As you may know, it is government policy to connect all schools to the internet by the year 2002. I am pleased to inform you that, by the end of this school year, each classroom in our school will have a computer installed to allow the children to have supervised access to the internet.

Pupils will be able to exchange electronic mail with partner schools and search for information from museums, libraries, news providers and suitable web sites related to their lessons.

There have been widely publicised concerns about pupils having access to undesirable materials when they use the internet. We believe that the educational advantages of enabling the children supervised access the internet greatly outweigh the likely problems if appropriate safeguards are put in place. We have purchased our internet access from Notts. County Council, an educational supplier which operates a filtering system to block access to inappropriate materials. Our computer screens will be in public view and, as stated above, internet access will be supervised.

The school has prepared a detailed Internet Access Policy which is intended to help us make the most of the opportunities that the internet offers whilst minimising the possible risks. It includes a set of Rules for Responsible Internet Use that we will be teaching the children and I attach a copy of these. I have a number of leaflets from national bodies that explain the issues further and some of these also cover internet use by children at home.

We regret that, because it is not possible to be certain of the originator of an e-mail message, the school is unable to accept an e-mail as parental authorisation of a pupil absence.

Should you wish to read our school Internet Access Policy or to discuss any aspect of internet use please telephone me to arrange an appointment.