Issue Date of This Version 1/08/2024

Review Period for This Document - One Year from Original Issue

Due Date for Review/Expiry 1/08/2025

1- Introduction
It is important that pupils and parents are fully aware of the Impact A&C's high expectations for parents and pupil conduct. High standards of behaviour and work are expected at all times. A positive approach to discipline is taken and pupils will be encouraged to show consideration and care for people and property.
We have a responsibility to ensure that we treat people with respect, openness and care. We are keen to work with parents and carers to develop a culture where everyone is approachable and we ask that staff, parents and carers to all play their part. To create and maintain healthy, open relationships and to ensure we remain committed to treating people equally, we seek to intentionally focus on being patient, honest, humble and forgiving. We believe students learn best in a safe and supportive environment based on respect and trust and underpinned by an effective partnership between parents, staff and the Academy community and other partners. High standards of behaviour are required of students. Staff are expected to act professionally at all times. The positive support of parents and carers is needed and highly valued by Impact A&C. We ask parents and staff to model the behaviour we wish to see in our students.


2- What is this policy about?

In brief this policy outlines conduct expectations for parents and carers in our academies. In more detail, This Code of Conduct provides a reminder to all parents, carers and visitors to our academies about the conduct that is expected of them. It sets out both what they should aim to do, and how any inappropriate conduct will be addressed. We are all working in a spirit of partnership allowing relationships to flourish, progress and achieve in an atmosphere of mutual understanding.
This code complements the ‘Complaints Policy’ which is designed to handle parental concerns or complaints in a sensitive and mutually supportive manner (see Complaints Policy).

3- Who is this policy for?

The policy is for academy leaders, staff, parents and carers, pupils.

4- Policy Statement Expectations

We believe that working in partnership with our parents and carers gives children and young people the very best opportunities in life. Our expectations of parents and carers (and, where appropriate, visitors):
• We ask that you respect and help us to model the Impact A&C values
• We believe that it is important to be tolerant of each other’s views, beliefs and opinions and to accept that everyone is different. We ask that you please follow this whilst in and around the academy on school premises.
• Please treat all members of each academy community as you would want to be treated yourself - with respect, using appropriate language and behaviour
• Please feel that you can approach the academy to help resolve any issues that you have a concern about. The involvement of other agencies such as the police, the LADO, local authority or OFSTED is a parental right but we welcome open dialogue in the first instance to allow academy staff to address the issue directly.
• Where appropriate, clarify a child’s version of events with the academy’s view, in order to bring about a peaceful solution to any issue, before taking any further action.
• We ask that you support us in promoting good behaviour at all times, especially in public where it could otherwise lead to conflict, aggressive or unsafe behaviour. For example: children must not be encouraged to fight to resolve issues
• Please refrain from interfering or threatening to interfere with any of the academy’s operation or activities anywhere on the academy premises.
• We ask that you do not approach another parent or student in order to discuss or reprimand them because of an issue between students – please talk to a member of academy staff to resolve any problems.
• We ask you to please speak quietly and calmly, as you would want to be spoken to. We ask that you don’t use offensive, threatening or abusive language or display your temper. • Please stand back from others when communicating as we want everyone to feel safe in our academy. Please avoid using physical or verbal aggressive towards another adult or child, including your own.
• Emails and phone messages can often be interpreted in different ways. We ask that before pressing send on an email and using the telephone you reflect on whether or not the email or call may be seen as abusive or threatening.
• We ask that we all work together to promote the academy positively and avoid defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments regarding the academy or any of the students/parents/carers/staff at the academy on Facebook or other social media
• Our academy buildings and resources are important, and we ask that parents do not damage or destroy academy property but treat them with respect on school premises where we hold our lessons.
• We believe it is important that adults role model for our children and students therefore we ask that you arrive on the academy premises appropriately clothed.
• As role models for children and students we ask you kindly not to smoke (including ecigarettes), to consume alcohol on the academy premises or to take illegal drugs
• Some children or students are worried by dogs. With this in mind we ask that you only bring dogs (except for registered assistance dogs) or other animals into the academy environment after prior agreement.
• To keep our children and young people safe we ask that you drive safely in the vicinity of the academy.
• To ensure that we keep all our children safe we ask that your do not take photographs with phones or other devices on academy premises without permission from the academy or school.
• We believe that communication is key. For example, we ask all parents to download the sign up on the student portal to access student material and important messages; and to respond to communication via email or other preferred forms of communication

Next steps

Where the above expectations are not upheld, the initial response will involve a conversation with the parent/carer or visitor. Generally, we expect a conversation to be sufficient to reinforce our expectations. However, where this is not sufficient to resolve the issue, the Academy may have to unfortunately consider further action. We are keen to avoid this. Further action could include banning from site for a fixed time (see ‘barring from the Academy premises’ below); contacting the police or seeking legal redress through the courts; restricting channels of communication (e.g. no longer allowed to email staff directly).
In the case of defamatory comments posted online, we would also report the post to the site’s admin. In some cases, particularly around threats of violence towards staff, we may also need to refer to Social Care if the behaviour of a parent/carer or visitor indicates that they may also be unsafe around children. We kindly ask that parents, carers and visitors will assist Impact A&C with the implementation of this policy and we thank you for your continuing support of our Academies. We ask that parents and carers ensure they make all persons responsible for collecting their children aware of this policy.

Communication and contact

It is inevitable that at times there will be conflict between students and/or families in the Academy. To ensure that these incidents are dealt with safely and effectively, we ask that parents and carers speak to Academy staff (e.g. head teacher, senior manager, director) rather than approaching the other student or parent directly or through social media to reprimand them.
• Email contact with staff is used in many Academies as a way to support collaboration. However, there is no expectation that staff must respond to emails within a specific timescale. Impact staff will communicate politely with you and we really appreciate the same from parents and carers. Please can you avoid using language that may sound aggressive.
• We ask that any public communication regarding the Academy (e.g. on social media) should be factual and not your opinion. If you have a concern about your child’s academy, please contact the Academy to enable a resolution to be found. If you are not able to resolve a concern, then please see the Impact A&C Complaints Policy.

5-The requirements that apply to this policy
Impact A&C has this policy to provide guidance in accordance with the DfE policy on controlling access to school premises: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/controlling-access-to-school-premises

6-Social media sites

Inappropriate use of social network sites

A small number of parents use social media platforms or other online systems to give negative comments. Like other education providers, we discourage this practice and ask you to communicate directly with us. Impact A&C considers the use of social media websites being used in this way as unacceptable and not in the best interests of students or the whole Academy community.
Please discuss any concerns you may have directly and privately with the academy in the first instance, so they can be dealt with fairly, appropriately and effectively for all concerned.

Defamatory posts

In the event that any student or parent/carer of a student being educated by Impact A&C is found to be posting defamatory comments on Facebook or other social network sites, they will be reported to the appropriate ‘report abuse’ section of the network site including comments that reference the Equality Act (2010) protected characteristics. It is likely that the police will also be informed. 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 Academy will also expect that any parent/carer or student removes such comments immediately.

Cyber bullying

We take very seriously the issue of cyber bullying by one child or a parent to publicly humiliate another by inappropriate social network entry. We will deal with this as a serious incident of Academy bullying and/or Peer-on-Peer abuse. Thankfully such incidents are extremely rare. In serious cases the Academy will also consider its legal options to deal with any such misuse of social networking and other sites.

7-Recording meetings

At Impact Community Learning we aim to be open and honest in our day to day lives. We encourage parents to follow this approach when visiting our academy. Electronic recordings of meetings or conversations are not normally permitted by parents or carers unless a complainant’s own disability or special needs require it. Prior knowledge and consent of all parties attending must be sought before meetings or conversations take place. Consent will be recorded in any minutes of the meeting taken. Recordings of conversations that were obtained covertly and without the informed consent of all parties being recorded are not acceptable.

Impact A&C encourages parents and staff to be open and honest about the recording of meetings. Any meeting held with parents that is recorded should ideally be agreed beforehand by all parties.

Please see Privacy Policy on our website to check for the recordings we do for the online classes to ensure a high standard for the online lessons is followed.

8-Barring from the Academy premises

The public has no automatic right of entry to our Academy. Impact A&C will therefore act to ensure they remain a safe place for students, staff and other members of their community. If a parent’s behaviour is a cause for concern, an Academy can ask him/her to leave Academy premises.

In serious cases, the Director or Senior Manager can notify them in writing that their implied licence to be on Academy premises has been temporarily revoked subject to any representations that the parent may wish to make to the Director. Impact A&C should always give the parent the opportunity to formally express their views on the decision to bar in writing. During the barring period all contact should go through the Director or a named member of staff either by email or telephone. The director’s decision should be reviewed with other parties on the Senior Board. They should take into account any representations made by the individual and decide whether to either confirm or lift the bar.

If the decision is confirmed, the individual should be notified in writing, explaining:
• how long the bar will be in place
• when the decision will be reviewed

Once the Academy’s appeal process has been completed, individuals may be able to apply to the Civil Courts. Individuals wishing to exercise this option should seek independent legal advice. Any ban should be reviewed at the end of the agreed timescale as outlined above.

Controlling access to school premises - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/controllingaccess-to-school-premises - provides more guidance on access to Academy premises. See Appendix A for sample banning letters and letter from the Regional Director to uphold or dismiss the ban.

9-Monitoring arrangements

The Director will monitor the effectiveness of the Academy’s application of the parent code of conduct policy.

10-Training
Academy leaders may want to include training for colleagues in holding meetings with parents in their CPD plans so that all staff feel confident in working positively with parents and others. Training will be based on the need in each Academy. Directors are able to signpost colleagues to sources of best practice in holding meetings with parents.

11-Pupils Code of Conduct

A guide for parents and carers to ensure and help their children to respect our Pupils Code of Conduct

Pupils are to:

• Respect all other people, regardless of race, culture, gender and religion
• Behave in a quiet, polite and orderly manner
• For classes that are held online, follow teacher’s instructions
• For online classes, don’t disturb others
• For online classes, don’t access other sources other than the ones given by the teacher
• Follow the instructions of the teaching and non-teaching staff
• Knock at classroom doors before entering (if required)
• Behave in a quiet and polite manner on school premises and outside school
• Be punctual for the Academy and for lessons
• Remove outer clothing (scarves, coats, gloves) before entering classrooms
• Leave the lessons when directed by a member of staff
• Hand in ALL work on time
• Look after Academy property
• Respect other people’s property and private space
• Be clean and tidy at all times
• Work to the best of their ability during lessons
• Bring in notes explaining absence from the Academy.

Pupils must not:

• Bring mobile ‘phones or other electrical items to the Academy
• Use bad language or swear anywhere on the Academy site
• Smoke in or near to the Academy site
• Write on desks, walls or the Academy fabric
• Show intimidating behaviour – physically, verbally or otherwise
• Leave classrooms without permission
• Make racist, sexist or inappropriate religious comments
• Leave the Academy premises without permission
• Eat or drink during lessons
• Run along the corridors or on the stairways
• Interfere with other pupils’ work either physically or verbally.