The VINE School
Generative AI Guidelines
Practical, evidence-based guidance for K–12 schools navigating AI in education. Organised around three interconnected pillars — and designed to be adapted to your school's context.
Three pillars. One strategy.
A teacher selecting an AI marking app is simultaneously making a teaching decision, a privacy decision, and an ethical decision. The centre of the Venn — where all three pillars meet — is where whole-school AI strategy sits.
VINE School AI Principles
Seven principles that anchor the VINE School's approach to GenAI — designed to outlast any individual tool or platform.
AI is a technology, not a teacher
Human judgement, expertise, and relationships remain central to education. AI supports teaching and learning but does not replace the role of educators, the importance of human connection, or the development of students' own thinking.
Transparency first
When AI is used — by students, staff, or the school as an organisation — this should be disclosed. Transparency builds trust and enables informed decision-making by all members of the school community.
Privacy is non-negotiable
Student data must be protected regardless of how convenient a tool is. Schools have a duty of care that extends to the digital tools and platforms they adopt or permit.
Respect for Indigenous knowledge and cultural diversity
AI systems reflect the biases of their training data. The VINE School is committed to protecting Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property and ensuring AI use does not reinforce colonial perspectives or erase cultural diversity.
Equity of access
AI should not widen the gap between those who have access to premium tools and those who do not. Schools have a responsibility to ensure AI-related opportunities and expectations are fair for all students.
Critical thinking over compliance
The goal is students who can think critically with AI, not students who simply follow rules about AI. Education should prepare young people to negotiate life in an AI-rich world with discernment, ethical awareness, and agency.
Respect cognitive development
Productive struggle is essential to learning. AI can scaffold thinking, but it can also bypass it. Schools should intentionally design curriculum and assessment to ensure students are cognitively challenged.
Explore the three pillars
Each section follows a consistent structure: guiding statements, practical tools, and key questions for different stakeholders.
Teaching & Learning
AI literacy, academic integrity, the AI Assessment Scale, assessment design, professional learning, and cognitive offloading.
Explore section →Ethics & Wellbeing
Bias, deepfakes, social chatbots, environmental impact, copyright, equity, and student wellbeing.
Explore section →Privacy & Security
Data governance, shadow IT, risk zoning, vendor transparency, age-appropriate access, and the AI Lead role.
Explore section →Designed to be adapted
These guidelines are your school's AI policy. Rather than a standalone AI policy document that dates quickly, they integrate AI governance across your existing policy frameworks. Published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and written for a fictional "VINE School" so that schools can customise them to their own context.