Blockhouse Bay Intermediate Student User Agreement – 2025

BLOCKHOUSE BAY INTERMEDIATE STUDENT USER AGREEMENT 

Digital technologies are tools that can help us learn at school in all sorts of ways. Some of these ways include looking at interesting things online, talking to people, creating music and media, gathering new ideas, and learning how to use tools. When we use digital technologies and online spaces, it’s important that we learn ways to keep ourselves safe and that we make positive choices in the ways we behave online. At BHBI, we call this being a ‘digital citizen,’ and good digital citizens help to make our school a safe and positive place for everyone.

This agreement shares what BHBI does to help make learning online safe and what we need to do. We know it is not always easy to understand everything about online spaces. It can be complicated at times, and some things can go wrong. This is why it’s important that we commit to making it as safe as possible to use digital tools and online spaces for learning.

BLOCKHOUSE BAY INTERMEDIATE ROLE

This section outlines the school’s approach to digital technology and online safety. BHBI supports you by helping you learn in the best ways we can and keeping you safe at school whether you are online or offline.

We will do this by:

  • Making everybody aware of their responsibilities
  • Planning times in the terms to learn about positive online behaviours and ways to keep safe
  • Overseeing students’ use of the school’s digital devices and online spaces
  • Offering access to the internet and online platforms
  • Using filtering software to protect everybody
  • Helping students who need support to deal with online problems even if these happen outside of school hours
  • Keeping safe the personal information the school collects about you
  • Protecting your rights to a safe and positive online environment
  • Providing opportunities to use digital technologies in the learning at school
  • Having a plan to help you when something serious or illegal happens that involves digital technology or online spaces. This might include getting in touch with the Police or Netsafe.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

This section outlines what your school considers appropriate behaviour for digital technology use in school and as a member of the school community. As a student of BHBI and also part of our community, we ask you to help make our school a place that is safe, friendly, and fair. This means taking our school values and acting on them whether you’re online or offline and helping to make our school a positive place to learn, connect, and play. This is being a ‘digital citizen.’

As a digital citizen you will:

  • Keep it kind. Think about others online and talk or share in respectful ways.
  • Keep it to yourself. Keep passwords and information about yourself and other people private and offline as it can be easily shared, viewed, screenshot, or changed by others to mean different things. Nothing is private online.
  • Keep it careful. Because things you do or say online can be seen by others, be careful to share the things you can feel proud of or would be happy sharing with someone face to face.
  • Keep it positive. Always respect others online and communicate in a positive, respectful way.
  • Post with caution. Anything you post or do online can influence what people think of you. Put your best foot forward online.
  • Don’t believe everything you see. Always think carefully about the information you see online – not everything is true. If you are unsure of something, talk to a teacher.
  • Avoid online bullying. Creating or forwarding content that is harmful or hurtful towards someone else is not okay at any time. Sending multiple messages to somebody who doesn’t want them is also considered online bullying and is never okay.
  • Be security smart. Keep personal information secure by using strong passwords and not sharing them with other students. Always log out of a site or device. Get permission before downloading software to the school network or connecting new devices.
  • Respect others’ rights. Always ask first if you need to use someone else’s device, online sites, and their image, ideas, creations, or work that’s stored online.
  • Recognise others’ work. When we use or take others’ work or ideas from the internet, we need to make sure we copy or use these in ways that are okay because there are rules about this. Your teacher will help you to use things you find online in the right ways.
  • School Devices Provided: BHBI is a non-BYOD school. A device will be provided for your use unless stated otherwise by a teacher.
  • Seek help. Sometimes you or someone you know will feel unsafe or come across bad or hurtful content online. If this happens, talk to a trusted adult about what can be done.