Child Safety on the Internet

FoI/2009/425

Dear Mrs Fitsimons,

Thank you for your request. I will discuss this with the Education
Service to establish how much information is held as I understand that
aspects of internet security are the responsibility of individual
schools (who will have their own security policies on their websites).
We will seek to respond within twenty working days or advise you if any
or all the information you have requested is held by the schools
themselves.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

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FoI/2009/425

Dear Mrs Fitzsimons,

We have now collated the information to respond to your request. I
apologise for the delay in providing this response. As your request was
not in all cases for recorded information we have supplied a narrative
response. We have also refused one part of your request. You have asked:

Q.
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?

National consultation to the change of ICT-related level description,
which contains staying safe online statements, was held from 30th April
to 24th July. The outcome is expected within the Autumn Term. Further
details are in

http://www.qcda.gov.uk/22304.aspx

All schools are supported to work towards Becta's ICT Mark award, which
covers e-safety practices in schools. The School Improvement Adviser
(ICT & Assessment) is the Council's Strategic Lead for ICT in Schools.
Members of the Team have been accredited as CEOP ambassadors. During
2008/2009 academic year, members of his team have visited a total of 69
out of 83 educational establishments within West Berkshire with some
visits covering staff training in e-safety. Within each school, the
curriculum is delivered by teachers. While the School Improvement
Adviser is a trained CEOP Ambassador, there is currently no requirements
for any form of accreditations. The Local Authority currently does not
keep records related to the frequency of implementation.

Q.
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?

All primary and secondary schools within West Berkshire Local Authority
subscribed to the Local Authority's web filtering service. The
filtering schema is implemented through both software and hardware
configurations.
We are refusing your request for the details of the internet filtering
supplier after discussion with the ICT service. I understand that
provision of this information would be detrimental to internet security
at our schools, and as such it is held to be exempt under the provisions
of Section 36 (prejudice to the conduct of public affairs) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. A copy of the relevant exemption is
attached.

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.

One incident was reported by a parent to the Local Authority of an
alleged breach regarding indecent images in March 2009 at a primary
school. The filtering software in the above paragraph is linked to 17
other Local Authorities with automatic update of filtering category.
This has been reported to the supplier and no other occurrence has been
reported since.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may
ask for an internal review. You should contact David Lowe, Policy &
Scrutiny Manager, Policy & Communication, Council Offices, Market
Street, Newbury RG14 5LD, email [email address] if you wish to
request a review. If you are not content with the outcome of the
internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information
Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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