How do we protect your children online?

We have directed you in previous years to our cyber safety hub through the Family Zone section. This zone supports the school community in our joint mission to educate our young people in their decision-making around their digital world. We aim always for these decisions to reflect our school values. 

New parents to our community may not know that our school has a device that students authenticate with to access the internet. In authenticating with this device, any activity can be tracked, and internet access is filtered with the help of Family Zone to help protect our students from accessing sites not suitable for them.  Activity that breaches our school values such as adult content, hate speech, and substance abuse is blocked and flagged for our attention.

As part of the Family Zone Services, Classwize allows staff to have visibility of supported devices in their classroom while class is in session. This tool is used to encourage students to stay focused on their learning tasks rather than be distracted by other sites. If teachers use Classwize, they can see if a student drifts off to sites that don't support their learning as the site they have navigated to is displayed.

Staff can view the screen of a student through Connect for Chrome - Education extension. The Connect for Chrome - Education extension is only added under the following conditions whether or note the device is joined to the school network:

• Chromebook: When a student signs into their Chromebook (or school-owned Chromebook with their school account)
• Apple MacBooks or Windows laptops: When a student signs into Google Chrome and syncs with their school account
• School-owned Windows computers/laptops: When a student signs into the device and launches Google Chrome.

If a staff member is using Classwize for their class, students should have been made aware of its use during class times. If the student has the Connect for Chrome extension installed in Google Chrome, they can see if they are in an active class. There is no indication for a student that their screen is being viewed unless advised by a staff member. A staff member can only view what is open in the Chrome browser. Unless there is evidence of a website or material that is thought to be inappropriate, staff do not zoom in to view content details. 

If you have any questions or would like more detail, please contact our IT manager, Nathan Sortehaug.