Acceptable Use of Internet, Hardware and Software Resources
Academic Year 2024/25
The computer system is owned by the school and is made available to students to further their education and to staff to enhance their professional activities including teaching, research, administration and management. The school’s Acceptable Use of Internet, Hardware and Software Resources Statement has been drawn up to protect all parties – the students, the staff and the school.
The school reserves the right to examine or delete any files that may be held on its computer system or to monitor any Internet sites visited. For this and other reasons, email is not private. Students requesting Internet access should sign a copy of this statement and return it to the school. Pupils also acknowledge and agree that they must respect the collective hardware and software resources, alongside the physical rooms these resources are located in, at all times.
- All Internet activity should be appropriate to the student’s education.
- Access should only be made via the authorised username and password, which should not be made available to any other person.
- Activity that threatens the integrity of the school’s ICT systems, or activity that attacks or corrupts other systems is strictly forbidden and contravenes computer misuse legislation.
- Users are responsible for all email sent and for contacts made that may result in email being received. Home addresses and telephone numbers are never to be revealed.
- Access to and use of remote teaching and learning platforms such as Google Classroom, Google Meet and any other platforms deemed appropriate by Dominican College, must only be done so using the pupil’s authorised C2K username and password.
- Codes to Google Classroom(s), Google Meet or any other platform deemed appropriate, such as Microsoft Teams, must not be shared with anyone from outside Dominican College.
- The use of smartphones is prohibited in the classroom.
- Use of personal financial gain, gambling, political purposes or advertising is strictly forbidden.
- Copyright of materials and intellectual property must be respected, with referencing added, where needed.
- Posting anonymous messages and forwarding chain letters is strictly forbidden.
- As email can be forwarded or inadvertently be sent to the wrong person, the same professional levels of language and content should be applied as for letters and other media.
- Acceptable standards of etiquette are to be used when communicating with email and/or other electronic platforms, such as Google Classroom, Google Meet and any other appropriate platform, such as MS Teams.
- Use of the network to access inappropriate materials such as pornographic, sectarian, sexist, racist or other offensive material is strictly forbidden.
- If a pupil is concerned about any emails or materials on the school network / accessible websites, they should tell a member of staff immediately.
- Pupils must not attempt to alter system settings, bypass security measures or other administrative programmes, in any circumstances.
- If pupils are experiencing any technical difficulties, they must contact Mr McBride/Mr McDaid for assistance.
- All media, ICT and printing resources supplied by Dominican College should be respected at all times and should be used only for the purposes of education.
- The printing of documents by a pupil should only be used for educational purposes and within the correct monetary value allocated by Dominican College.
Parent or Guardian: As the parent of this pupil, I have read the above statement. I understand that access to internet, hardware and software is designed for educational purposes. I recognise that it is impossible to restrict access to all controversial materials, and I will not hold Dominican College responsible for any improper or illegal use of the Internet in school by my child. Further, I accept full responsibility for supervision if and when my child’s use is not in a school setting, e.g., when using remote platforms such as Google Classroom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. I hereby give permission to permit Internet access for my child and certify that the information contained on this form is correct.
