Guidelines for good online communication in Owenabue ETNS
- Under no circumstances can pictures or recordings be taken of video calls.
- Staff, families and pupils are expected to behave in an appropriate, safe, respectful and kind manner online.
- It is the duty of parents/guardians to supervise children while they are working online and to ensure any content which they are submitting to their teacher is appropriate.
- Staff members can communicate with pupils and their families via Aladdin or Seesaw.
- Any electronic forms of communication will be for educational purposes and to allow for communication with families.
- Parental permission will be acquired before setting up a profile for a pupil on a communication forum.
- For video/Zoom calls, parental permission is implied, as the link to a video call will be communicated via the parent/guardian’s email address. Essentially, by virtue of the pupil logging on to the call, permission is assumed.
- For security reasons, passwords will be provided to families, where applicable.
- Owenabue ETNS cannot accept responsibility for the security of online platforms, in the event that they are hacked.
- Communication using a mobile phone will not be frequent, but in the rare exception where it is necessary, staff members will ensure that their caller ID is private.
Guidelines for staff members using online communication methods:
- Under no circumstances can pictures or recordings be taken of video calls.
- Staff members will communicate with pupils and families during the hours of 8.30am – 3pm, where possible.
- Staff members will have high expectations regarding pupil behaviour, with any communication which takes place online.
- Staff members will seek to become familiar with apps before using them with pupils.
- Staff will check that consent has been given, before setting up a pupil profile for an online app.
- Staff members will report any concerns regarding online behaviour or interactions to school management.
- Staff are encouraged to generate a new meeting ID and password for each Zoom meeting being held.
- Staff members will notify parents/guardians of the date, time and password for a video call via email.
- Staff members will only admit participants to video conferences, if they recognise the email address/username as being connected to a pupil.
Guidelines for pupils/parents using online communication methods
For video calls/Zoom:
- Pictures or recordings of the video call are not allowed.
- Remember our school rules – they are still in place, even online.
- If you have the chance to talk, speak in your normal voice, using kind and friendly words.
- Show respect by listening to others while they are speaking.
- Enjoy! Don’t forget to wave hello to everyone when you join!
Guidelines for parents and guardians
For learning:
- It is the responsibility of parents and guardians to ensure that pupils are supervised while they work online.
- Check over the work which pupils send to their teacher, ensuring it is appropriate.
- Continue to revise online safety measures with pupils.
For video calls/Zoom:
- Under no circumstances can pictures or recordings be taken of video calls.
- Ensure that the school has the correct email address for inviting you to join apps and meetings.
- The main purpose of a video call is to maintain a social connection between the school staff and pupils at this difficult time. Encourage pupils to listen and enjoy the experience.
- Be aware that when participating in group video calls, you can be seen and heard unless you are muted or have disabled your camera.
- You will automatically enter a waiting room when the code for a Zoom call has been entered. Please note that school staff will only accept users into video call if you can be identified by the display name on your zoom account.
- Please ensure that your child is on time for a scheduled video, or they may be locked out. Please request to join the Zoom call approximately five minutes before the scheduled start time. This will give school staff time to verify your email address.
- Make sure to familiarise your child with the software in advance. For video in particular, show them how to mute/unmute and turn the camera on/off.
- Participants in the call should be dressed appropriately.
- An appropriate background/room should be chosen for the video call.
- For detailed information on GDPR and Zoom, please visit https://zoom.us/privacy
It is important to note that any breach of the above guidelines will result in a discontinuation of this method of communication. A breach may also result in a person being immediately removed from a meeting or in a meeting being immediately terminated. In this case, the child’s parent will receive a report on the incident.