Social Media Guidance

• Mobile Phones / Social Media
  In today’s world, bullying and threats can come in many forms, and unfortunately a lot of this now takes place on social media sites such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram, and others.
  This creates a difficulty for schools as a lot of unkind comments people may receive occur outside of school hours.
  
  Our approach is as follows:
  
• Students are allowed to use mobile phones in certain situations in school as set out in our mobile phone policy which can be found here: https://www.horncastleeducationtrust.org/Policies/
  
• If a student, whilst in school uses their phone inappropriately (including to sending / posting inappropriate messages), they will face a sanction in line with our school behaviour policy. In addition, this is likely to lead to a student facing a ban on bringing their mobile phone to school.
  
  
• If unkind comments are made on social media outside of school, this should be directed to the police rather than to school.
  
  
• It is of course advisable to make school aware so we can take actions to ensure any matters do not impact on the school day, this could include advising students stay separate from one another, offering advice on how to be safe online, or making staff aware of potential issues between individuals.
  
  
• If, however, a threat is made via social media to act against a student whilst in school, or on the journey to/from school – we will request evidence (screenshots are advisable) and may issue appropriate sanctions.

Practical reminders for parents / carers:

• If your child is in receipt of any unkind messaging, the best advice is to ensure they block the other person.
• It is also advisable to carefully monitor your child’s social media use to see all messages being sent / received.
• Even if no specific threat is made, unkind comments can still be classed as ‘malicious communication’ and should be reported to the police.
• The following website provides guidance on how to help your children be safe online https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/directory/16/stay-safe-partnership/category/121.