Monday 27 August 2012

Social Media Policy

A number of schools have asked us recently if we have a Social Media policy.
Well, we nearly have but we want to know what exactly you want it to cover. What are the issues around social media? What social media are we talking about? Twitter? Facebook? Online groups and forums? Wikipedia? Blogs?
We could acknowledge the widespread use of social media and the benefits of using it, ie, to communicate and connect with other communities and individuals, and to share resources, links, insights, etc. You know, like this blog …
Are we also talking about the school’s own blogs and Facebook, Twitter, and other accounts?
Here at SchoolDocs we like social media and see that it’s being used more and more and in a variety of contexts.  We touch on it in our Cybersafety policy but maybe we need specific social media guidelines around:
·         acceptable use and unacceptable use
o   unsafe use, eg,  giving out personal information
o   copyright and privacy issues around sharing material and sharing photos of people
o   harassment or embarassment issues
o   representing the school, disclaimers, personal opinions, etc
o   parents connecting with the school’s social media
o   issues about effective use of time, etc
o   damage control.
·         setting up and managing the school blogs, Facebook page, and any other social media.
Does that sound like the sort of information you’re requesting? What have we missed out? What has triggered the requests – problems, or a growing awareness that some guidelines? Please comment on this blog – let us know your experiences, concerns, successes, etc.
By the way, SchoolDocs is on Facebook you know. You could be our friend.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Before and After School Supervision

Further to our post earlier in the year about students arriving at school too early in the morning, or not leaving the school until late in the afternoon, we've written a topic called Before and After School Supervision to sit just under the Playground Supervision topic.

If you want this topic in your document set, email us (admin@schooldocs.co.nz) and let us know whether you want it as is, or with different times on it. Take a look at it on the Demo site under Upcoming Changes(you'll need your admin username and password).  Or here: (the bits in square brackets are easy for us to change to suit your requirements)

We appreciate parents' efforts in getting students to school at a good time in the morning. Arriving late is disruptive for the child, and for the class and teacher. [Arriving between 8:35 and 8:50 gives the student plenty of time to catch up with friends, hang up their school bag, hand in any notices, and be in class ready to start at 8:55].

Note: For your child's safety, please make sure that they arrive at school after [8:30 and have left the schoolgrounds by 3:15 pm]. We cannot guarantee supervision at school outside those times.

As always, we encourage you to share your views and/or experiences on the subject. Is it a problem at your school or not? Is it seasonal? Is your playground equipment just TOO good?

Post a comment!