line manager or a member of the Human Resources team as soon as possible. Following any incident, the College will review what has happened and decide on the most appropriate and proportionate course of action, which may include recourse to other College policies and procedures such as the relevant Disciplinary Procedure. Sanctions may be put in place, external agencies may be involved and/or the matter may be resolved internally depending on the seriousness of the incident. These actions are in line with the College

4 Acceptable Use Policy. Serious incidents will be dealt with by the Senior Leadership Team, in consultation with appropriate agencies.

12.0 Feedback and Further Information

12.1 Huddersfield New College welcomes all constructive feedback on this and any other college policy. If you would like further information on e-safety, or wish to send your comments on our e-Safety Policy, then please contact: Joe Norton, our e-Safety Officer at [email protected].

13.0 Monitoring and Review

13.1 The College will monitor this policy at least every two years, or more frequently if required, to judge its effectiveness and it will be updated in accordance with changes in the law. In particular, the College will monitor the ethnic and gender composition of the existing workforce, student population and of applicants for jobs (including promotion), and the number of people with disabilities within these groups. The Equal Opportunities Policy will be reviewed in accordance with the results shown by the monitoring, and through consultation with staff, students, recognised Trade Unions and College Governors as necessary. If changes are required, the College will implement them.

13.2 Information provided by job applicants, student applicants and employees for monitoring purposes will be used only for these purposes and will be dealt with in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

14.0 Other Relevant Policies

14.1 This policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies:

 Safeguarding Policy  Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy  Acceptable Use Agreement (e-Safety Code of Practice)  Data Protection Policy  Policy for Personal use of Social Networking and Third Party Websites  Staff Code of Conduct  Password Policy  Social networking policy  Communications Policy (does this exist?)

Version Date Policy Owner Com Approval Provenance Date of Equality men Route and Next Impact ts Date Review Assessment Completed (Y/N)

Joe Norton Safeguarding JISC Group guidance.

Senior Good practice Leadership in the sector. Team 5 6