As part of their ICT Development plans schools need to address the issue of acceptable use of the Internet. We recommend that schools formulate an 'acceptable use' policy, which covers use of the Internet by all users both in and out of school. The following are points that colleagues should consider when drawing up their policies.

• The Internet is provided for the purpose of research and communication and its use should be limited to this purpose.
• Adults should supervise all student Internet sessions.
• School policies apply to Internet use, in particular the equal opportunities policy.
• Students should not be given access to Newsgroups or 'chat areas' unless using areas specifically designed for their safe use.
• No personal details should be given out over the Internet except in carefully approved circumstances (e.g. joint projects).
• Students receiving questionable materials should report these immediately to the supervising adult.
• Particular care should be taken when performing Internet searches as the search engine may accidentally return undesirable links.
• Any undesirable material should be reported to filtering@rmplc.co.uk.
• Adults using school Internet machines should be aware that all access is logged, and that any material accessed may subsequently be viewed by children.
• Secondary schools should consider sending a letter home asking for pupils and parents to sign their agreement to the above points.