School Website Policy

School Website Policy

Introduction

This policy reflects the consensus of opinion of the Board of Management, Staff, Parent Association & Student Council of St. John the Baptist Girls’ School, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.

It was drawn up in a consultative process involving the Board of Management, Staff, Parent Association and Student Council of the School in February & March of 2015.

Rationale

This policy was formulated following Board of Management approval for the development of a school website for St. John the Baptist Girls’ School.

This policy was formulated in accordance with current Data Protection Legislation and Child Protection Guidelines.

Data Protection Legislation

When publishing material including pupil work on the school website the school must comply with the requirements of:

Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003
The Data Protection Act 1998
Video Recordings Act 1989

Relationship to Characteristic Spirit of the School

St. John the Baptist Girls’ School seeks to help the children to grow and develop into healthy, confident, mature adults, capable of realising their full potential.

We want our school to provide a safe, friendly, effective and stimulating educational environment where the principals of respect, truth, fairness and equality are promoted. It is based on respect for oneself and for others and for the world in which we live.

Aims.
To enhance communication between the Board of Management, staff, parents, pupils and the wider community
To promote a sense of community spirit within the school
To bring the work and activities of the school to a wider audience
To set out the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the school, the Board of Management, staff, parents and pupils.
To ensure that the right to privacy of children, staff and parents is respected
To ensure that all website content is in keeping with the school Child Protection Policy
To ensure that all website content is in keeping with the Catholic ethos and philosophy of the school.

School Website

The school website is co-ordinated by Gayle Noonan, Deputy Principal.
A school web design company namely, schoolwebdesign.net , has been employed to develop the initial design of the school website and to provide technical support on an ongoing basis
The website will be checked regularly by the co-ordinator for content that might compromise the safety of students or staff.
All material uploaded to the website by staff will be approved by the Principal and/or co-ordinator before it is published on the internet.
Every reasonable effort will be made to verify the suitability and appropriateness of educational links provided for parents

Guidelines for publishing data to the school website

Student work can only be published on the school website with the permission of the student and their parents/ guardians
Personal information of staff or pupils, including home address and contact details, will be omitted from the school web page
The publication of student work will be co-ordinated by a teacher.
Pupil work to be published on the school’s website will be selected carefully
Teachers will ensure that pupil work published does not bring the individual or the school into disrepute
Students will continue to own copyright of any work published.

Guidelines for Publishing Photographs on School Website

See: Policy for the Safe Use of Photographs and Videos.

Roles and Responsibilities

Role of Board of Management

To facilitate the development of a school website and to provide for ongoing technical support
To ensure that a website policy is formulated in accordance with current legislation and best practice
To oversee the implementation of the School Website Policy
To ensure that all website content is in keeping with the Catholic ethos and philosophy of the school

Role of the Website Co-ordinator

To formulate a website policy in accordance with current legislation & best practice
To liaise with the school web-design company to develop and maintain the website.
To liaise with the Board of Management, staff, parents and pupils to organise and lay out the content of the school website
To keep up to date with technical issues
To update staff on the school website and to organise staff website training
To oversee the uploading of news reports, information and other relevant data about class and/ or school activities and events

Role of Staff

To comply with the guidelines laid out in the School Website policy.
To participate in staff training regarding the school website
To contribute to the website by uploading news reports, information and other relevant data about class and/ or school activities and events.
To help children to develop a respectful & appropriate attitude to the internet, social media & their mobile devise.
To report any concerns about the content of the website and/or technical issues to the website co-ordinator or school Principal.

Role of Parents

To familiarise themselves with the School Website Policy
To utilise the school website as a means of accessing information about the school and to make use of parent resources and information.
To help children to develop a respectful & appropriate attitude to the internet, social media & their mobile devices and to exercise due care when allowing children to use educational links provided on the school website
To report any concerns about the content of the website and/or technical issues to the website co-ordinator or school Principal.

Role of Parent Association

To provide news reports, information and other relevant data about Parent Association activities and events for the school website

Success Criteria
The School website will be developed and launched
Staff, parents, pupils and the wider community will use the school website.
The aims set out in the policy will be fulfilled
Positive feedback will be received from pupils, staff members, parents and the wider community

Timeframe for the Implementation of the Policy

A discussion document was presented to the Board of Management in March 2015 and the policy was ratified on 21^st April 2015

Timeframe for Review

This policy will be reviewed six months after the launch and every three years thereafter.

Responsibility for Review
Website co-ordinator
Principal

Communication

Copies of the policy will be distributed to the parents of all pupils currently enrolled in the school and thereafter will be circulated as part of the enrolment information pack.

The policy will be made available to parents on the school website and copies will be made available to parents at any time on request.

Ratification

This policy was ratified by the Board of Management on 21^st April, 2015.

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Chairperson

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Principal

Date: ___________________________________________________