Health and SafetyOne of the topics we looked at in lectures this week was Health and Safety in ICT. I’ll admit it wasn’t one of the things I spent much time reading up on before starting this course – checking I could still do my times tables took priority! However having now looked at the issues surrounding health and safety I can see its importance is on a par with anything else that goes on in a school.
Listed below in bold are the questions we were left to consider at the conclusion of the lecture and I’ve answered them along with plenty of great links to use both and then hopefully after my pgce when I am working in a school.
Who is responsible for safety in schools and what are the key issues?
In school it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure the health and safety of every child.
Education.gov gives some great pointers as to what a teachers and schools responsibility is in regards to safety and also tells you the key issues to consider
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/pastoralcare/b00198456/principles-of-e-safety
A teacher needs to make sure any websites intended to be used with the class have been checked for inappropriate material before use.
- keep personal information private
- consider the long-term implications of any content posted online
- do not upload or post inappropriate, offensive or illegal content to their own or other online spaces
- read and adhere to any website’s terms of conditions of use – including those around age restrictions.
- ARKive Education: This provides wildlife videos, images and fact files for classroom use on a wide range of science, ICT and literacy projects
- Living Library: This subscription based website provides access to art, clipart, sound and video clips, categorised by primary or secondary education.
- Pics4Learning: This copyright-friendly image library consists of thousands of images donated by teachers, students and amateur photographers.
- VADS (Visual Arts Data Service) online resource: This online resource for visual arts provides over 100,000 digital images, free for use in education.
http://www.wisekids.org.uk/Kids_safe_search_engines.htm
How are parents and carers informed about eSafety? Where can parents find out about health and safety issues regarding their children’s use of the internet?
A group of companies have come together led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) so they can provide consistent internet safety messages for parents and children on their services. Companies include Sky, BT, BBC, ITV, Facebook, TES, Beatbullying and childnet.
http://www.education.gov.uk/ukccis/groups/a0076219/understanding-and-awareness-of-internet-safety-for-parents-and-children
Another website with advice for children, parents and teachers concerning using the internet safely is http://www.childnet.com/
Here's a nice little video I found that would be great for a parent to watch with a child.
What are the rules about photos of children on a school website?
If you wish to take photos of a child to put on the school website that is fine, however you must make sure the children and the parents or guardians are aware of the photo and the reason why it has been taken. Further information and clarification of what is allowed can be found on the following website –
www.ico.gov.uk
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/sector_guides/~/media/documents/library/Data_Protection/Practical_application/TAKING_PHOTOS_V3.ashx
How long should you allow a child to work on a pc (in health and safety terms!)
Children shouldn’t use the computer for more than 30 minutes at a time without a break. This should help prevent problems such as eyestrain.
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/keeping-children-safe-online
This post turned to be a bit longer than planned! But well worth a read!
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