ONLINE SAFETY POLICY
THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY
· To safeguard and protect all members of the Maths Magician community.
· Enable staff to work safely and responsibly to model positive behaviour online and to manage professional standards and practice when using technology.
· Identify clear procedures to use when responding to online concerns.
This policy applies to all online students and tutors at Maths Magician.
Maths Magician identifies two main areas of risk:
· Contact: Being subject to harmful online interaction with other users.
· Conduct: Personal online behaviour that causes harm to others.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
There are two main users of Maths Magician who have responsibilities, tutors and students. Whilst it is not expected that parents/caregivers would have direct contact with other students, it is possible that students disclose alleged online incidents to their parents/caregivers.
Tutors must:
· keep themselves up to date with online safety issues.
· ensure that this policy is implemented.
· ensure that they are aware of reporting procedures and requirements should an online safety incident occur.
· Ensue the online safety log is kept up to date.
Students must:
· always behave appropriately.
· report any alleged incident of inappropriate behaviour to the tutor.
Parents must:
· Report any alleged incident of inappropriate behaviour to the tutor at their earliest convenience.
ONLINE SAFETY LOG
Maths Magician maintains an online safety log, a record of any incident that has occurred. The log is to be used for any incident of inappropriate behaviour; regardless how small it may seem. This is to ensure a record of low-level disruption is kept and can be dealt with, if necessary.
The log also records more serious incidents and actions taken.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
New technologies are enhancing communication and the sharing of information and are constantly evolving. Current technologies used by Maths Magician include:
· blog
· Pencil
· Showbie
· LMS365
This list is not exhaustive.
PENCIL
Pencil is the main communication platform used to deliver any one-to-one sessions and group lessons.
Any incident of inappropriate behaviour will be logged in the online safety log. There are three possible levels of incident that may occur. Minor, medium and major. The tutor is to decide what level the incident is and deal with it in the appropriate manner during the lesson. To ensure the smooth running and enjoyment of the lesson for other students, the tutor’s actions are final within the lesson. Any further discussion or appeal must take place after the lesson.
· Minor incident - if the tutor deems the incident to be of a minor nature this will be dealt with during the session, the incident is logged in the online safety log. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident by their preferred method of contact after the lesson.
· Medium incident - If the tutor deems the incident to be medium, the student will be informed of what the inappropriate behaviour is and will be blocked from the current lesson. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident after the lesson by their preferred method of contact. Payment for this lesson will not be refunded. Following a medium incident parents/caregivers may either ask for a refund of any remaining weeks and end their involvement with Maths Magician, or, following a discussion about the incident and an agreement that the behaviour will not continue, students can continue in the service.
· Major incident - If the tutor deems the incident to be major, the student will be informed of what the inappropriate behaviour is and will be blocked from the current lesson and all subsequent lessons. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident via their preferred method of contact. Payment for the lesson will not be refunded. A refund will be sent for any remaining weeks and involvement with Maths Magician will be terminated. Parents/caregivers can request to complete an appeals form, each appeal will be decided on its own merits.
GROUP LESSONS
All group lessons on Pencil will be recorded for safeguarding purposes. The lessons will be stored securely and deleted after one month. Except for reasons of safeguarding, the recordings will not be shared with third parties or used for public display.
In group lessons each student will have their own private break-out room, so interaction with other students is minimal. In most sessions, students will not interact with other students at all..
Use of the camera is at the individual’s discretion but is recommended for a better tutoring experience.
SHOWBIE
Showbie is the main platform that students use to communicate with their tutor. It is also the main platform for completing assessments and reviews. As such, most of the communication is directly between the tutor and the student only and it is expected that this platform is always used in an appropriate manner by all parties.
There is one section of Showbie known as ‘Class Discussion’ in which all students and tutors can contribute and communicate with each other. As tutoring tends to be booked on an individual basis, this section of Showbie remains switched off.
· Minor incident - if the tutor deems the incident to be of a minor nature this will be dealt with during the session, the incident is logged in the online safety log. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident by their preferred method of contact.
· Medium incident - If the tutor deems the incident to be medium, the student will be informed of what the inappropriate behaviour is. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident via their preferred method of contact. Following a medium incident parents/caregivers may either ask for a refund of any remaining weeks and end their involvement with Maths Magician, or, following a discussion about the incident and an agreement that the behaviour will not continue, students can continue in the service.
· Major incident - If the tutor deems the incident to be major, the student will be informed of what the inappropriate behaviour is and will be blocked using Showbie. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident via their preferred method of contact. A refund will be sent for any remaining weeks and involvement with Maths Magician will be terminated. Parents/caregivers can request to complete an appeals form, each appeal will be decided on its own merits.
LMS365
LMS365 is the platform that Maths Magician uses to deliver the interactive teaching part of the service. Whilst there is a group interactive aspect to LMS365, this is switched off.
Communication is directly between the tutor and the student only and it is expected that this platform is always used in an appropriate manner by all parties. If inappropriate behaviour occurs the following will apply:
· Minor incident - if the tutor deems the incident to be of a minor nature this will be dealt with during the session, the incident is logged in the online safety log. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident by their preferred method of contact.
· Medium incident - If the tutor deems the incident to be medium, the student will be informed of what the inappropriate behaviour is. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident via their preferred method of contact. Following a medium incident parents/caregivers may either ask for a refund of any remaining weeks and end their involvement with Maths Magician, or, following a discussion about the incident and an agreement that the behaviour will not continue, students can continue in the service.
· Major incident - If the tutor deems the incident to be major, the student will be informed of what the inappropriate behaviour is and will be blocked from using Showbie and Nearpod. Parents/caregivers will be informed of the incident via their preferred method of contact. A refund will be sent for any remaining weeks and involvement with Maths Magician will be terminated. Parents/caregivers can request to complete an appeals form, each appeal will be decided on its own merits.
CONCLUSION
It is expected that most students and tutors will behave in a respectful and appropriate manner and that this policy is not required, but it is here to ensure the online safety of all.
Reviewed: 22/4/2024