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Fairburn Primary's colourful school logo was drawn by a pupil, and features ducks on the local pond.

Code of Conduct for Visitors to our School

  • Updated: 9 November 2024
We welcome all visitors to our school but we request that they remain courteous at all times and that they do not breach our code of conduct for visitors.

PARENT, CARER AND VISITOR BEHAVIOUR POLICY

The Governing Body and Headteacher strongly believe that our school should be a welcoming and safe place for our children, staff, parents and visitors alike, and that our parents share that belief. We have legal responsibilities for the safeguarding and wellbeing of our children and staff, and a duty of care to all users of our school.

All adults who enter our school site at any time set examples of behaviour and conduct which influence children and young people, and we believe that they should therefore demonstrate high standards of conduct in order to encourage our pupils to do the same. Parents, carers and visitors must show respect to all other parents, carers, children, staff and visitors.

All members of staff have the right to work without fear of violence and abuse and we expect parents, carers and other visitors to behave in a reasonable way at all times.

Adults who do not behave in an acceptable manner may be asked to leave the site and the Headteacher has the right to further restrict their access. This policy highlights our expectations in respect of the conduct of parents, carers and visitors to our school and outlines the steps that will be taken where behaviour is considered to be unacceptable.

Examples of unacceptable behaviour

  • Shouting/​raising your voice at members of staff, either in person or over the telephone; 
  • Use of offensive language towards other adults, staff or children;
  • Physically intimidating members of staff and/​or other parents or pupils; 
  • Approaching someone else’s child in order to question or chastise them;
  • Physical abuse, threatening, oppressive or aggressive behaviour;
  • Using aggressive hand gestures; 
  • Swearing; 
  • Pushing;
  • Hitting, eg slapping, punching, kicking or poking; 
  • Breaching the school’s security procedures;
  • Attempting to gain entry to any part of the school in disregard of procedure or without permission;
  • Entering the school site under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
  • Smoking/​vaping/​using drugs whilst on school property;
  • Bringing alcohol onto school premises or excessive consumption of alcohol at school events;
  • Bringing dogs, with the exception of Assistance Dogs, on to the school site without the explicit permission of the Headteacher;
  • Damaging or destroying school property;
  • Displaying any signs and/​or handing out notices or messages which could cause unreasonable upset and/​or harm to any member of staff, governor, parent or child.

The above list shows examples of unacceptable behaviour, however, this is not exhaustive. Should any of the above occur on school premises, or any other behaviour which is considered unacceptable, the school may feel it is necessary to take action by contacting the appropriate authorities or considering restricting the offending adult from entering the school premises.

School-related issues which parents or carers may have concerning the school, pupils or their families must be brought to the attention of a member of staff. Parents or carers must not try to resolve any issues themselves by direct action. If issues cannot be successfully resolved by speaking to a staff member, the correct course of action is for parents and carers to use the school’s Complaints Procedure as appropriate. This is available on the school website or a copy can be requested from the school office. 

We expect all communication between parents and the school to be conducted in a polite and respectful manner. Communication may be similarly restricted if it becomes unacceptable, for example, abusive, persistent or threatening emails or text/​voicemail/​phone messages or other written communication.

Social Media

On occasions some parents are tempted to make comments about the school, school staff, other parents and/​or pupils on social media. Social media is not the forum for raising concerns or complaints about the school. If parents have a concern about the school, they can raise their concern directly with the Headteacher and complaints can be raised through the school’s Complaints Procedure.

Parents and carers should take care when posting messages on social media. Parents are expected to treat everyone with respect and professionalism – even on social media – and adults should set a good example to their children and other pupils. Do not use social media to criticise the school or its staff or pupils or make inappropriate comments. 

In the event that any pupil or parent/​carer of a pupil is found to be posting inappropriate comments on social media, they will be reported to the appropriate ​‘report abuse’ section of the social media site and consideration will be given to taking further action. Making potentially defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments about others on social media could have legal implications. In addition, threats of violence can lead to a criminal action. The school will also expect any pupil or parent/​carer to remove such inappropriate comments immediately. 

Legal framework 

Under Section 547 of the Education Act 1996 it is an offence for any person to be on school premises to cause or permit a nuisance or disturbance. It provides the right to remove and prosecute any person who is believed to have committed an offence. 

Whilst a parent or carer of a child attending the school normally has implied permission to be on the school premises at certain times and for certain purposes, this permission may be withdrawn if the parent or carer exhibits behaviour which the Headteacher believes is unreasonable. This also applies to all other individuals invited into the school for other reasons. 

In the event of any parent/​carer/​visitor breaching this Policy then proportionate action will be taken, for example:

  • Parents, carers or other visitors exhibiting unacceptable behaviour could have their access restricted which prevents access to the school premises.
  • Anyone who has had their access restricted and then ignores the restriction and enters the school site may be removed from the school site and prosecuted, if it is believed they have committed an offence.
  • The Governing Body, in conjunction with the Headteacher and [ie, North Yorkshire County Council if it is a maintained school], will take the lead in authorising the removal of a person believed to be causing a nuisance or disturbance, and, if necessary, will bring legal proceedings against them. 

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 of violence, and actual violence, to any child, staff, visitor, contractor or Governor of the school. This will include anything which 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 cyberbullying. 

Date of issue: September 2021 

Reviewed: September 2024

Next Review: September 2025