Internet Filtering Policy

December 2005 - Child Protection

This document provided by the 'Home Office Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet' provides good practice guidance for the moderation of interactive services for children.

Good Practice Guidance for the Moderation of Interactive Services for Children.

April 2005 - RM Filter

The Internet feed supplied to all Wirral schools passes through a filter. This is currently provided and maintained by Research Machines (RM). The RM policy on filtering is available at, www.ifl.net/support/filteringpolicy.html.

This filtering process does not apply to Internet searches that report links to sites that may contain inappropriate content. In many cases the actual sites are blocked, however, the titles presented in a search result may be unsuitable for minors. Authority guidance on safe searching can be found at, http://www.wirral-mbc.gov.uk/search/search.asp.

Blocking and Unblocking Websites on the RM Filter

Filter lists are updated regularly and upon request, IT Services (ITS) will add restrictions to the central filter to block individual sites. A head teacher or an authorised senior teacher may contact ITS on 0151 666 4553 and the site will be blocked centrally. Equally if you have concerns about a website that is blocked and you feel it should be unblocked, then again please contact ITS, this time in writing requesting this action. Each request will be discussed at the next meeting of the ICT Policy Group, chaired by Chris Batman. You will receive a response to your request following this meeting.