1. Purpose

This policy outlines the requirements for the use of social media by school-based staff to support student learning. It does not cover:

1.1. personal use of social media by school-based staff, excepting when a student initiates contact with a staff member on the staff member’s personal social media account(s), or

1.2. professional use of social media by schools for communication/promotional purposes

2. Summary

2.1. At Footscray High School, Social media may be used by staff to support student learning if there is an appropriate educational purpose.

2.2. Social media use must be planned, be reflected in school-based curriculum documents, and be approved by the school principal or their nominee(s).

2.3. Staff use of social media to support student learning must be consistent with the professional conduct, personal conduct and professional competence expected of a teacher by their colleagues and the community.

2.4. Social media use must in all cases comply with relevant legislation and Department policies, including in relation to staff conduct, privacy, copyright, information security and child safety.

2.5. Any social media student activity visible to the public must not proceed without consent. This extends to sharing with parents.

3. Details

Social media may be used by staff to support student learning if there is an appropriate educational purpose — this means that social media use:

3.1. is directly related to achieving the learning outcomes defined in Victorian curriculum frameworks, and

3.2. offers benefits for student learning that may not be able to be met in face-to-face contexts or through the use of other technologies

3.3. Social media use must be planned and be reflected in school-based curriculum documents (for example, a learning area/level plan, a unit of work/learning sequence).

3.4. Social media use must be approved by a member of the FHS Executive team, the FHS Promotions Coordinator or their nominee(s). Nominees may include a curriculum or level leader who approves social media use when they review curriculum planning documents as part of their usual practice.

4. General Guidelines

4.1. Staff use of social media to support student learning must be consistent with the professional conduct, personal conduct and professional competence expected of them by their colleagues and the community, as outlined in any relevant codes of conducts, or local school or Department policies, including:

a. Part 11 of Ministerial Order 1038 (Conduct and Duties),

b. the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees,

c. the Footscray High School Child Safety Code of Conduct

d. and, for teachers, the Victorian Teaching Profession Code of Conduct.

4.2. Social media use must in all cases comply with relevant legislation and Department policies, including in relation to staff conduct, privacy, copyright, information security and child safety. This includes:

a. ensuring that there is parent/carer notification or consent to their child’s use of social media, and that social media use is age-appropriate (for example, platforms/applications that are rated 13+ are not used with Year 7 students) — refer to Parent/carer notification or consent for student use of social media, below, for further information

b. ensuring that material sourced or created by staff that includes non-original or third-party content copied under licences or exceptions that apply to education institutions are not visible to the public

c. Department-provided online tools for collaboration and learning technologies should be used in preference to social media platforms and applications where appropriate.

d. Where possible, social media accounts that support student learning must use Department/school credentialing (for example, Department/school email address), rather than personal credentialing (for example, home email address). Staff should avoid using such platforms/applications if an alternative platform/application can be used in its place that allows users to create a social media account with Department/school credentialing.

4.3. Staff must not

a. friend’ or accept a ‘friend’ request from a student on/using a personal social media account

b. 'follow’ a student on/using a personal social media account unless it is objectively appropriate, for example where the student is also a family member of the staff member.

4.4. The executive principal is responsible for determining what is objectively appropriate in such circumstances, but may seek advice from Employee Conduct Branch on (03) 7022 0005 or employee.conduct@edumail.vic.gov.au

4.5. If a staff member becomes aware that a student at the school is ‘following’ them on a personal social media account (where ‘following’ an account does not require permission from the account holder), the staff member must ask the student to ‘unfollow’ them, and notify the school and/or parent/carer if the student does not do so

4.6. In supporting student learning, staff should avoid using public social media platforms/applications (for example, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok), unless there is a specific educational need for the use of an online public forum.

4.7. Where the platform/application allows it, at least 2 staff members should have administrative rights to any social media page or group. Each administrator should have their own login to the platform. Where the platform does not allow multiple individual administrators, and a shared administrative login is required, the password must be changed when an administrator leaves the role and/or platform/application. If a staff member leaves the school (e.g. moves to another school or leaves the profession), administrative rights to the account must be removed for that

4.8. Students should be actively involved in the decisions about which social media websites and applications are used, and how they are used. This acknowledges that students have unique perspectives on learning, teaching, and schooling, and should have the opportunity to actively shape their own education.

5. Parent / Carer Notification or Consent for Student Use of Social Media

5.1. Any student social media activity not visible to the public requires parents/carers to be notified and given an opportunity to ‘opt out’ of the proposed social media use.

5.2. Any student social media activity visible to the public must not proceed without consent. This extends to sharing with parents.

5.3. In some instances, a student may wish to make their own decisions about the use of their personal information to access social media. In this situation, schools should refer to the Department's Decision Making Responsibilities for Students and Mature Minors and Decision Making policies.