Developing School Websites

The British Educational Suppliers Association's November 2000 survey estimated that 35% of primary schools had published websites. At the time of writing (September 2001), the number of Primary Schools within Powys with school websites is already around the 50% mark. With the implementation of the Powys SchoolWeb Builder system, the target is for 100% of Primary schools within Powys to have an Internet presence by August 2002. As a result the issue of child protection and school websites is becoming increasingly relevant. The primary concern for schools is to ensure that no individual child could be identified or contacted by visitors to the schools website. Schools should initiate a discussion of the issues surrounding website safety with teachers, pupils, parents and governors as part of the process of developing the school site. DfES guidelines state that school websites should not include: Photographs of individual children (use only group or whole class photographs with very general labels such as a science lesson or making Christmas decorations) Personal details or names of any child or adult in a photograph. Personal email/postal addresses, telephone/fax numbers. Source: http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/ The inclusion of photographs and email details for adults is more contentious. A school may decide to include photographs of staff and their school email addresses with the written permission of the staff members.

Including Images of Children and their Work

Images of children and their work included in a school website can have a motivational impact on the pupils that helps to enhance their learning and provides a positive image of the ICT capabilities of the school. Schools must balance these potential benefits against the possible risks that are inherent with publishing childrens images in any form of publication, whether it be in tradi tional media or electronic format. School management will need to make decisions about the kind of images that they believe are appropriate to display on a school site and how these reflect the ethos and aims of the school. When assessing the potential risks in the use of images of pupils, the most important factor is the potential of inappropriate use of images of children. Again, the need for discussion by staff, governors, pupils and parents is paramount. Staff and governors will want to ensure parents understand and support their policy. Children too, need to appreciate the importance of safety on the school site, particularly when producing their own web pages. Providing the name and photograph of a pupil on a school website allows for the possibility of people outside of the school identifying and then contacting pupils directly. Avoiding the use of images of named individuals therefore reduces the risk of unsolicited attention. Schools may want to include images of groups of children who have won a competition or taken part in a school trip. Avoiding naming pupils who feature in the image reduces the risk of inappropriate contact.

Summary of Safety Guidelines for Developing School Websites

1. 2. Do not include personal email addresses of pupils, or any other contact information. Avoid the use of either the firstname or surname of individuals in a photograph. This reduces the risk of inappropriate, unsolicited attention from people outside the school. An easy rule to remember is: If the pupil is named, avoid using their photograph.
Powys LEA Internet and email guidelines for schools 17/10/07 Version 2.1

If the photograph is used, avoid naming the pupil. 3. Always ask for parental permission to use an image of a pupil. This ensures that parents are aware of the way the image of their child is representing the school. The School Acceptable Use Policy contains a clause relating to the use of childrens images on the school website. Use photographs of items designed and made in, for example, technology lessons, excerpts from written work and scanned images of artwork. This allows pupils to exhibit their work to a wider audience without increasing the risk of inappropriate use of images of pupils themselves. Only use images of pupils in suitable dress to reduce the risk of inappropriate use.

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Powys LEA Internet and email guidelines for schools 17/10/07 Version 2.1