Code of Conduct

AIMS:

To prepare our students for adult life and enable them to become responsible, reliable, valuable and valued citizens, being kind and thoughtful individuals, mindful of the needs of others

To develop our students’ ability to function as contributing members of co-operative groups and teams

To enable our students to work independently and with self-discipline

To enable our students to develop satisfactory personal relationships

Values :

The School recognises and promotes the values of :

- Honesty
- Trust
- Co-operation
- Tolerance
- Respect for oneself, others and the environment

These values and the School Mission Statement provide the ethos for the standards of behaviour we expect throughout the School.

We believe that the development of self-control and self-discipline and an acceptance of responsibility are essential to maintain a happy atmosphere. These qualities also enable individuals to grow. We value greatly the need to develop politeness, good manners and punctuality.

Staff should treat students with consideration and respect. As a result, we believe that they will learn to respect themselves, each other and the environment. We strongly believe in the promotion of tolerance for every individual’s race, gender, religion, age, lifestyle and point of view.

It is important that all staff maintain a clear, consistent and diligent approach in encouraging positive attitudes and acceptable standards of behaviour. We recognise the importance of rewarding positive behaviour as well as the need to punish behaviour which is unacceptable.

In order to provide a safe and orderly atmosphere and environment, a number of rules and routines are required of which students must be aware and teachers should enforce in a fair and consistent way.

NB All teachers are responsible for promoting this policy at all times and must not ignore infringements of rules. Teachers should be particularly vigilant with regards to incidents of bullying and breaches of the guidelines regarding tolerance.

It is the duty and responsibility of each teacher to resolve infringements of rules in the first instance. The imposition of sanctions should be done with care, thoughtfulness and prudence. It is essential that this exercise is one in which learning as well as punishment occurs. Sanctions, therefore, should be seen to be fair, appropriate and worthwhile.

Should a teacher be experiencing problems of behaviour with a class or a particular pupil, help from a trusted colleague ought to be sought. The class teacher or tutor should be consulted and/or informed in the first instant. Should the incident of misbehaviour be more serious, a Primary pupil ought to be referred to the Head of Section. A Senior Section pupil should be referred to Year Head or Head of Section. In the most serious cases, the Head of Section would refer the matter to the Headmaster.

Types of Misbehaviour and levels of Punishment

Each case of misbehaviour must be taken in context and the individual(s) concerned considered carefully. The scale of the misbehaviour must be judged carefully. As professionals, staff should apply judgment, wisdom and act in as cool and controlled a manner as possible. Staff must be careful not to use physical means to punish a pupil, whatever the circumstances.

Minor transgressions may include minor classroom indiscipline such as talking at inappropriate times, not completing homework, etc. Outside the classroom, they may include chewing gum, minor squabbles, ignoring rules etc. They could include, generally, wearing incorrect uniform, not bringing games kit to school etc. In these instances, the individual teacher would be expected to deal with the situation. Appropriate punishments may include verbal punishment (telling off, rebuke etc) ; doing extra work or repeating unsatisfactory work ; doing small jobs like litter picking or helping to clean up ; detaining the pupil at break or lunch-time ; letter home etc.

Minor transgressions become more serious if they occur regularly and consistently. This behaviour can then be viewed as defiance. Other behaviour which can be viewed as more serious includes bullying ; damage to school and others’ property ; truancy from lessons ; fighting. Such behaviour must be reported to the Head of Section, who will deal with the matter accordingly. It is highly likely that, in such circumstances, parents would be contacted. Appropriate punishments may include detention, short-term withdrawal from lessons, community service, extra work, loss of house points or Saturday detention.

 Rewards

It is a truism that, while unacceptable behaviour should be punished, good work and behaviour should be rewarded. A word of praise from a teacher is a wonderful reward for a child and acts as a great motivator. Congratulations and words of encouragement should be used constantly. Positive gestures, smiles and body language send messages of affirmation to the pupil which act as the best form of reward. Acknowledgement of good pieces of work is also very important and can be strengthened by the award of house points or commendations. Positive reinforcement by well-worded report comments and feedback at parents’ evenings are also useful.