Parent Code of Conduct

Dear Parents/Carers

At Woodland View Primary, your child’s education and welfare is our number one priority.

All of the staff here are passionate about every single child achieving their very best potential. That is why we believe every new day presents endless possibilities.

We know that parents and carers are passionate about their children too.

For this reason, we have an open door policy. We are here to help and are happy to discuss any concerns with you, so that they can be quickly resolved. We expect that you will raise any concerns in a calm, considered and caring way. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of you do.

Our staff have every right to be treated with respect and courtesy. We will not tolerate any member of staff being subjected to aggressive, intimidating or violent behaviour, which causes them to feel threatened. This particularly relates to physical behaviour, but can also include comments made on social media. Any instances of aggressive, intimidating or violent behaviour, whether they be physical or through social media, will be reported by staff to the Headteacher and Governors.

Following a few specific instances of staff being physically threatened and slanderous comments on Facebook, the Governing Body has reluctantly found it necessary to adopt a new policy for dealing with abusive parents or carers. The policy can be found on our website under the Parents Zone section. This policy sets out the forms of behaviour that are considered unacceptable and threatening in nature. The policy allows for the school to provide the ultimate sanction of banning an abusive parent or carer from the school’s premises and reporting the matter to the police. Where the police become involved, the matter could result in a prosecution and fine.

We respect the right of our staff to feel safe and secure in their professional working environment. We sincerely hope you will continue to work with us to ensure it will never become necessary to apply this policy to any parent or carer of children at Woodland View.

Kind Regards

Mr John Wilson OBE

Chair of Governors

Code of Conduct for Parents, Carers and Visitors to Woodland View Primary School

OUR SCHOOL AIMS

Ensuring our children feel safe and know how to keep safe.
Ensuring our children know how to be healthy and stay healthy.
Ensuring our children enjoy school and achieve their full potential.
Ensuring our children know how to make positive contributions to their school and the wider community and are given opportunities to do this.
Ensuring our children understand that what and how they learn in school is the key to
securing their future wellbeing.

We are proud of the fact that we enjoy good relationships with the vast majority of parents and carers.

Parent/Carer Expectations of school
Parents can expect an open and mutually respectful relationship with school. They can be confident that, should a concern arise, it will be taken seriously, dealt with in a timely and courteous manner and in line with existing school policies.

School expectations of parents and carers
Our whole school community has respect and kindness at its core. Everyone expects to be
treated with courtesy and not to be subject to the use or threat of:

Verbal abuse
Physical abuse
Threats of posting negative comments on social media (see Appendix 1) or reporting
to OFSTED
Demands for meetings at unreasonable times and or unreasonable length, without
prior notice
Attempts to dictate management decisions
Frequent or repetitive meetings about an issue that has already been dealt with
To incite other parents to join or make a complaint

Such actions are regarded as bullying and intimidation and in the event of any of these, the school will respond proactively to support their staff. In cases such as these, sanctions imposed may include restricted contact with school or a ban from the school premises for the offender. (Refer to attached Appendix 1)

Appendix 1

This Code of Conduct is an unsigned agreement between the Parents, Carers, Visitors and Woodland View Primary School. Guidance for the Code of Conduct has been taken from Nottinghamshire County Council.

At Woodland View Primary 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, keep our school tidy, set a good example of their own behaviour both on school premises and when accompanying classes on school visits.

Our first priority is to nurture our children to become successful, happy and respectful individuals who leave us with a love of learning and the tools they need to thrive in modern Britain or anywhere else in the world that they choose to live! Our other priority is to build a school that is the hub of the community, that uses trust, support and consistency to forge strong links with our parents and that has high expectations and delivers on our promises to the families of Huthwaite.

In addition we also expect our parents, carers and visitors to keep our children safe by adhering to the school’s request to not park outside the school gates.

As a partnership we are all aware of the importance of good working relationships and all recognise the importance of these relationships to equip 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.

The purpose of this code of conduct is to provide the expectations around the conduct of all parents, carers and visitors connected to our school.

We are committed to resolving difficulties in a constructive manner, through an 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 take place, please contact your child’s teacher or the Head of Family, who will be available to meet with you and go through the issue and hopefully resolve it. Where
issues remain unresolved, please follow the school’s complaints procedure. This is available on 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 seeks parental agreement to these expectations. The code of conduct also sets out the actions the school can take, 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 schools normal operation or activities anywhere on the school premises.
Any inappropriate behaviour on the school premises.
Using loud or offensive language or displaying temper.
Threatening in any way, a member of staff, visitor, fellow parent/carer or child.
Damaging or destroying school property.
Sending abusive or threatening 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 pupils/parents/staff/governors at the school 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 own child on school premises.
Approaching someone else’s child in order to discuss or chastise them because of the actions of this child towards their own 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).
Dogs that have not been risk assessed through school procedures being brought on to the school premises. (other than service dogs).
If, during meetings, staff members feel that visitors are intimidating or rude, then subsequent meetings will only be held with a Senior Leader present.

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

Thank you for abiding by this code in our school. Together we create a positive and uplifting environment not only for the children but also all who work and visit our school. It is important for parents and carers to make sure any persons collecting their children are aware of this policy.

What happens if someone ignores or breaks the code?
In the event of any parent/carer or visitor of the school breaking this code then proportionate actions will be taken as follows:

In cases where the unacceptable behaviour is considered to be a serious 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 member of the school community, such as any form of insulting social media post or any form of social media cyber bullying.

In cases where evidence suggests that behaviour would be tantamount to libel or slander, then the school will refer the matter to the County Councils Legal Team for further action. In cases where the code of conduct has been broken but the breach was not libellous, slanderous or criminal matter, then the school will send out a formal letter to the parent/carer with an invite to a meeting.

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

Note:

(1) a ban from the school 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 school has a Facebook page, which allows parents to view messages about school events. We encourage you to positively participate if you wish.

Within these spaces 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 to publicly humiliate or criticise another parent, member of staff or child.

If parents have any concerns about their child in relation to the school as we have said above they should:

Initially contact the class teacher
If the concern remains they should contact the Head of Family followed by the Headteacher
If still unresolved, please follow the complaints procedure

They should not use social media as a medium 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 in disrepute
Posting defamatory or libellous comments
Emails circulated or sent directly with abusive 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 bad 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.

Governors at our school appreciate that such incidents are extremely rare and the vast majority of parents and carers communicate with staff in our school in an appropriate manner.

Date approved Spring Term 2019

Date of next Review: Spring Term 2021