The King Edward VI School – Parental Code of Conduct

We strive to build a strong relationship with parents/carers to help create a stimulating learning environment that continues from school to home, providing all of our children and young people with the opportunity to achieve to the best of their ability. 

To create a welcoming and safe learning environment, the school implements a specifically designed set of rules regarding behaviour and conduct which parents/carers are expected to act in accordance with. 

All staff members have the right to work without fear of violence or abuse; therefore, physical attacks, threatening behaviour, and abusive or insulting language towards staff members, governors, visitors, students or other parents/carers may result in individuals being removed from the premises.

Expectations 

Our school expects parents/carers to:

• Act in accordance with this code of conduct at all times
• Support and reflect the school’s ethos and values through their behaviour
• Set a good example to students through their behaviour and the way they interact with staff, pupils and other adults
• Work together with staff members for the benefit of their child and to resolve any issues of concern
• Treat all governors, staff members, students, other parents/carers and any members of the school community with dignity and respect
• Where appropriate, clarify their child’s version of events with the school to bring about a peaceful solution to any issue
• Correct their child’s behaviour appropriately, particularly on the school grounds where it could otherwise lead to conflict or aggressive or unsafe behaviour
• Respect the school’s property and environment by keeping it clean and tidy
• Follow the school’s parking rules and procedures for dropping-off and collecting pupils from school
• Dress in an appropriate manner when on the school premises and attending school events, and ensure their dress and appearance reflect that they are role models for students.  This also includes online meetings
• No smoking/vaping on the school premises
• Support the school attendance and punctuality expectations

Driving students to school

In order to ensure the safety of all students to and from school, parents are requested not to drive up to the school at the start or the end of the day unless there is a medical reason that means your child is unable to walk up and down the hill.  Instead, please drop off and pick up your child in the main car park in Morpeth town centre

If visiting, for a pre-arranged appointment during the school day, please park at the front of the school building in the visitors spaces and then report to the Student Support area where you will be signed in.

Inappropriate behaviour 

The school takes instances of inappropriate behaviour very seriously and will not tolerate any circumstances that may make students, staff members and other members of the school community feel threatened. 

Parental behaviour that the school does not tolerate includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Using foul, abusive or offensive language 
• Raising voices inappropriately at another individual 
• Making racist or sexual comments 
• Using aggressive hand gestures, e.g. raising fists and fingers 
• Discriminating against any member of the school community, including students, staff, governors and other parents/carers
• Bullying, harassment or intimidation, including physical, verbal and sexual abuse offline and online 
• Sending abusive, aggressive or threatening messages, emails or other communications to any member of the school community
• Sending excessive communication to the school by email, text or in writing
• Trespassing on school property without prior permission or implied licence
• Causing intentional damage to school property
• Breaching the school’s security procedures
• Using physical violence on the school premises or on a member of the school community, e.g. hitting, slapping, punching, kicking and pushing
• Physically intimidating an individual 
• Partaking in unnecessary physical contact with an individual
• Writing or posting abusive, offensive or defamatory comments about an individual or the school, including on social media 
• Psychologically harassing any member of the school community, including displaying vexatious behaviour which is humiliating for the individual and is damaging to their self-esteem
• Displaying disruptive or other inappropriate behaviour which interferes or threatens to interfere with any of the school’s operations or activities 
• Approaching another parent/carer or pupil/students to discuss or reprimand them because of an issue between students 
• Threatening any member of the school community in any way 
• Arriving on the school premises partially clothed
• Smoking on the school premises 
• Taking illegal or harmful drugs while on the school premises 
• Drinking alcohol on the school premises, unless it has been authorised and supplied by the school 
• Attending the school premises under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Taking photographs or videos on the school premises without permission from the school 
• Driving unsafely within the vicinity of the school

Online safety and social media conduct

The school will expect parents/carers to behave in a civilised nature online and will not tolerate any of the following online behaviour: 

• Posting defamatory content about parents/carers, students, the school or its employees
• Complaining about the school’s values and methods on social media 

• Posting content containing confidential information regarding the school or any members of its community, e.g. a complaint outcome
• Contacting school employees through social media, including requesting to ‘follow’ or ‘friend’ them, or sending them private messages 
• Creating or joining private groups or chats that victimise or harass a member of staff or the school in general
• Posting images of any staff members or students without their prior consent

The school retains the right to request that any damaging material is removed from social media websites.

We encourage parents/carers to address any concerns informally with the school in the first instance. However, if a concern cannot be resolved informally, parents/carers are encouraged to follow the school’s formal Complaints Procedures Policy.

Breaches of this section of the code of conduct will be taken seriously by the school and, in the event of illegal, defamatory, or discriminatory content, breaches could lead to prosecution. Parents/carers are asked not to post anonymously or under an alias to evade the guidance given in this code of conduct. 

Parents/carers will be responsible for supporting the school by monitoring their own use of social media.

Parents/carers will be responsible for ensuring they support the school by monitoring their children’s use of social media.

Online messaging

The school expects parents/carers to communicate with them via phone call or email using the school’s email system at [email protected]  

The school will expect parents/carers to use messaging apps, for purposes beneficial to themselves, other parents/carers and the school, and will not accept any of the following behaviours:

• Sending abusive messages to fellow parents/carers
• Sending abusive messages to members of staff
• Sending frequent messages to members of staff
• Sending abusive messages about members of staff, parents, carers students or the school
• Sharing confidential or sensitive information about members of staff, parents, carers. students or the school
• Bringing the school or its staff into disrepute 

The school appreciates the simplicity and ease of instant messaging; however, the school does not condone parents/carers sending frequent and unnecessary messages to staff. Parents/carers will be expected to understand that staff should not be contacted outside of working hours. If parents/carers wish to talk to staff, parents/carers will arrange a meeting with the teacher by speaking to the school office. 

Should any problems arise from contact over messaging apps, the school will act quickly by contacting parents/carers directly, to stop any issues continuing. If necessary, the school will request a meeting with parents/carers if any misconduct, such as sending abusive messages or posting defamatory content, occurs online. 

The school’s complaints procedure will be followed as normal if any members of the parent/carer teacher association or governors cause any issues through their conduct whilst using online messaging. 

The headteacher will be permitted, with the permission of the parent, to view messages sent between members of the parental body to deal with problems quickly and effectively. 

The headteacher will be able to request that ‘group chats’ are closed down should any problems continue between parents/carers or parent bodies. 

Parents/carers will be responsible for supporting the school by monitoring their own use of online messaging.

Parents/carers will be responsible for ensuring they support the school by monitoring their children’s use of online messaging.

Photography and images

Parents/carers will not be permitted to take photos at school events because we all need to be mindful of others’ privacy and the potential risks linked to the publication of photos for some children. At school events, photographing your own family member will be allowed but we ask that no photographs of any school event are posted on social media.  Schools will arrange publication of authorised photos through their own websites and social media pages.

Managing inappropriate behaviour

If a parent/carer is behaving inappropriately, a report will be made to the headteacher or the most senior member of staff available in their absence, who will decide on the most appropriate course of action. 

Parents/carers will raise concerns regarding another parent’s/carer’s behaviour or conduct directly with their child’s class teacher or the headteacher and will not approach the parent/carer themselves. 

Instances of parents/carers displaying inappropriate behaviour will be managed in a variety of ways, depending on the severity of the situation. 

When a parent/carer has behaved inappropriately, they may be invited to a meeting by the headteacher to discuss their behaviour and to attempt to resolve the issue. Where this initial meeting is not sufficient to resolve the issue, the headteacher, in collaboration with other staff and relevant agencies, will consider what further action may be required. This action, depending on the situation, could include the following:

• Barring the parent/carer from the school premises 
• Contacting the police
• Seeking legal redress through the courts 
• Restricting the parent’s/carer’s channels of communication with the school, e.g. no longer allowing the parent/carer to send emails to a staff member directly 
• Reporting content the parent/carer has posted online to the website’s admin 
• Referring the case to children’s social care, where the behaviour indicates that the parent/carer poses a risk to children 

Any child protection and safeguarding concerns will be addressed in accordance with the school’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy. 

The school reserves the right to escort anyone off the premises who is displaying aggressive or disruptive behaviour. The police may be contacted to provide advice on managing an incident or to assist in the removal of an individual from the premises, where necessary. The police will be contacted where a parent/carer is threatening violence or being violent or has committed assault, or where the event has caused harm to an individual. 

If a parent/carer has been previously barred from the premises or has exceeded their implied access to the premises and is causing a disturbance, the police will be contacted to remove the individual from the premises. 

If concerns are raised in relation to a parent’s/carer’s appearance or dress, personal factors will be taken into consideration, on a case-by-case basis, when addressing the concern.

If a parent/carer persistently displays unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour, this may result in them being barred from the school premises, in line with the Barring from the school premises section of this policy. 

Barring from the school premises 

The school has the right to bar a parent/carer from the premises to keep the school community safe. If a parent/carer is displaying inappropriate or concerning behaviour, they will be asked to leave the school premises.  Behaviour that could result in a parent/carer being asked to leave the premises includes aggressive, abusive or insulting behaviour or language that is a risk to staff or students, or behaviour that is making staff or students feel threatened. 

If a parent/carer persistently or consistently behaves inappropriately on the school site, or there is a one-off incident of extremely inappropriate behaviour, the school reserves the right to bar this individual from the school site. 

The school will either:

• Bar the parent/carer temporarily, until the parent/carer has had the opportunity to formally present their side
• Inform the parent/carer that they intend to bar them and invite them to present their side

The headteacher will send a letter to the parent/carer, informing them of the following information:

• Why they have been temporarily barred or face a bar
• The nature of the bar, i.e. if they are temporarily barred pending their representation or if they must present their side before the decision to bar can be made
• That they have the right to formally express their views on the decision to bar in writing to the CEO

The headteacher’s decision to bar the parent/carer will be reviewed by the CEO.

The CEO will take account of any representations made by the parent/carer and decide whether to confirm or lift the bar. The parent/carer will be notified in writing of the decision to uphold or lift the bar. 

If the decision is confirmed, the parent/carer will be notified in writing, explaining:

• How long the bar will be in place
• When the decision will be reviewed

Decisions to bar will be reviewed at the end of the agreed timescale, in line with the process outlined above.  Following a review, the bar may be lifted or, if there are grounds for continued concern regarding the parent’s/carer’s conduct, it may be extended.

Once the appeal process has been completed, parents/carers who remain barred may be able to apply to the Civil Courts. If a parent/carer wishes to exercise this option, they will be advised to seek independent legal advice.