Code of Conduct for Parents, Carers and Visitors

 This Code of Conduct is an unsigned agreement between the Parent, Carer, Visitor and St Dunstan’s Catholic School. 

 At St Dunstan’s Catholic School, we are very proud and fortunate to have a very dedicated and supportive school community.  At our school, the staff, governors, parents and carers all recognise that the education of our children is a partnership between us.

 We expect our school community to respect our school ethos and set a good example of their behaviour at all times on school premises when attending school events and accompanying classes on school visits.

  As a partnership, we are all aware of the importance of good working relationships, and we all recognise the importance of these relationships in equipping our children with the necessary skills for their education. For these reasons, we will continue to welcome and encourage parents and carers to participate fully in the life of our school.

 This code of conduct aims to provide expectations of the conduct of all parents, carers and visitors connected to our school.

 We are committed to constructively resolving difficulties through open and positive dialogue. However, we understand that everyday misunderstandings can cause frustrations and have a negative impact on our relationships. Where issues arise or misconceptions occur, please contact your child’s teacher, who will arrange to meet with you and go through the issue and hopefully resolve it. Where issues remain unresolved, they can be escalated to your child’s Phase Leader and then the Senior Leadership team.  Please follow the school’s complaints procedure if you remain dissatisfied after this. This is available from the school website, or a copy can be requested from the school office.

 This code aims to clarify the types of behaviour that will not be tolerated and seek parental agreement to these expectations.

 The code of conduct also sets out the school's actions should this code be ignored or where breaches occur.

 Behaviour that will not be tolerated:

• Disruptive behaviour which interferes or threatens to interfere with any of the school's normal operations or activities anywhere on the school premises.
• Any inappropriate behaviour on the school premises.
• Using loud, offensive or derogatory language or displaying temper.
• Threatening or intimidating in any way a member of staff, a visitor, or fellow parent/carer or child.
• Damaging or destroying school property.
• Sending abusive, threatening or persistent emails or text/voicemail/phone messages or other written communications (including social media) to anyone within the school community.
• Defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments regarding the school or any of the school's pupils/parents/staff/governors on Facebook or other social media sites.
• The use of physical, verbal or written aggression towards another adult or child. This includes physical punishment of your child on school premises.
• Approaching someone else’s child to discuss or chastise them because of the actions of this child towards their child. (Such an approach to a child may be seen to be an assault on that child and may have legal consequences)
• Smoking, taking illegal drugs or the consumption of alcohol on school premises. (Alcohol may only be consumed during authorised events)

Should any of the above occur on school premises or in connection with the school, the school may feel it is necessary to contact the appropriate authorities or consider banning the offending adult from entering the school site.

 Thank you for abiding by this code in our school. Together, we create a positive and uplifting environment for the children and all who work and visit our school.

 Parents and carers must ensure that anyone collecting their children knows this policy.

 What happens if someone ignores or breaks the code?

In the event of any parent/carer or visitor to the school breaking this code, then proportionate actions will be taken as follows:

In cases where unacceptable behaviour is considered a severe and potentially criminal matter, the concerns will, in the first instance, be referred to the police. This will include any or all cases of threats or violence and actual violence to any child, staff or governor in the school. This will also include anything that could be seen as a sign of harassment of any other member of the school community, such as any insulting social media post or any form of social media cyberbullying. In cases where evidence suggests that behaviour would be tantamount to libel or slander, the school will refer the matter to the Local Authority’s Legal Team for further action. In cases where the code of conduct has been broken, but the breach was not a libellous, defamatory or criminal matter, the school will send a formal letter to the parent/carer or visitor, which may or may not include an invitation to a meeting.

If the parent/carer or visitor refuses to attend the meeting, the school will write to the parent/carer or visitor and ask them to stop the behaviour causing the concern and warn that if they do not, they may be banned from the school site. If this behaviour continues, the parent/carer or visitor will again be written to and informed that a ban is now in place.

 Note: 

(1) A ban from school site can be introduced without having to go through all the steps offered above in more serious cases.

(2) Site bans will normally be limited in the first instance.

Issues of conduct with the use of Social Media

Most people take part in online activities and social media. It’s fun, interesting and keeps us connected.

The Friends of St Dunstan has a Facebook page which allows parents to receive and respond to messages about school events. We encourage you to participate positively if you wish to contribute.

Within these platforms, however, we ask that you use common sense when discussing school life online.

 ‘Think before you post’ 

We ask that social media, whether public or private, should not be used to fuel campaigns and voice complaints against the school, school staff, parents or children.

We take very seriously inappropriate use of social media by a parent/carer to publicly humiliate or criticise another parent, carer, member of staff or child.

If parents have any concerns about their child concerning the school, as we have said above, they should:

Initially, contact the class teacher

1. If the concern remains, they should contact the Phase Leader and then a Senior Leader.
2. If still unresolved, the school governors, through the complaints procedure

 They should not use social media to air any concerns or grievances.

Online activity which we consider inappropriate:

• Identifying or posting images/videos of children

• Abusive or personal comments about staff, governors, children or other parents
• Bringing the school into disrepute
• Posting defamatory or libellous comments
• Emails are circulated or sent directly with offensive or personal comments about staff or children.
• Using social media to publicly challenge school policies or discuss issues about individual children or members of staff
• Threatening behaviour, such as verbally intimidating staff or using foul language
• Breaching school security procedures

At our school, we take our safeguarding responsibilities seriously and will deal with any reported incidents appropriately, in line with the actions outlined above.