D06: PARENT CODE OF CONDUCT POLICY

1. Rationale:

At Edison International Academy, we believe staff, parents and children are entitled to a safe and protective environment in which to learn and work. Behaviour that will cause harassment, alarm or distress to all using our school’s premises is contrary to the aims of the school.

2. Aims:

That all members of the school community treat each other with respect
That adults set a good example for our students at all times, demonstrating how to get along with all members of the school and the wider community
That no members of staff, parents or children are the victims of abusive behaviour or open to threats from other adults on the school premises
That physical attacks and/or threatening behaviour, abusive or insulting language (both verbal or in writing), to staff, parents and carers, children, stakeholders and others on school premises will not be tolerated and will result in withdrawal of permission to be on school premises (any parent who is asked to leave the school premises will have the right to appeal the decision by writing to the School Management, Managing Director or Grievance Committee)

Please note that incidents of rudeness and/or threatening behaviour will be logged with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

3. Persons Causing Nuisance/Disturbance on School Premises

School premises are private property and parents are granted permission to be on school premises by the school. However, in case of abuse or threats towards staff, pupils and/or other parents, the school reserves the right to ban parents from entering school. The police may be called to assist in removing the person concerned. The school is not responsible for organising arrangements for children in such circumstances. Parents will need to provide alternative arrangements for bringing children into school and likewise, for having them picked up.

Please note that EYFS (Preschool and Reception) dismissal time is 12:00 noon, and students should be collected by 12:30 at the latest. Year 1 to 6 dismissal time is 1:00 pm and students should be collected no later than 1:30. Thereafter, the school is not responsible for students left in or around the school premises, unless they are on the bus, attending support lessons and/or after school activities, all of which finish at 2 pm; students should be collected no later than that. Should students be picked up later than 2 pm, the school reserves the right to charge a late pick-up fee.

4. Guidelines:

Types of behaviour that are considered serious and unacceptable and will not be tolerated towards any member of the school community (list is not exhaustive):

Shouting, either in person or over the telephone
Disrupting lessons and school routines
Not collecting child/ren timeously
Inappropriate posting on Social Networking sites which could bring the school into disrepute and/or may be deemed as bullying
Speaking in an aggressive/threatening tone
Physically intimidating staff and/or students or any other person on school premises
The use of aggressive hand gestures/exaggerated movements
Physical threats
Shaking or holding a fist towards another person
Swearing and/or using abusive language
Pushing
Hitting e.g. slapping, punching or kicking
Spitting
Racist or sexist comments

5. Inappropriate use of Social Networking Sites:

Social media websites are being increasingly used to fuel campaigns and complaints against schools, principals, teachers and school staff, and in some cases other parents/pupils.

Edison International Academy considers the use of social media websites being used in this way as unacceptable, as this cannot be seen as being in the best interest of the children or the whole school community.

Any concerns parents may have must be made through the appropriate channels by making an appointment to speak to the class teacher, Administration Manager or School Principal, so they can be dealt with fairly, appropriately and effectively for all concerned.

In the event that any pupil or parent/responsible for a child/ren being educated at Edison International Academy is found to be posting slanderous or defamatory comments on Facebook or other social network sites, they will be reported to the appropriate ‘report abuse’ section of the network site. All social network sites have clear rules about the content which can be posted on the site and they provide robust mechanisms to report contact or activity which breaches this. The school will also expect that any parent/carer or pupil removes such comments immediately.

In serious cases the school will also consider its legal options to deal with any such misuse of social networking and other sites. Additional, and perhaps more important, is the issue of cyber bullying and the use by one child or a parent to publicly humiliate another by inappropriate social network entry. We will take and deal with this as a serious incident of school bullying. Thankfully, such incidents are extremely rare. This also includes ClassDojo, which has been implemented for better communication between the school, teacher and parents. If any parent is found abusing this mode of communication, this will result in immediate removal from the application and all communication will be done through a Homework Diary or written letters.

6. Unacceptable behavior may result in the Police being informed

The school reserves the right to take any necessary action to ensure that members of the school community are not subjected to abuse.

Parents have the right of appeal by writing to the School Management within ten days of their permission to enter the school premises being withdrawn.

7. Responsibilities:

It is the responsibility of the School Management to monitor and annually review this Parent Code of Conduct Policy

8. Procedure to address inappropriate behaviour by adults on the school site

At Edison International Academy, we operate a ‘zero tolerance’ of the use of inappropriate behaviour anywhere on the school site. **Inappropriate behaviour means disrespectful conduct towards people or property within the school site. All staff and stakeholders agree that any adult found to be using inappropriate behaviour towards other adults or children should be dealt with using the following steps:

An adult approaches another child	The adult will be spoken to immediately and the issue investigated by a school leader or counselor. This will be reported to the School Principal and recorded. The adult will receive a warning letter.
A parent approaches another parent	The parent should report this to a member of staff or a school leader. The offending parent/s will be spoken to as soon as possible after the incident and are reminded of the zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour. A warning letter stating that if the incident recurs, the parent may be banned from school premises, is issued.
A parent approaches a member of staff	This should be reported immediately to a member of the Senior Leadership Team. The case will be investigated as soon as possible and the member of staff will be informed of the action taken. The parent/adult will be spoken to and given a warning letter. This warns a parent/s that if it recurs they could be banned from the school site.
Not collecting students on time Please provide an emergency contact person and phone number	If a parent/s have any emergency and cannot collect their child/ren on time, the school needs to be immediately notified and alternative arrangements need to be made in the best interest of the child.
Recurring inappropriate behaviour	If a parent/s continues to demonstrate inappropriate behaviour, they will be referred to the Parent Code of Conduct Policy. This indicates how antisocial behaviour, when not corrected, can lead to a ban from the school premises. Ultimately, parents may be asked to register their child/ren in another school based on the severity of the recurring incidents.

NOTE: Any breach of this policy will result in an official warning. Depending on the severity which is at the schools discretion, parents will be given notice to find an alternative school placement for their child/ren.