At Meadow Heights Primary School we support the rights of all members of the school community to be provided with and engage in a safe, inclusive and supportive learning environment. This extends to the use of digital tools and online communities and is underpinned by our expectation of safe and responsible behaviour of all members of the school community. 

What are Digital Technologies?

 

Digital technologies are electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data, such as computers, laptops, iPads, digital cameras, smart phones, etc.

 

These also includes social media, online games and applications, multimedia, productivity applications, cloud computing, interoperable systems and mobile devices.

What does it mean to be an eSmart School?

 

eSmart Schools is a behaviour-change initiative in over 2, 200 schools across Australia. eSmart Schools provides a framework that guides the introduction of policies, practices and whole-school change processes to support the creation of a cyber safe or eSmart environment. The eSmart Schools Framework is designed to help schools improve cyber safety and reduce cyber bullying and bullying.

 

Why eSmart?

 

Over the past two decades, our lives have been transformed by a digital revolution, opening up a world of possibilities.

 

Children are the greatest beneficiaries of the digital era and are learning to navigate the online world at a younger and younger age. We need to ensure our communities are equipped to teach children, and the whole community, how to benefit from online technology whilst being savvy and prepared for the pitfalls - cyber bullying, scams, fraud, exposure to predators and inappropriate content. 

 

Through our programs our aim is to create an eSmart Australia, where everyone knows how to be smart, safe and responsible online and passes this information onto our children.

 

Cyber-Safety

 In order to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for our students and staff, the school has 'Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Agreements' that all students and parents must understand and sign. Also, a Cyber-Safety program is taught in all classrooms during term 1 every year.

 

The purpose of the Agreements is to make students/parents aware of what the School considers to be acceptable and unacceptable usage of these digital technologies and to provide guidelines for good practice by students.

All students are introduced/reintroduced to the Agreement during the first weeks of the school year. This document is taken home by the student and they discuss it with their parents/caregivers. Parents/caregivers then need to sign it, as well as the student, and return it back to the classroom teacher.

Students and Parents/Caregivers have been made aware that breaking any of the rules listed on the Agreement document will cause students to miss out on using the computers or internet for a negotiated period of time as decided by the Principal (or nominee) after consultation with the classroom teacher. Parents/Caregivers will be contacted if the school becomes aware of inappropriate internet /social media use at home.

 

To see a copy of the Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Agreement please click on your links below:

 

English - Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Prep to grade 2

English - Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Grade 3 to 6

Arabic- Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Prep to grade 2

Arabic- Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Grade 3 to 6

Turkish- Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Prep to grade 2

Turkish- Acceptable Use of Digital Technologies Grade 3 to 6

Information for parents
Important information for parents about Cybersafety is available at the cyber9smart:) website https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent
The school recommends all parents are aware of latest cyber threats and to learn to be safe and secure with the connected devices in your lives.

It is also important for parents to be aware of social media restriction and age restrictions.
Please read this information about the most popular social media sites and apps. The document has translations in Turkish, Arabic and Vietnamese. Click Here
Also available is the Parent Handout on Cyber Safety published by the Australian Government. Click Here.
 
The Internet offers enormous potential benefits for teaching and learning in our school. New technologies such as blogs, personal spaces and social networking tools are now part of young people’s life on the web. These technologies provide opportunities for collaboration and, for learning to occur beyond the classroom. There are, however, some potential dangers when using the Internet and other technologies.
These can include:

• Bullying or harassment (cyberbullying)       
• Accessing inappropriate content      
• Contact with strangers                     
• Posting private information
• Using (or stealing) content owned by others eg images, music or videos         
• Plagiarising: taking ideas or information created/ owned by others without referencing their origin
• Not using critical thinking skills when using the Internet                                                  
• Not seeking support offline when there is an issue.

Although Internet use at MHPS is supervised by teachers, our aim is to prepare students for their use of the Internet and other technologies beyond the classroom.
In Prep, Internet safety education is focused on general discussion within the context of ICT sessions such as caring for computers, keeping passwords safe and accessing selected Internet sites.
In Years 1- 6 students participate in a more structured Internet safety program involving the use of online multimedia resources and discussion of current issues. These resources can be accessed at home and also have sections with information for parents.
 
The ACMA eSafety Federal Government Site is the may resource teachers use for teaching cyber safety to students at MHPS - https://www.esafety.gov.au/ 

 
Other Useful Links
More information for parents can be found in the following websites:
 
Netalert is the Australian Government Internet safety website. This site contains information about Internet content filters.
www.netalert.gov.au 
ACCC Federal Government (Scam watch) http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/693900 
Think U Know Federal Government site (Removing profiles etc) http://www.thinkuknow.org.au/userfiles/Issue5.pdf 
Think U Know Federal Government site (Cyberbullying etc) http://www.thinkuknow.org.au/userfiles/Issue6(1).pdf
Wired safety (Parenting on line) http://www.wiredsafety.org/resources/pdf/parentingonline.pdf
Click - NSW Site for Parents http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/news/technology/cybersafety/yr2009/bedroom.php