GECO: Guidelines of Use and Privacy Policy

 

USE of GECO and ICT Services

For Parents

Sunshine Coast Grammar School provides a number of online services for students, teachers, school staff and parents. Some of these services may be used by parents/guardians on matters impacting student education and community engagement.

Limits of the Service:

  1. Sunshine Coast Grammar School does not undertake to provide all student related information via Online Services such as GECO.
  2. Only parents\guardians verified by the school will be given access to Sunshine Coast Grammar online services.
  3. Sunshine Coast Grammar School does not accept responsibility for any event arising from unauthorised access or use of Sunshine Coast Grammar Schools online services.

When using online services provided by Sunshine Coast Grammar School, I agree that:

  1. Some of the information contained via GECO and other Sunshine Coast Grammar School services is personal and private and should not be on-shared via screenshot or other means to public social media sites.
  2. I have a responsibility for keeping my Sunshine Coast Grammar School/GECO access details (username/s and password/s) confidential.
  3. I will not attempt to log into any Sunshine Coast Grammar School Online Services with a username and/or password of another user.
  4. If I become aware of unauthorised access to my parent account/s I will immediately inform the school.
  5. I understand that logging, monitoring and auditing of my use of Sunshine Coast Grammar systems is for system administration or if inappropriate use is suspected.
  6. Any breach of these conditions for which I am responsible may result in my access to Sunshine Coast Grammar School Online Services including GECO being suspended or revoked.

 

For Students

Sunshine Coast Grammar Student ICT Code of Conduct

Sunshine Coast Grammar School(SCGS) users are expected to use all ICT’s (PC’s laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, PDA’s IPod’s, MP3 players, cameras) in a responsible, ethical and legal manner, demonstrating respect for others, and an appreciation of the right to learn of all students. The use of the school network must be for educational purposes only, and consistent with the educational objectives of the School.

The intent of this policy is to make clear certain uses, which are and are not appropriate, but not to exhaustively list all such possible uses. Using the guidelines below, Sunshine Coast Grammar School may at any time make a determination that particular uses are or are not appropriate. Whilst the school cannot monitor or judge the content of every piece of information transmitted over the Internet, it will investigate complaints or possible inappropriate use, and can access every student’s log to view sites visited and emails sent and received.

The school will endeavour to provide a safe and wholesome Internet environment.  However, a student may be able to find ways to circumvent Internet access limits and controls. For that reason, parents should be aware of the potential availability of offensive material on the Internet. Students, staff and parents should also understand that the student is ultimately responsible for his/her conduct on the Internet.

Students should:

  1. be ethical and courteous.  Do not send hate, harassing or obscene mail, discriminatory remarks, or demonstrate other antisocial behaviours.
  2. treat information created by others as the private property of the creator.
  3. respect copyright laws.

Students should not:

  1. destroy, modify or abuse the hardware or software in any way.
  2. create, distribute or download programs that
    1. harass other users
    2. infiltrate a computer or computing system
    3. damage the software components of a computer or computing system.
  3. access or process pornographic or otherwise inappropriate material.
  4. use SCGS ICT’s for commercial purposes.
  5. record the image or voice of any person, without their express permission.

Violation of any of these provisions may result in the suspension of privileges associated with the use of ICT’s or other consequences as listed in the SCGS ICT Breach Guidelines.

Internet Access for Students
The rich sources of information available on the Internet hold the promise of greatly enhancing the quality of education available to all students. Therefore, Internet access will be made available to students in SCGS for the purpose of communication, research, and education. It is our intent to provide an Internet environment that is safe and appropriate for the maturity level and needs of student users.

What Is Inappropriate Use?
Inappropriate use is anything that disrupts or is likely to disrupt the learning environment or interferes with the operation of the school.  This includes any action that is in breach of any law, including photography without permission of those being filmed. The use of an ICT to bully, intimidate, threaten or otherwise harass of any person through any SMS or text message, photograph, video or other data transfer system available is inappropriate and will not be tolerated.

 

Privacy Policy

This policy outlines the ways in which Sunshine Coast Grammar School (“We”) collect, use, disclose, store, secure, manage and dispose of your Personal Information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (“the APP’s”).

Where the words “Personal Information” are used in this policy, that expression means information or an opinion that is either specifically about you, or if you are not specifically identified but you are reasonable capable of being identified, irrespective as to:

  1. Whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
  2. Whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

The Kinds of Personal Information We Collect and Hold

[APP 1.4(a)]

The kinds of Personal Information we collect from you will depend on the nature of your relationship with us.

Students

If you are a current or prospective student enrolled with our school, we will generally collect information regarding your name, age and date of birth, gender, contact details and information identifying your family members or guardians, including who to contact for reporting purposes or in the event of an emergency. We may also collect and hold sensitive information attributable to you where it is necessary for us to meet our ongoing duty of care to you. An example of this would be information pertaining to your health, including any existing medical conditions or disabilities you may suffer.

Parents and Guardians

If you are the parent or guardian of a current or prospective student enrolled with our school, we will generally collect and hold your name and contact details for reporting purposes.

Staff, Volunteers and Contractors

If you are a current or prospective staff member, volunteer, or contractor we will generally collect information regarding your name and contact details. We may also collect and hold information which identifies you where we are required to obtain such information by law. This includes, without limitation, our obligations arising pursuant to the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld).

Please be aware that in some circumstances, our handling of your employee records will be exempt from the APP’s pursuant to Section 7B(3) of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). You should seek your own independent legal advice in this regard.

 

How We Collect and Hold your Personal Information

[APP 1.4(b)]

We will collect the majority of your Personal Information from you directly, generally through your completion of a form submitted to us, through a face-to-face meeting or interview with you or through telephone, email or mail correspondence.

Where you are a prospective or current student of our school, we may also obtain your Personal Information from:

  1. Government Departments or Agencies by undertaking searches or by request;
  2. Medical Practitioners where your personal health is concerned; or
  3. Your past educational institution/s.

We will obtain your consent before contacting any third party for the purposes of collecting your Personal Information.

 

The Purposes for which we Collect, Hold, Use and Disclose your Personal Information

[APP 1.4(c)]

The purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose your Personal Information will depend on the nature of your relationship with us.

Students

If you are a current or prospective student enrolled with our school, we will collect, hold, use and disclose your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing educational services to you. We may also collect, hold and use your Personal Information for the following purposes:

  1. To provide for your educational, social and medical wellbeing;
  2. To keep your parents or guardians up to date regarding your schooling with us;
  3. To facilitate our internal administration and business operations, including the fulfilment of any legal requirements; and
  4. To analyse our educational services and student needs with the view of developing new or improved services.

We may also disclose your Personal Information to the following third parties:

  1. Other educational institutions where you are or seek to be enrolled;
  2. State or Federal Government Departments or Agencies;
  3. Your medical practitioner;
  4. Individuals providing services to our school, including without limitation specialist visiting teachers, counsellors and sports coaches;
  5. Recipients of school publications such as newsletters and magazines;
  6. Your parents or guardians;
  7. Anyone else you authorise us to disclose your Personal Information to; and
  8. Any other third party we are required to disclose your Personal Information to by law.

Parents and Guardians

We collect, hold, use and disclose the Personal Information of parents and guardians of our students for the primary purpose of providing educational services to the student for whom they are a parent or guardian. If you are a parent or guardian, we may also collect, hold, use and disclose your Personal Information for the following purposes:

  1. To provide for the educational, social and medical wellbeing of the student to whom you are a parent or guardian;
  2. To keep you up to date regarding the progress of schooling of the student to whom you are a parent or guardian;
  3. To facilitate our internal administration and business operations, including the fulfilment of any legal requirements;
  4. To provide you with information about other services that we, our related entities and other organisations that we have affiliations with, offer that may be of interest to you; and
  5. To analyse our educational services and student needs with the view of developing new or improved services.

Staff, Volunteers and Contractors

If you are a current or prospective staff member, volunteer, or contractor with our school, we may collect, hold, use and disclose your Personal Information for the following purposes:

  1. To administer your contract of employment or services contract with us (as the case may be);
  2. To satisfy our insurance obligations; and
  3. To facilitate our internal administration and business operations, including the fulfilment of any legal requirements arising pursuant to the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld) or otherwise at law.

 

How you May Access or Seek the Correction of Personal Information Held by Us

[APP 1.4(d)]

You may access or seek the correction of any Personal Information held by us by contacting our administration office using the contact details available at our website www.scgs.qld.edu.au or by written request forwarded to:

Risk Manager
372 Mons Road
Forest Glen QLD 4556
Australia

 

How You May Complain about a Breach of the APP’s by Us

[APP 1.4(e)]

If at any stage you feel we have breached the APP’s in our collection, use, disclosure, storage, security, management or disposal of your Personal Information, you may lodge a complaint with our Risk Manager using the contact details available on our website www.scgs.qld.edu.au.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and as such we treat all complaints very seriously. Our Risk Manager will address your concerns with our school’s Executives and contact you to ensure you are satisfied with our proposed resolution. If we do not respond to you within 30 days or you are not satisfied with our response, you are entitled to lodge a “Privacy Complaint Form” with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Copies of this form and details relating to lodgement are available at www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint.

 

Our Disclosure of Your Personal Information to Overseas Recipients

[APP 1.4(f)]

We may in the course of providing the educational services that you have requested we provide disclose your Personal Information to overseas recipients. This may occur in the following circumstances:

  1. Where you instruct us to disclose, whether in writing or verbally, information which contains your Personal Information to an overseas party; or
  2. In the case of international students, where the parents, guardians or agents appointed for the purposes of passing on student progress are based overseas.

 

Countries in Which Overseas Recipients Likely to be Located

[APP 1.4(g)]

Where we intend to disclose your Personal Information to an overseas recipient, we will advise you of the location in which such overseas recipient is likely to be located so as to obtain your informed consent to such a disclosure before it is made.

 

Our Website and Blogs

We collect website activity statistics such as the number of visitors, pages visited, time and date of visit and where you accessed our website from, so that we can make informed decisions relating to improving our website and the services we deliver. This information is anonymous and doesn’t identify a person.

When you visit our website a cookie is placed on your computer. The cookie does not contain personal information that can identify you, but may contain information about the page you visited on our website. If you do not wish for this to occur, you can remove cookies from your computer, by following the standard procedures applicable to your internet browser.

Copies of this Policy are available free of charge upon request.

©Sunshine Coast Grammar School 2014