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Introduction

At Scoil Náisiúnta Béal Átha Grean we aim to provide a professional and open environment to cater for the needs and concerns of all partners in our school community; pupils, parents and wider community groups and individuals when and where appropriate. We aspire to maintain a professional approach in all of our correspondence and with all possible contacts. This procedure highlights some of the common correspondence that we encounter regularly.

Rationale

This policy was drawn up to streamline beliefs and understandings of all staff members in a growing and diversifying staff group. The purpose of this policy is to outline positive professional conduct and to provide clarity to all staff with regard to how to handle and deal with common situations.

General Conduct

The staff at Ballyagran N.S. is committed to providing a high quality education for the pupils attending the school in line with the School Ethos and Mission Statement, and to carry out their duties with an excellent level of professionalism and decorum. Staff members will understand that their first duty is to the children and their education but recognise that interactions with other people/agencies will be inevitable. To this end staff members will practice due respect for all, good timekeeping, show promptness in actions, be mannerly and welcoming. Staff will present fit for work daily. Any dispute regarding a person’s ability to fulfil their duties could require to be considered within this code of conduct policy, the school Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure Policy and possibly the Substance Use Policy.

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Staff

1. Phone-calls/Meetings

All correspondence with parents that falls outside of formal Parent/Teacher meetings will be conducted through an agreed procedure. Teachers may phone a parent from the school phone. This practice is encouraged. Communication via a teacher’s private mobile phone is discouraged. In the event of a parent phoning a teacher’s mobile, the teacher is advised to make any return calls from the school number. If the parent persists contacting the teacher on his/her private phone then the teacher may respectfully request that future contact is made through the school channels. All correspondence is recorded using the record sheets provided beside the phone in the office and stored in the teacher’s class folder.

2. Professional Phone-Calls

The primary school day is a short day and time to get through adequate teaching and learning is limited. To this end, it is expected of staff that all phone-calls to do with school are made and/or taken during break-times and/or before/after school where possible. Situations will arise where the making or taking of calls cannot be avoided however staff are requested to adhere to this practice.

3. Personal Phone-Calls

Likewise, it is recognised that all staff members have a life outside of school and mobile phones are an active part of communicating with family and friends. However during the school day, the use of mobile phones is discouraged unless absolutely necessary in an attempt to maximise contact time in the classroom. In situations where calls to mobiles are unavoidable, then allowances will always be made, however it is requested that this practice is adhered to.

4. Dealing with Sales People & unexpected visitors

Sales people are a common part of school life particularly at certain times of the year. It is to be an active policy of Ballyagran N.S. to discourage meeting with these sales person(s) during the working school day. The student and teacher’s time is valuable and has a limit. If sales people want to display their wares then an area will be made available for them to display their goods.

5. Photocopying

Photocopying of work in preparation for the school day is to be done in advance of the school day commencing OR on the evening before the class in question. To this end, staff are asked to have their work in the strong room work boxes before school starts if they are unable to organise this work themselves. Our team of SNA’s are agreed in helping to complete this work as part of their 72 additional hours.

6. Time-keeping

Morning, break-times and evening bells are to be adhered to by all staff and due diligence is expected. It sets a positive precedent for both pupils and new/substitute staff to show good adherence to time. It is recognised that on occasion we may have visitors to our staff-room or may get delayed due to factors outside our control like a visiting event or person or a longer than envisaged Assembly. This, on occasion, may cause an understandable delay however, regard for duties and responsibilities will determine our actions and how these situations are handled.

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7. SNA’s and Bus Escorts

Our team of SNA’s and Bus Escorts are often the point of collection and delivery of pupils to their parents and have an important role in caring for pupils in their care. They fulfil an important function delivering messages to the child’s teacher about how the child slept, or is feeling. However there is also the risk that an SNA or Bus Escort may be seen as a messenger for a grievance or more serious concern. In this situation the staff member should be alert to the signs and if they feel the parent is making a complaint or looking for an opinion, they should direct the parent to speak with their child’s teacher. For this purpose we invite SNA’s and Bus Escorts to attend one staff meeting per year to discuss matters such as these and likewise to build rapport with the staff at large.  

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Parents

1. Meetings

Meetings with parents, formal and informal are a normal part of school life. It is recognised that sometimes unplanned meetings are unavoidable. It is also recognised that informal meetings which deal with potentially more formal issues are to be discouraged to promote a policy of best practice. Parents are actively encouraged to:

1. Contact the school secretary and organise a time that is more suitable for a meeting stating in brief the nature of the concern.
2. Come back at a time that is more appropriate for both parties as teachers have a class/students to supervise  
3. Parents should be familiar with the school having secretarial support Monday, Tuesday Thursday and Friday only. Calls through the office on Wednesday will be picked up via the voicemail system and the relevant staff member will phone you back.
4. Alternatively you may contact your teacher directly by:

• writing a note in your child’s journal indicating your request for a meeting 

OR

• emailing your child’s teacher using their school email address which follows this format for all teachers: dcarroll@ballyagrannationalschool.com 

On receipt of your message, your child’s teacher will phone you to discuss or organise a meeting at a time which suits.

2. Parent / Teacher Meetings

Formal meetings between teacher and parents will take place every November* for a progress report on the individual student’s work and development.

*While the school endeavours to observe this arrangement, this date is subject to change in unforeseen circumstances.

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This policy was adopted by the BoM of Ballyagran National School on  11/02/2019 and reviewed again in 2023

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