RHPS Facebook Guidelines

RHPS Official Facebook Page Guidelines

This is the only official Facebook Page of Rooty Hill Public School. We see the use of an official Facebook page as an opportunity for our school to celebrate the life and pulse of student learning and the successes of our school. Users of our official social media sites should carefully review our social media guidelines.  Rooty Hill Public School follows the Department of Education Code of Conduct and Facebook's Community Standards.

Page guidelines

The intent of this page is to provide a hub for responsible community engagement that celebrates the daily life of our school.  We proactively support participation in social media to develop and grow digital citizenship throughout our community.  Rooty Hill Public School values the responsible use of social media articulated in a range of policies and guidelines that govern the expectations of online behaviour.

We reserve the right to remove any content that we believe is in breach of these policies, guidelines and the values of our school. Rooty Hill Public School will remove content if it contains:

• Offensive, abusive, obscene, profane, hateful or racial content, links or images
• Comments that threaten or defame any person or organisation
• The direct full name or descriptive reference to an individual, irrespective of the tone of the associated post
• Solicitations and advertisements by other organisations
• Endorsements by or of  other organisations
• Multiple or repetitive posts by a single user
• Repetitive posts copied and pasted or duplicated by single or multiple users
• Anything else that the school deems inappropriate and does not align with our values, standards, policies and guidelines

We reserve the right to remove any participant that does not adhere to the rules of engagement or Facebook's Community Standards. We will not permit messages selling products or promoting commercial, political or other ventures.

Page rules:

1. This page is monitored: This page is officially affiliated with the Rooty Hill Public School. There is no time sensitive or urgent content. Urgent or contentious issues and inquiries should be referred to the school’s more formal communication procedures. If in doubt, give our front office a call during school hours, flick us an email or get in touch with your child's classroom teacher.
2. Understand the purpose of this group: I understand that this group has been created as a positive and productive forum to ask questions and seek answers from RHPS parents, carers and community members.
3. Be kind and courteous: We're all in this together to create a welcoming environment. Let's treat everyone with respect. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required.
4. No hate please. Out with Love! Make sure that everyone feels safe. Being unkind or unpleasant isn't allowed, and degrading comments about things such as race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity cannot and will not be tolerated. If you're unsure about posting, commenting or contributing, ask yourself... 'What would our Principal, Mr Fisk say if he saw this?" :)
5. Respect everyone's privacy: Being part of this group requires mutual trust. Authentic, expressive discussions make groups great, but may also be sensitive and private. What's shared in the group should stay in the group. Please also refrain from mentioning specific students’ names.
6. Follow the RHPS Facebook Guidelines: When engaging with this page, please be sure to uphold all aspects of the Rooty Hill Public School Facebook Page Guidelines as this group is affiliated with the school’s Official Facebook Page. The guidelines can be viewed here: https://rootyhill-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/rhps-facebook-guidelines.html
7. Download the Official RHPS SkoolBag App: Not only should you have downloaded the official RHPS school app but you will also need to have notifications (push or email or even both) turned ON. This will allow you to stay updated and informed with formal school communication. Our app can be downloaded on Apple devices here: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/skoolbag-school-communication/id1045358017. It can also be downloaded on other devices here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skoolbag.singleapp&hl=en_AU&gl=US.
8. Be an authentic part of the RHPS community: This page is designed for parents, carers and close community members of the Rooty Hill Public School community only. If you are not one of these things, unfortunately this group really isn't for you.
9. No promotions, business posts or spam: Give more to this group than you take. As it currently stands, self-promotion, business posts, spam and irrelevant links aren't allowed and may lead to removal from the group.
10. Remember... #RootyHillROCKS !!! This engagement platform is a privilege, not a right. It is your responsibility (yes... RESPONSIBILITY!) to keep it positive and productive and build each other up. We know it is our parental partnerships that make our school truly special and spectacular.

Posting, tagging or naming student photos

Photos of students are posted with reference to the Department of Education publishing permission forms, completed on a yearly basis and at enrolment.  For children's privacy and protection, please do not tag photos of children, and please do not name them in your comments.  On rare occasions and with parental permission, students may be named by the school Facebook admin team.  Tagging of parents or friends within the comment box is permitted, with the understanding that all other rules of engagement are followed.

Students Friending Staff on Facebook

Please note that the Facebook terms and conditions state that no one under the age of 13 years should have a Facebook profile.

Parents / Carers Friending Staff on Facebook

Please note that the Department of Education has this advice for teachers 'Friending' parents on Facebook:  The line between your professional and personal life could become blurred making it difficult to manage your professional relationship with the parents when that becomes necessary.  You also need to bear in mind that becoming a Facebook friend with a parent could result in their children getting access to your account as well.  You also need to be mindful that you need to be careful what you say on Facebook if you have parents as friends as comments made online can be misunderstood and could result in parental complaints made to your principal.  In short, please do not ask to friend a member of staff on Facebook as refusal often offends.

Moderation hours

This page is moderated from 9am to 3pm on school days.

For further information regarding the use of our official social media channels please contact the Principal at rootyhill-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au