DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES POLICY
Sunshine Heights Primary School
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES POLICY
Purpose:
To ensure that all students and members of our school community understand:
- our commitment to providing students with the opportunity to benefit from digital technologies to support and enhance learning and development at school, including Xuno, WebEx and Seesaw as learning and reflection tools
- expected student behaviour when using digital technologies including the internet, social media, and digital devices (including computers, laptops, tablets, phones, smart watches and fitness trackers)
- the school’s commitment to promoting safe, responsible and discerning use of digital technologies, and educating students on appropriate responses to any dangers or threats to wellbeing that they may encounter when using the internet and digital technologies
- our school’s policies and procedures for responding to inappropriate student behaviour on digital technologies and the internet
Scope:
This policy applies to all students at Sunshine Heights Primary School
Staff use of technology is governed by the Department’s Acceptable Use Policy – note that not all school have a local policy and there is no requirement to have one].
Definitions:
For the purpose of this policy, “digital technologies” are defined as being any networks, systems, software or hardware including electronic devices and applications which allow a user to access, receive, view, record, store, communicate, copy or send any information such as text, images, audio, or video.
Policy:
Vision for digital technology at our school
Sunshine Heights Primary School understands that safe and appropriate use of digital technologies including the internet, apps, computers and tablets provide students with rich opportunities to support learning and development in a range of ways.
Through increased access to digital technologies, students can benefit from enhanced learning that is interactive, collaborative, personalised and engaging. Digital technologies enable our students to interact with and create high quality content, resources and tools. It also enables personalised learning tailored to students’ particular needs and interests and transforms assessment, reporting and feedback, driving new forms of collaboration and communication.
Sunshine Heights Primary School believes that the use of digital technologies at school allows the development of valuable skills and knowledge and prepares students to thrive in our globalised and inter-connected world. Our school’s vision is to empower students to use digital technologies safely and appropriately to reach their personal best and fully equip them to contribute positively to society as happy, healthy young adults.
Safe and appropriate use of digital technologies
Digital technology, if not used appropriately, may present risks to users’ safety or wellbeing. Sunshine Heights Primary School is committed to educating all students to be safe, responsible and discerning in the use of digital technologies, equipping them with skills and knowledge to navigate the digital age.
At Sunshine Heights Primary School, we:
- use online sites and digital tools that support students’ learning, and focus our use of digital technologies on being learning-centred
- restrict the use of digital technologies in the classroom to specific uses with targeted educational or developmental aims
- supervise and support students using digital technologies in the classroom
- effectively and responsively address any issues or incidents that have the potential to impact on the wellbeing of our students
- have programs in place to educate our students to be promoting safe, responsible and discerning use of digital technologies
- educate our students about digital issues such as online privacy, intellectual property and copyright, and the importance of maintaining their own privacy online
- actively educate and remind students of our Student Engagement policy that outlines our School’s values and expected student behaviour, including online behaviours
- use clear protocols and procedures to protect students working in online spaces, which includes reviewing the safety and appropriateness of online tools and communities, removing offensive content at earliest opportunity
- educate our students on appropriate responses to any dangers or threats to wellbeing that they may encounter when using the internet and other digital technologies
- provide a filtered internet service to block access to inappropriate content
- refer suspected illegal online acts to the relevant law enforcement authority for investigation
- support parents and carers to understand safe and responsible use of digital technologies and the strategies that can be implemented at home through regular updates in our newsletter and annual information sheets.
It is the responsibility of all students to protect their own password and not divulge it to another person. If a student or staff member knows or suspects an account has been used by another person, the account holder must notify the principal immediately.
All messages created, sent or retrieved on the school’s network are the property of the school. The school reserves the right to access and monitor all messages and files on the computer system, as necessary and appropriate. Communications including text and images may be required to be disclosed to law enforcement and other third parties without the consent of the sender.
Student behavioural expectations
When using digital technologies, students are expected to behave in a way that is consistent with Sunshine Heights Primary School’s Statement of Values, Student Wellbeing and Engagement policy, and Bullying Prevention policy.
When a student acts in breach of the behaviour standards of our school community (including cyberbullying, using digital technologies to harass, threaten or intimidate, or viewing/posting/sharing of inappropriate or unlawful content), Sunshine Heights Primary School will institute a staged response, consistent with our policies and the Department’s Student Engagement and Inclusion Guidelines.
Breaches of this policy by students can result in a number of consequences which will depend on the severity of the breach and the context of the situation. This includes:
- removal of network access privileges
- removal of email privileges
- removal of internet access privileges
- removal of printing privileges
Review Cycle
This policy was last updated on April 2020 and is scheduled for review in April 2022.