Internet Connections in Schools - YHGfL policy?

[adamchapman]

Does anyone know of a Policy document that outlines the rules and regulations for school internet connections in regards to filtering requirements etc?

I'm having trouble finding anything...

I'm looking for specific information that details the level of internet filtering, and the requirements for filtering on our incoming connection.

I'm unsure if this is a YHGfL question or not though!

[leco]

Many moons ago YHGfL did issue a list of what was and what was not filtered. There were several categories depending on the proxy being used. Since then I believe the filters have been "modified" so the list is possibly out of date.

Perhaps Andrew or Marc might pop in and answer this one for you.

[rayfleming]

This page on the Becta website tells you what the requirements are:
Becta Schools - Resources - Internet services

[ayoward]

You may or not be aware, but as a spin off of the reprocurement of the Grid that we are undertaking that will increase our current speeds around the grid to make them at least ten times faster, we are reviewing our current services to make sure that they are fit for purpose and capable of supporting the increased traffic etc. One of these services is our BECTA Accredited ISP service which includes the web filtering.

We are currently underway in our three month process to compare all the major filtering players to our existing provision with a view to seeing if we carry on as we are but upgraded and with extra features such as dynamic white listing and self-service filtering, or we go to a commercial provider. All sorts of things will be considered in this process including ease of use, levels of filtering etc, how good they are at blocking what needs to be blocked.

We should have a report to our governing bodies on this by September so we know how we're going to proceed and be ready for when the new grid comes on stream in April 2011.

Just thought you'd like to know.

[adamchapman]

You may or not be aware, but as a spin off of the reprocurement of the Grid that we are undertaking that will increase our current speeds around the grid to make them at least ten times faster, we are reviewing our current services to make sure that they are fit for purpose and capable of supporting the increased traffic etc. One of these services is our BECTA Accredited ISP service which includes the web filtering.

We are currently underway in our three month process to compare all the major filtering players to our existing provision with a view to seeing if we carry on as we are but upgraded and with extra features such as dynamic white listing and self-service filtering, or we go to a commercial provider. All sorts of things will be considered in this process including ease of use, levels of filtering etc, how good they are at blocking what needs to be blocked.

We should have a report to our governing bodies on this by September so we know how we're going to proceed and be ready for when the new grid comes on stream in April 2011.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Thanks for the info... I'm just fed up of the RM Safety Net as it's not configurable to have different levels of access according to a user group ie Staff & Pupils. I'm even getting access denied at times downloading legitimate software.. Grrr

Now we're hosting our VLE internally I'm guessing we're going to need a lot more bandwidth in the future - so that's good news!

[ayoward]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, but I have only just read your last comment. Our filtering, which is now being piloted in some schools in NLincs is configurable to have different levels of access as per the user group should you so desire.

[adamchapman]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, but I have only just read your last comment. Our filtering, which is now being piloted in some schools in NLincs is configurable to have different levels of access as per the user group should you so desire.

Excellent news! - who do I need to call to set this up?