Web Policy

Guidelines for developing web sites

These are the guidelines we have used to create the Malpas Junior FC Junior FC website and are based on government guidelines for schools.

In Summary the guidelines say:

Avoid the use of the full names of individuals in a photograph.  This reduces the risk of inappropriate, unsolicited attention from people outside the club.  An easy rule to remember is:

If the player is named, avoid using their photograph.  If the photograph is used, avoid naming the player.

Our Rules

• We will only use images of players in suitable dress to reduce the risk of inappropriate use.
• Where photographs are used, we will not refer to the players pictured by name.
• The procedure for reporting the use of inappropriate images to reduce the risks to pupils, is to contact a team manager or a official contact at the club.

Background Information from the Govt web-site

The DfES's Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools for 2002, estimates that 56% of primary schools and 79% of secondary schools now have school website.

Including images of pupils on the school website can be motivating for the pupils involved and provide a good opportunity to promote the work of the school. It is important to balance the potential risks of including images of pupils on the website against the design principles of creating colourful, attractive and relevant pages, as the school, heads and governors would do with any publication.

Schools need to develop a policy in relation to the use of images of pupils on the school website. The head and governors will need to make decisions about the type of images they consider suitable and that appropriately represent the school. They will want to ensure parents support their policy. When assessing the potential risks in the use of images of pupils, the most important factor is the potential of inappropriate use of images of children.

Providing the name and photograph of a pupil on a website allows for the possibility of people outside of the school identifying and then contacting pupils directly. Avoiding the use of images of named individuals therefore reduces the risk of unsolicited attention.

Schools may want to include images of an individual or a group of children who have won a competition or took part in a school trip. Avoiding naming pupils who feature in the image reduces the risk of inappropriate contact.

First steps and things to think about...

Establish the type of images that appropriately represent the school for the Web medium.

Think about the level of consideration you give to the use of images of pupils in other publications, for example, the processes involved in choosing appropriate images for the school prospectus or school magazine. Apply an increased level of consideration to the images of pupils used in the website

Develop a procedure to ensure that only appropriate images of pupils are used in the school website