Child Safety on the Internet

Dear Ms Fitzsimons

Request for Information (Reference 09/FOI/1706)

Thank you for your request for information for safe use of internet by
primary and secondary school pupils, received on 22 October 2009.

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to the principles of the
Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) and will wherever possible provide all
the information requested unless constrained by another statute or by an
exemption within the FoIA. Please note that some information you have
requested may not be provided to you; this will only be information that
can be withheld by law. In most cases the reasons will be explained to you
along with your copy of any information that can be released to you.

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response as soon
as possible and within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as
defined by the FoIA; that date is 19 November 2009.

We may need to contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is
to ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

If the information you have requested is held by another public authority
we will transfer the request to them. If you have any objections to this
approach please contact us as soon as possible so we know not to transfer
the request and we will provide you with the relevant contact details
instead.

Yours sincerely

Sue Morris

Information Management Service Administrator

Information Management Service

Gloucestershire County Council

Community & Adult Care Directorate

Shire Hall

Gloucester

GL1 2TG

Tel: 01452 426837

Email: [1][email address]

Go to [2]www.gloucestershire.gov.uk to find information on any County
Council service. It couldn't be easier to find information instantly and
in some cases apply for services on line.

For Freedom of Information (FOI) requests please email
[3][Gloucestershire County Council request email]

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Dear Mrs Fitzsimons,
Thank you for your recent email, containing the FoI request below.
Following consultation with colleagues elsewhere in the Directorate, I
have the following information in response for you:

Firstly it is important to note that we can only respond for
Gloucestershire, and not on behalf of the entire South West region.

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

* Teacher CEOP ambassador training is led in partnership via CEOP and
the police, organised regularly by CEOP.
* Bullying accreditation scheme – There is an anti-bullying group.
* This will vary from school to school, but there will be a program
within the curriculum in secondary schools, usually PHSE, with links
to the secondary ICT curriculum where internet safety is taught to
pupils.
* The timeframe will depend on the individual schools plans, but would
usually be evident for every year group. It’s not possible for GCC
to generalise.
* Many schools are using the CEOP, Think you know program, usually
delivered by our police schools team, or CEOP ambassadors in school.
* Internet safety will be part of the upper Primary curriculum, and
where appropriate throughout a primary school. Pupils at a primary
school are unlikely to access the internet in school unsupervised at
any time.
* CEOP resources are available for primary schools, and many use these
excellent online resources.

2. Internet Filtering

* All schools have Internet filtering in place, via SWGFL, which meets
BECTA accredited standards for an ISP. Details can be found on the
SWGFL website, [1]www.swgfl.org.uk
* SWGFL lead the way locally and nationally on internet safety
* Many larger schools will also have other more detailed tools available
to them that are managed locally.
* Gloucestershire is part, as per DCSF guidance, of its Regional
Broadband Consortia South West Grid for Learning.
* Contracts with filtering suppliers will be renewed August 2010.

3. Internet Filtering Breaches

* Our ISP would notify us of any serious breaches and take immediate
action – there have no cases this year of this nature that I am
aware of.
* Very difficult to answer for all schools, who would have this
information themselves. Schools will have an AUP ( Acceptable Use
Policy) which covers pupils and adults use of the internet. It would
be possible through our ISP logs to investigate the numbers who have
asked for help, through the ISP helpdesk, but not in the timeframe
given here. Individual details would not be released to members of the
public. This would not give us all the incidents not reported.
* Schools manage their own filtering settings, above a standard service.
* They have support from our ISP via a support desk, who support and
manage these incidents.
* Serious incidents may be communicated to the LA, if procedural changes
are needed which affect all schools.
* Schools are not obliged to notify GCC except for serious incidents,
but do need to have in place policies to deal with incidents.
* They may ask for advice, and are likely to have contacted the ISP and
the LA to help them deal with any issues of a technical nature.
* There is an independent process in place to deal with serious
incidents, which would automatically involve police agencies through
CEOP, ensuring child protection.

General Comments:
All schools take internet security seriously. GASH (Gloucestershire
Association of Secondary Head Teachers) are tightening up school AB
policies re: cyber-bullying and have already done training in 4 large
schools for all staff with more booked. Four primary clusters have been
contacted to discuss with heads cyber-bullying, and two staff training
sessions are booked.

Sgt John Skilling is doing excellent training at various schools on
E-Safety but they are not always well-attended by parents. Many local
community police officers are doing similar training for parents at their
local schools and these have been well received. The big problem is that
schools have very tight systems in place but there is less control at
home.

On GCC SchoolsNet we have Information Guides for schools and parents on
cyber-bullying as well as other types.

If you are unhappy with this response, you are entitled to request a
review of the decision by writing to:

Victoria Wathen
Information Manager.
Shire Hall
Westgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 2TG.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Council.

The Information Commissioner can be contracted at:-

The Information Commissioner's Officer
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely
John
John James
Commissioning Manager ~ Data Management
Data Management Team
Commissioning Section
Children & Young People's Directorate
Information Management & Strategic Planning
Gloucestershire County Council
Quayside House Room 109
Shire Hall, Westgate Street
Gloucester GL1 2TP
( Tel: 01452 425329
2 Fax: 01452 426415
* email: [2]mailto:[email address]

Go to [3]www.gloucestershire.gov.uk to find information on any County
Council service. It could not be easier to find information instantly and
in some cases apply for services online.
P Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you
really need to.

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