e – SAFETY POLICY - mulberry-house.co.ukSupport From: Sarra Pond Position Responsible Person 15.01.2015 ... Mulberry House This e-Safety policy recognises the commitment of our home

11 Thurlow Park Road, London,SE21 8JB

Tel: 028 674 5200 Registered Manager: [email protected]

e – SAFETY POLICY

THIS POLICY RELATES TO ALL PARTS OF SP HOMES ORGANISATION

Written by: Marcia Mckenzie

Position: Homes Manager

Date: 15.01.2015

Support From:

Sarra Pond Position Responsible Person

15.01.2015

Support From Alison Barrett Position: Office Manager

15.01.2015

Review Frequency 1 Year

Next Review Process to Start Summer Autumn 2015

Head Office: 163 Manor Road, Mitcham, Surrey CR4 1JT 020 8764 4102 Page � of �1 12

mailto:[email protected]?subject=



Mulberry House

This e-Safety policy recognises the commitment of our home to e-Safety and acknowledges its part in the homes overall Safeguarding policies and procedures. It shows our commitment to meeting the requirement to keep our children and young people safe when using technology. We believe the whole of S P Homes community can benefit from the opportunities provided by the internet. The e-safety policy supports this by identifying the risks and the steps we are taking to avoid them. It shows our commitment to developing a set of safe and responsible behaviour that will enable us to reduce the risks whilst continuing to benefit from the opportunities.

We wish to ensure that all members of the organisation are aware that unlawful or unsafe behaviour is unacceptable and that, necessary disciplinary or legal action will be taken. We aim to minimise the risk of misplaced or malicious allegations being made against adults who work with the children / young people.

Our expectations for responsible and appropriate conduct are formalized in our Acceptable Use Policy which we expect all staff and children and young people to follow.

As part of our commitment to e-Safety we also recognize the home’s obligation to implement a range of security measures to protect the home’s network, users and facilities from attack, inappropriate use and to protect





Mulberry House data and other information assets from loss or inappropriate use.

The scope of policy

• This policy applies to the whole S P Homes community including employed directly or indirectly by S P Homes Ltd and Mulberry House, residents and visitors.

• The Responsible person and Registered Person in charge will ensure that any relevant or new legislation that may impact upon the provision for e-Safety within the home will be reflected within this policy.

Mulberry House

• The home will clearly detail its management of incidents within this policy, associated behaviour and anti-bullying policies and will, where known, inform parents (where applicable) and carers of incidents of inappropriate e-Safety behaviour that take place within and outside of the home.

Implementation of the policy





• The manager will ensure all that all staff members are aware of the contents of the homes e-Safety policy and the use of any new technology within the home.

• All staff, children/young person’s bank staff users of our ICT equipment will sign the relevant Acceptable Use Policies.

• The e-Safety policy will be made available to parents, carers, social workers and others via the S P Homes website.

Responsibility to S P Homes Community

We believe that e-Safety is the responsibility of the whole community and that everyone has their part to play in ensuring all members of the community are able to benefit from the opportunities that technology provides for learning and expanding our horizon.

Mulberry House

Rationale;

E-Safety is a S P Homes issue. Children, young people and adults at Mulberry House / S P Homes Ltd all have opportunities to interact with different technologies and in a wide range of situations. The exchange of ideas, social interaction and learning opportunities are greatly beneficial to all, but can occasionally place children, young people and adults in danger. Mulberry House recognises this and wishes to guard against misuse as far as is possible: it is part of S P Homes duty of care.

Aims:





• To create a balance between controlling access to the internet and technology, setting rules and boundaries and educating children, young people and staff about responsible use.

• To empower and educate the young people in our care so that they have the ability to make safe and responsible decisions and to report any concerns.

• To ensure that all staff are aware of good e-Safety practice so that they are able to educate and protect the young people at Mulberry House and within the S P Homes community.

• To ensure that staff know how to manage their own professional reputation online and demonstrate appropriate online behaviours and the consequences of non-compliance.

Teaching and Learning

The home has a duty to provide children, young people with quality internet as part of their learning experience.

At Mulberry House the internet provides young people and staff with: • Access to worldwide education resources including museums and art

galleries; • Educational, social and leisure use • Access to experts in many fields for young people and staff; • Professional development for staff through access to national

developments, educational training materials and effective curriculum practice;





Mulberry House

• Collaboration across networks of schools, support services and professional associations

• Exchange of curriculum and administration data with DfE; • Access to learning wherever and whenever convenient • An opportunity to enhance and extend social skills and education.

Young people will be • Given clear objectives when asked to use the internet. • Taught what internet use is acceptable and what is not. • Taught how to use the internet using age appropriate tools, and to use

them effectively. • Taught how to evaluate materials sourced from the internet and to

acknowledge those sources.

S P Homes will • Comply with copyright laws • Provide access levels appropriate to the age and ability of the young

person.

Use of email:

Email is an essential means of communication for staff, it is important that staff communicate with social workers / and other professionals for official business. This is important for confidentiality and security and also to safeguard members of staff from allegations.





Email accounts for individual young people will be set up as and when appropriate, but the names will not provide any opportunity for outside identification of the individual or homes name. Residence must not reveal any personal details of themselves or other in a communication or arrange to meet anyone without specific permission from a supervising adult. Children, young people will be expected to tell a member of staff immediately if they receive offensive emails.

S P Homes website:

• The contact details on the website will be restricted to S P Homes Ltd address, email and telephone number.

• Staff or young people’ personal information will not be published.

Mulberry House

• Email addresses will be published carefully online, to avoid being harvested for spam (e.g. by replacing ‘@’ with ‘AT’.)

• The Responsible Person will take overall editorial responsibility for online content published by S P Homes along with the Homes Manager and will ensure that the content published is accurate and appropriate.

• S P Homes website will comply with Mulberry House guidelines for publications including respect for intellectual property rights, privacy policies and copyright.





• S P Homes will continue to maintain an up-to-date list of photographic permissions for each individual and will ensure that no photographs are uploaded without permission.

Internet Use:

• All staff at Mulberry House will sign and comply with S P Homes policy on use of the internet and mobile phones. They will be made aware that their online conduct have an impact on their role and reputation with the organisation.

• Any member of staff finding a website containing inappropriate content will report it immediately to the homes manger.

• Social workers and other relevant professional and parent where applicable will be informed that the child, young person will be provided with supervised internet access according to their age and ability.

• Mulberry House will make specific decision based upon the needs and levels of understanding of individual young person.

Social networks:

S P Homes recognises that the internet has numerous social networks that allow individuals to connect with people with similar and different interests. These allow people to publish unmediated content. Examples of social media and personal publishing tools include: blogs, wikis, social networking, forums, bulletin boards, multiplayer online gaming, chatrooms and instant messenger.





Mulberry House

S P Homes staff will: • Facilitate lessons in social networking for child, young person when

relevant. The content of these lessons will include: ➢ Information about the most frequently used social networking sites,,

e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Skype ➢ Information about the ease of uploading personal information, the

associated dangers and the difficulty of removing inappropriate images and information once it has been published.

➢Advice on sharing personal details, including friend and family. ➢Personal security and privacy online.

Before any lesson starts, staff working with the children, young people will assess the appropriateness of a site and content to be accessed for safety.

• Only permit use of sites only with written permission. • Limit access to social media and social networking site to:

➢Use on residence when under supervision from staff who are aware of S P Homes policy regarding children, young people in the home.

Mulberry House Social Care Staff: • Ensure they have read and understood this policy and therefore

support children and young people in a manner consistent to the homes policy.

• Support young people during their leisure time to take full advantage of the internet and social networks within the guidelines of this policy.

S P Homes Staff will: • Raise concerns with their manager or supervisor regarding the

inappropriate use of social networking, social media and personal





publishing sites (in and outside of the home), by young person and will have regard for confidentiality. Social workers will be contacted by key worker or manager.

• Raise concerns according to the whistleblowing policy, regarding the inappropriate use of social networking, social media and personal publishing sites (in and out of the home) by staff. All parties will have regard for confidentiality).

Mulberry House

Mobile Phones:

S P Homes has a policy regarding mobile phones, which includes the use of mobile phones to take photos and videos.

Emerging technology:

S P Homes will evaluate emerging technology for suitability before it is used in S P Homes.

Management of information systems Technical:

• The security of S P Homes systems and users will be reviewed regularly. • Virus protection for the whole network and for individual machines

(e.g. manager’s laptops / mobile phones) will be updated regularly. • Unsuitable sites will be blocked immediately





• All software will be installed s that checks can be made on the software suitability, compatibility, etc., prior to installation.

• Files on the Foundation network will be checked regularly for content and malware

• Concerns/issues and actions taken will be reported immediately to the homes manager so that she is fully informed.

• Servers will be located securely and physical access restricted. • Staff must take responsibility for their own network use. • Staff must not share their log-in or password with anyone outside of

their respective homes or place of work. • The manager’s laptop will be used solely by the manager.

Dissemination of the Policy:

E-safety posters are displayed at Mulberry House.

The E-safety policy will be formally provided and/or presented to and discussed with members of staff. Staff will be informed that the internet traffic can be monitored and traced to the individual user. Up-to-date and appropriate staff training in safe responsible internet use, both professionally and personally will be provided for all staff members.

S P Homes will inform all parents / guardians of the E-safety policy provide basic information on internet safety as required, and links to child friendly resources e.g.:





www.bbc.co.uk/webwise www.kidsmart.org www.thinkuknow.co.uk www.bizzikid.co.uk www.shareaware/nspcc.org

Responsible Person Signature:…………………. Registered Manager Signature:………………… Head of HR Signature:…………………………..

Date: 15/01/2015


http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise

http://www.kidsmart.org

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk

http://www.bizzikid.co.uk

http://www.shareaware/nspcc.org


Documents

e – SAFETY POLICY - mulberry-house.co.ukSupport From: Sarra Pond Position Responsible Person 15.01.2015 ... Mulberry House This e-Safety policy recognises the commitment of our home