Adult and Cultural Services

Corporate Information Team  Lower Gaolyard

The Courts  Carlisle  CA3 8NA  Fax 01228 606706

Tel 01228 221234  Email [Cumbria County Council request email]

10 December 2009

Your Reference:

Our Reference: -457

Email: [FOI #21608 email]

Dear Mrs Fitzsimons

- DISCLOSURE

REFERENCE: -457

The Council has completed its search relating to your request for information about internet use by Primary and Secondary Schools within Cumbria, which we received on22 October 2009.

The Council information within the definition of your request.

The information has been provided by the Children's Services Directorate:

1. Internet Safety Education provided as part of the school curriculum.

All schools are given the opportunity to attend focus led sessions in their schools for staff and parents. These sessions explain the risks and benefits children, young people and school staff face in the online world. The staff sessions provide ideas and resources which can be used in the classroom and build upon the “stranger danger” approach already taught in schools at an early age. Resources range from Childnet antibullying material, CEOP ThinkuKnow material and material from Netsmartz and Klicksafe.

The sessions are delivered by the Children's Services E-safety adviser who sits on CEOP's Education Board, The UK Council for Child Internet Safety, The National Education Network Safeguarding Group and Cumbria's Local Safeguarding Children's Board E-safety subgroup.

Currently Cumbria has 5 people who are CEOP Ambassador trained, some of whom are school staff. In addition at least one member of staff in over 60% of secondary schools has received CEOP's Thinkuknow training.

Currently e-safety is not embedded in the curriculum although recommendations from the UK Council and new Ofsted guidance may change that approach.

To raise the profile of E-safety, Cumbria LA has organized a 1 day conference each year in which national speakers have been invited to present. These conferences are open to all schools and other professionals within the directorate who have a responsibility for working with or teaching children.

In addition, all schools are encouraged to engage in national events such as Safer Internet Day and Anti Bullying Week. Schools are sent links to resources and given ideas of how to run assemblies etc in their own schools. Last year the LA's E-safety adviser organized county wide events aimed at raising awareness to parents. These events involved children from local primary schools talking to parents and older children and handing out Internet safety tips. All the events attracted good media coverage.

2. Internet Filtering

All schools who take an Internet feed from their Regional Broadband Provider (99%) have Internet content filtering in place at source (the opted out schools make their own provision of which the LA has no control). The filter is open source software based and sits on the core caches where it is administered by Lancaster University Network Services on behalf of the LA. As such there is no need for contract renewal as the hardware is owned by the LA.

In addition all primary schools and those secondary schools who requested one have a device installed on their network which allows filtering at a local level. This local filtering strengthens not weakens the top level service provided by the LA.

3. Internet Filtering Breaches

There have been 11 reported breaches in the filter where content of an adult nature has been accessed by a school desktop. Of these 11 breaches all have been reported by telephone backed up by a following e-mail with URL details, all have been from secondary schools.

Details:

1/12/200; 2/12/2007; 30/01/2008; 16/4/2008; 5/11/2008; 17/11/2008; 1/12/2008; 1/05/2009; 03/07/2009; 13/07/2009 and 11/11/2009

All the above have been classified as “Adult” and contain either text or images or are games containing inappropriate content.

All reports are added manually to the core filter within 5 minutes of notification. In addition schools have the ability to instantly add URL's which they deem to be unsuitable to the local device mentioned above.

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by Cumbria County Council.

However the copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated on the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes. The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will require the permission of the copyright owner. Where the copyright owner is the Council you will need to make an application under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005.

For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation you must apply to the owner to obtain their permission.

If you have a complaint about the way we have responded to your request or wish us to review our decision please write to:

Customer Services

Cumbria County Council

FREEPOST NWW6059A, The Courts, Carlisle CA3 8NA

Tel: 0800 121 8800 E-mail: [email address]

If you are not satisfied with the Council's internal review of your complaint you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner:

FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution

Information Commissioners Office

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545 745 Email: [email address]

Yours

Building pride in Cumbria