G Suite For Education

INFORMATION PACK FOR PARENTS

The Department of Education and Training (Department) and Laburnum Primary School are using online learning services to support learning and teaching. This pack provides information on one of the online services, G Suite for Education, and advice in relation to its safe and responsible use.

G Suite for Education is an internet based service provided by Google for classroom activities. It provides students with access to online education services such as:

• Classroom
• Gmail
• Drive
• Calendar
• Vault
• Docs

The online services offered by Google may be updated from time to time, but are only made available to students once they have been reviewed and approved by the Department.

What information needs to be collected?

• Name, year level, home group and school.
• Student’s Department username and password.
• Location information and preferred language.
  
  

Why is this information needed?

• To control access to the online services.
• To prevent unauthorised access to student’s work.
  
  

When could this information be accessed by others?

• By support staff to fix issues.
• Where required by law.
• Never for advertising or marketing purposes.
  
  

What are the benefits of this service for students?

• Teaches students to be ‘digital citizens’ through the use of an online system.
• Provides access to digital tools for a range of classroom activities.
• Allows students to actively collaborate with their class on school work.
• Provides digital whiteboard capability in group discussions.
• Enables students to access their classwork from different channels (i.e. laptops, iPads and smartphones).
• Helps students to build working relationships with each other.
• Promotes knowledge sharing.
  
  

What information might students store in G Suite for Education?

• In addition to the information needed to provide access to G Suite for Education (student’s username, password, name, year level, home group, school, location information and preferred language), student’s schoolwork will also be stored in G Suite for Education.
• Students have the ability to store and share any school work related content on the platform, such as photographs, audio, video recordings. They can also add non-classroom related information.
• Student’s data is stored in data centers located in the USA, Chile, Taiwan, Singapore, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland and Belgium.
  
  

How can you help protect your child's information?

Whilst your school provides your student’s Department username and password to Google to enable them to only access their own information on G Suite for Education, there are some things that you can do to help keep their information safe.

 Remind them not to share passwords with anyone, as they cannot be sure how secure another person will be with their details. 

        Teachers will remind students to only use G Suite for Education for activities related to schoolwork.

 Talk about appropriate uses of technology at school and at home. 
 Remind them that anything uploaded to G Suite for Education can be viewed by teachers.

        In rare cases, Google’s technical support team may have access to information stored in G Suite for
       Education.

 Please note that Google will never contact you or your child directly.
 If you or your child are contacted by anyone claiming to be Google support, contact your school immediately.

 Examples of information students can safely put online

• Class presentation.
• Conversations about classwork/assignments.
• School related contact details.
• Class related media – i.e. videos, photos.
• Whiteboard notes.
• Emails between students on school work.

 Examples of information students should always be cautious of putting online

• Personal mobile or home phone number.
• Personal photographs and video clips unrelated to schoolwork.
• Other student’s private information.
• Health information.
• Bank details.
• Home address.
• Information on racial or ethnic origin.
• Religious beliefs or other opinions.

PLEASE NOTE:

Teacher mail accounts displayed in GC will only be used to set up and maintain a Google Classroom account and are not available for parent or student email correspondence. Please continue to use the Sentral Parent Portal for teacher emails. 

For more info, visit our Google Classroom: Access from Home page.

ONLY complete the section below if you DO NOT want your child to have access to this online service,
and return to your child's teacher or the school office.

G Suite for Education: Opt-Out Form

If upon considering the above information you have questions or concerns please contact your school. You do not need to do anything for your child to have access to this service.

I DO NOT wish for my child to have access to G Suite for Education and understand that alternative arrangements for allocating work will be made.

Student Name: ______________________________Parent/Guardian Signature: _______________________

Class:              _______________

Date:              _______________                            Parent/Guardian Name:      ________________________