We use Google Classroom as a learning tool within school and as a home-school link. It is a free and secure learning network for teachers, students and schools. It provides a safe way for us to connect, share content, access homework, participate in discussions and receive class information. Sometimes, this will be simple class messages (“Don’t forget to come to the revision session tomorrow lunchtime”), but more often it will be instructions and resources for homework.

Using Google Classroom allows you and your child to have access to work and other useful learning materials at any time through the internet and is accessible online and through any mobile devices with Internet capabilities—including iPhone, iPad and Android devices.  Google Classroom is also useful to check on work missed when absent and to ask questions about assignments.

We have added some documents below to help you with the use of Google Classroom.

Google Classroom in G Suite for Education 

We use G Suite for Education - a set of education productivity tools from Google including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Classroom, and more used by tens of millions of students and teachers around the world. Pupils will use their G Suite accounts to complete assignments, communicate with their teachers and learn 21st century digital citizenship skills, using mostly Google Classroom. 

We use a special version of the core G Suite Apps to provide a secure learning intranet for our pupils and staff.

Children use a  login to access our system servers and the intranet and internet in school. With school Gmail and Google Docs, for example, work cannot be shared with external email accounts, Google require basic information to set up these accounts, your child’s leaving year and name.  

Google Cloud does contain much of the electronic work that your child completes in school. By logging in at home, using the same login as at school, your child can continue working on projects started in school, often using one of the main apps of G Suite, Google Classroom.

Our pupil accounts have a particular set of security settings to reflect the fact that the system is being used by a child - they have a much higher security setting than our staff for example. We take advice on these settings from companies that advise us.

Google’s Privacy Policy for GSuite can be found here:

https://policies.google.com/privacy/update

The information below from Google provides answers to common questions about what they can and can’t do with your child’s personal information, including:

What personal information does Google collect?
How does Google use this information?
Will Google disclose my child’s personal information?
Does Google use student personal information for users in schools to target advertising?
Can my child share information with others using the G Suite for Education account?

G Suite for Education information for Parents and Guardians
This notice describes the personal information we provide to Google for these accounts and how Google collects, uses, and discloses personal information from pupils in connection with these accounts. 

Google provides information about the information it collects, as well as how it uses and discloses the information it collects from G Suite for Education accounts in its G Suite for Education Privacy Notice. You can read that notice online at https://gsuite.google.com/terms/education_privacy.html

You should review this information in its entirety, but below are answers to some common questions:

What personal information does Google collect?

When creating a pupil account, we provide Google with certain personal information about our pupils, including, for example, a name, email address, and password.

When a pupil uses Google services, Google also collects information based on the use of those services. This includes: device information, such as the hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information including phone number;
log information, including details of how a user used Google services, device event information, and the user's Internet protocol (IP) address; location information, as determined by various technologies including IP address, GPS, and other sensors; unique application numbers, such as application version number; and cookies or similar technologies which are used to collect and store information about a browser or device, such as preferred language and other settings.

How does Google use this information? 
In G Suite for Education Core Services, Google uses student personal information to provide, maintain, and protect the services. Google does not serve ads in the Core Services or use personal information collected in the Core Services for advertising purposes.

Does Google use student personal information for users in primary schools to target advertising?
No. For G Suite for Education users in primary and secondary schools, Google does not use any user personal information (or any information associated with an G Suite for Education Account) to target ads, whether in Core Services or in other Additional Services accessed while using an G Suite for Education account.

Can my child share information with others using the G Suite for Education account?
We allow pupils to access Google services such as Google Docs and Sites, which include features where users can share information with others within our Internet domain.

Will Google disclose my child’s personal information?
Google will not share personal information with companies, organisations and individuals outside of Google unless one of the following circumstances applies:

With parental or guardian consent. Google will share personal information with companies, organisations or individuals outside of Google when it has parents’ consent  which may be obtained through G Suite for Education schools. We would contact parents directly if Google ask for any examples of children's work etc.

With Our Lady of the Rosary G Suite for Education accounts, because they are school-managed accounts, give administrators access to information stored in them.

For external processing.

Google may provide personal information to affiliates or other trusted businesses or persons to process it for Google, based on Google’s instructions and in compliance with the G Suite for Education privacy notice and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
For legal reasons. Google will share personal information with companies, organisations or individuals outside of Google if it has a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:
meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request.
enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations.
detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, Google users or the public as required or permitted by law.

Google also shares non-personal information -- such as trends about the use of its services -- publicly and with its partners.

What choices do I have as a parent or guardian?
First, you can consent to the collection and use of your child’s information by Google. If you don’t provide your consent, we will not create a G Suite for Education account for your child, and Google will not collect or use your child’s information as described in this notice. 

If you consent to your child’s use of G Suite for Education, you can access or request deletion of your child’s G Suite for Education account by contacting the school. 

If you wish to stop any further collection or use of your child's information, you can request that we use the service controls available to limit your child’s access to features or services, or delete your child’s account entirely. You and your child can also visit https://myaccount.google.com while signed in to the G Suite for Education account to view and manage the personal information and settings of the account.

What if I have more questions or would like to read further?
If you have questions about our use of Google’s G Suite for Education accounts or the choices available to you, please contact  Ms McNicholas.

If you want to learn more about how Google collects, uses, and discloses personal information to provide services to us, please review the G Suite for Education Privacy Center, the G Suite for Education Privacy Notice, and the Google Privacy Policy. 

The Core G Suite for Education services are provided to us under Google’s Apps for Education agreement.

Pupils need to know:

Pupils will follow school policies for appropriate use when using Internet based services like Web 2.0 applications & Google Apps. These services are considered an extension of the school’s network. Pupils have no expectation of privacy in their use as school and service administrators have the right and ability to monitor user accounts for policy and security enforcement, whether they access these in school or at home.

Parents need to know:

School staff will monitor pupil use of applications when students are at school. Parents are responsible for monitoring their child’s use of applications when accessing programs from home; the school cannot take responsibility for home Internet access and its setup. Pupils are responsible for their own behaviour at all times.

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