Child Safety on the Internet

Mrs Fitzsimons made this Freedom of Information request to Barnet Borough Council

The request was successful.

From: Mrs Fitzsimons

26 October 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

This request relates to the safe use of the Internet by Primary and
Secondary School pupils in your region.

Resources:
1. The Byron Review, published 27 March 2008,
2. The Byron Review Action Plan, published 24th June 2008.

The resources above relate to the safety and education of children
using the Internet at Home and School, and the responsibility of
government, local and national to ensure that children are educated
and protected whilst doing so.

I hereby request under the Freedom of Information Act full details
of the Internet Safety Actions and Initiatives currently in place
throughout the region.

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

- Within your schools is there a specific program aimed at teaching
children about staying safe online, including cyber bullying been
integrated into the curriculum?
- If yes, who is responsible for delivery and what
accreditations/training have they received? For example, teacher,
CEOP trained ambassador.
- If yes, how often is internet safety training integrated into the
school curriculum, i.e. weekly, monthly etc
- If no, what steps/timeframes are being taken for implementation?

2. Internet Filtering

- Do the primary and secondary schools within your authority have
internet filtering in place?
- If yes, what tools do you use? For example Hardware or Software?
- If yes, what is the name of your internet filtering supplier and
when was their contract last renewed/due for renewal?

3. Internet Filtering Breaches

- Have any of the Schools within the past 24 months experienced a
breach of Internet Filtering where children were able to access
pornography or Indecent images. Please provide details of School
Type(Primary or Secondary), Date of Breach and Type of Unsuitable
material accessed.
- If a breach of security occurred how was your authority notified?
For example, by a parent, by the school, through an automated alert
provided by hardware/software supplier.

Yours truly,
Mrs A Fitzsimons

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From: Court, Joy
Barnet Borough Council

28 October 2009

Dear Mrs Fitzsimmons

I acknowledge your request for information received on 26 October 2009.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being
exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font
size. If you require alternative formats, such as, in a different
language, audio or large print, then please let me know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the
information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains a reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may be a fee payable for this information. This will be considered
and you will be informed if a fee is payable. If you have any queries or
concerns, then please contact me using the contact details below.

Yours sincerely

Joy Court
Schools Information Co-ordinator, Children's Service
Barnet Council, North London Business Park,

Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 7627
Barnet Online: [1]www.barnet.gov.uk
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From: Davy, Anneth
Barnet Borough Council

24 November 2009

Dear Mrs Fitzsimons

I am writing in respect of your recent enquiry for information held by
Barnet Council under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act
regarding the safe use of the Internet by Primary and Secondary School
pupils in our region.

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

- Barnet Council has developed a comprehensive e-safety curriculum
for primary schools (including cyber-bullying), in partnership with other
London Local Authorities, published through the London Grid for Learning
(LGfL ([1]www.safety.lgfl.net) This has been promoted to regularly.
Resources are available to schools via our Managed Learning Environment
(MLE) and from the central London Grid for Learning (LGfL) site. Work is
ongoing in producing some guidance for secondary curriculum.

- Several Local Authority officers have attended CEOP ambassador
training. Members of the Local Authority e-safety sub-committee deliver
e-safety training to teachers, senior managers, governors, and parents.

- Comprehensive guidance on e-safety policies and Acceptable Use
Agreements for staff, pupils and parents are available through the LGfL
site, Barnet schools are directed to this.

- Anti-bullying officers promote the use of Childnet anti-bullying
and e-safety resources e.g. `We can fight it together', The Smart crew.
Schools have received copies of these DVDs.

- In practice, schools' child protection officers, ICT coordinators
and Personal, Health and Social Education (PHSE) leaders work together on
e-safety. Several schools are delivering e-safety sessions for parents.

- Barnet Council advice is that internet safety training should be
integrated into the school curriculum, but data on the frequency of this
has not been collected.

- Surveys on the actual level of e-safety education delivered in
schools, are planned.

2. Internet Filtering

- All schools in Barnet are connected to the London Grid for
Learning broadband network through an aggregated managed service
agreement.

- As part of the contract all web access and email from school
email addresses is filtered.

- Netsweeper is included in the core network for URL filtering
using the Becta accredited standard LGfL policy configuration, but
individual school policies can also be applied.

- Webroot is similarly in place to filter outgoing and incoming
email, to remove emails containing spam, obscenity, and suspected viruses.

- These contracts are reviewed regularly by the London Grid for
Learning Consortium.

3. Internet Filtering Breaches

- Primary School, July 2009, pornographic images accessed.

- Notified by the ICT Subject Leader in the school by phone to
Barnet Council.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request a review by writing to the FOI Officer at: The
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South,
London, N11 1NP (email [email address]).

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF (telephone: 08456 306060 or 01625 545745; website:
[2]www.ico.gov.uk).

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely

Anneth Davy
Complaints & Quality Officer, Children's Service

London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Bldg 4, Oakleigh
Road South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 5730

Fax: 08708 896 799

Barnet Online: [3]www.barnet.gov.uk
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email?

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