Parent & Visitor Code of Conduct

NHPS Visitor Information - 2026

THLT Parent and Visitor Code of Conduct 2026

At Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary School we are fortunate to have supportive and friendly parents and carers. Educating children is a partnership between home and school, and a good working relationship between the adults around a child helps them develop the skills they need for the next stage of their education and for adult life.

This code sets out the standards of behaviour we expect from parents, carers and visitors, and what you can expect from us, so that school is a safe, calm and positive place for every child. It is based on The Hawksmoor Learning Trust Parent and Visitor Code of Conduct and applies on school premises, at school events and trips, and in any communication with or about the school, its staff, pupils or families, whether in person, by telephone, in writing or online. It should be read alongside the Trust's Complaints Policy.

What you can expect from us

• We will treat you with courtesy and respect.
• We will listen to your concerns and respond in a way that is proportionate to the issue.
• We will acknowledge your email as soon as we are able to, and within three working days for non-urgent matters. A full reply may take longer where information needs to be gathered.
• We will be honest with you about what we can and cannot do, and explain our decisions if you ask.
• We will keep information about your family confidential, sharing it only where we need to in order to keep a child safe.

Respect and concern for others

We expect all parents, carers and visitors to show respect and concern for others, including pupils, other parents and staff, by:

• supporting the respectful ethos of our school, setting a good example in their own speech and behaviour towards all members of the school community;
• working with staff for the benefit of children, including raising any concern calmly and constructively, through the right channels, so that it can be resolved;
• supporting the school's Behaviour Policy and other policies;
• respecting the learning environment, both in school and off site;
• accepting that staff will make professional judgements and that day-to-day operational decisions are made by the Headteacher;
• driving safely and parking considerately and legally when dropping off and collecting children.

Communicating with the school

• Please always use the school office email for written communication with the school. This makes sure your message is logged, reaches the right person and receives a reply. Please do not use staff members' individual email addresses, social media, messaging apps or personal phone numbers to contact staff.
• For anything urgent on the day, including a matter affecting your child's safety or welfare, please telephone the school office.
• Staff are not expected to read or reply to emails outside their working hours, at weekends or during school holidays. Emails sent during school holidays will be picked up when the school reopens.
• At the start and end of the day, teachers are responsible for the safety of the children in their care. Brief messages can be passed on at these times, but anything that needs discussion should be arranged as an appointment through the school office.
• Please keep correspondence about one matter in a single email thread and avoid sending repeated messages about the same issue while it is being dealt with. Repeated messages do not speed up a response and can delay it.
• Conversations and meetings with staff may only be recorded with the agreement of everyone present. Recordings must not be shared or used in ways that cause harm, distress or intimidation.
• Please read the information we send home, including letters, emails, newsletters and the school website. If you are unsure about anything, ask the school office by email rather than asking in a parent messaging group or on social media.

Behaviour we cannot accept

To keep school peaceful and safe, we do not tolerate:

• disruptive behaviour that interferes with the running of a classroom, an office area or any other part of the school or its grounds;
• loud, aggressive, intimidating or offensive language, or displays of temper, towards any member of the school community;
• intimidating behaviour of any kind, in person, by telephone, in writing or online. This includes standing over or blocking staff, following staff, raising your voice at staff in front of children or others, making veiled or direct threats, gathering others to confront staff, and persistent contact designed to pressure staff into a decision;
• harassment, threatening harm, or physical aggression towards any adult or child. This includes approaching someone else's child to discuss or reprimand them, confronting another parent or carer about an incident in school, and physically punishing your own child on school premises. Some of these actions may be criminal offences;
• damage to or destruction of school property;
• sending, forwarding or taking part in abusive, threatening, malicious or inflammatory emails, phone calls, messages, voice notes or social media posts, whether sent directly to staff or about staff and sent to others, including in parent messaging groups;
• taking photographs, videos or voice recordings on site, or recording staff (including conversations, meetings or phone calls), without permission;
• smoking or vaping anywhere on the school site, including e-cigarettes;
• drinking alcohol or taking drugs on site, or arriving at school under the influence of either.

Visiting the school

Everyone who comes into school beyond the main entrance, including parents helping in class, must:

• report to the school office to sign in, and sign out again when leaving;
• wear the visitor badge or lanyard they are given, visibly, for the whole visit;
• stay with the member of staff looking after them, unless they have been told otherwise;
• follow any instruction given by staff, particularly in the event of a fire alarm or lockdown.

Visitors who have not had the checks required to work with children unsupervised will not be left alone with pupils at any time. This is not a comment on any individual. It is how we keep every child safe.

If you need to collect your child during the school day, please come to the office rather than to the classroom.

Photography and filming

We know how much families want to capture school performances and sports days, and we will always try to make that possible.

• Please only take photographs or film where we have said you may. We will tell you at the start of an event.
• Photographs and film taken at school events are for your own family's personal use.
• Please do not post images that include other people's children on social media, or share them in group chats, without the permission of their parents.
• Please do not photograph, film or voice record staff without their agreement.
• Some children cannot be photographed for safeguarding or legal reasons, and we will not always be able to explain why. Following these rules protects those children.

Mobile phones should not be used in areas where children are changing, and we ask that you keep phones away during the school day when you are in classrooms.

Raising a concern

If something is worrying you, please tell us. Most things are resolved quickly with a conversation.

• Contact your child's class teacher first, through the school office email, or ask the office to arrange a time to talk.
• If the matter is not resolved, please follow the stages in the Trust's Complaints Policy. A formal complaint should be sent to the Headteacher through the school office email.
• Contacting senior leaders, the Chief Executive, governors or trustees directly does not bypass these stages. Any such contact will be passed back to the school and dealt with at the correct stage. Governors and trustees cannot act on individual concerns, and approaching them may prevent them from hearing a complaint later.
• Day-to-day operational decisions, such as class organisation, uniform and PE kit, timetabling, routines, and drop-off and collection arrangements, are made by the Headteacher. Disagreeing with a decision that was properly made is not, in itself, grounds for a complaint. We will explain the reasons for a decision if you ask.
• A request for information or a first report of an everyday issue, such as lost property or a query about an event, is not a complaint and will be dealt with as part of the school's normal business.
• If your concern involves another child, please do not approach that child or their parents or carers directly, whether in person, at the school gate, by message or in a parent messaging group. Tell the class teacher through the school office email so that staff can find out what happened and deal with it fairly for all the children involved.
• If you wish to complain about the Headteacher, governors or the Trust, contact the CEO at enquiries@thlt.academy. Complaints about the CEO go to the Chair of the Trust at ChairofTrust@THLT.Academy.

If your concern is about the safety or welfare of a child, please telephone the school office on 01327 351466 straight away and ask to speak to a Designated Safeguarding Lead. Do not wait for a reply to an email. You can also see our Safeguarding pages.

Social media and online conduct

Social media is sometimes used by a small number of people to criticise, or campaign against, schools, staff, and in some cases other parents and pupils. We consider that unacceptable. It sets a poor example to children and is not in the best interests of the children or the wider school community.

Concerns about the school should be raised through the school office email, following the Complaints Policy, so that they can be dealt with fairly and effectively. Please do not use social media or parent messaging groups to raise concerns or complaints about the school, its staff or other families.

Please do not post content about staff, pupils or other families that is abusive, threatening, harassing, discriminatory or untrue. This includes posts, messages and voice notes in closed or private groups and parent messaging groups, and messages about staff sent to other people. Parent messaging groups should not be used to discuss incidents involving other children, or to approach other parents about them. Please raise these with the school.

Where such content is posted, we will ask the person who posted it to remove it straight away. We may also report the content to the platform or to Report Harmful Content, and in serious cases we will consider our legal options and report the matter to the police. Where social media is used to bully or publicly humiliate another person, we will treat this as a serious incident and may refer the matter to the police.

Dogs on the school site

Dogs are not permitted on the school site or in the playground at drop off and collection, unless the dog is an assistance dog supporting a person with a disability, or the Headteacher has given express permission for a specific purpose. Please tie up your dog outside the gates or leave it at home.

Unreasonable, persistent or vexatious contact

We welcome contact from parents and carers and will not normally limit it. However, we may act where contact or complaints become unreasonable. Examples include:

• repeatedly raising the same issue after it has been answered or has completed the complaints procedure;
• sending a large number of emails or making frequent calls, or expecting immediate replies;
• contacting several members of staff, governors or trustees about the same matter;
• refusing to accept a decision, or changing the basis of a complaint as it is being dealt with;
• raising large numbers of detailed but minor questions and insisting they are all answered in full;
• making demands that are unrealistic or cannot be met;
• making unjustified complaints about staff who are trying to deal with an issue.

In these circumstances the Headteacher or Chief Executive may put in place a communication plan. This may limit contact to a single named person, to written contact only, to a set number of contacts or to set times. It may also confirm that the school will not correspond further on a matter that has been concluded. Any plan will be confirmed in writing, with reasons, and will be reviewed, normally within one term. You may ask for the decision to be reviewed. A communication plan will never stop us receiving a safeguarding concern or a genuinely new concern, and will not affect the ordinary information you receive about your child, such as reports and parents' evenings.

If this code is not followed

Almost every concern is settled with a conversation, and that is always our first step. Where the code is not followed, the school or Trust will respond in proportion to what has happened. This may include:

• a conversation with the Headteacher or a senior member of staff to explain what is expected;
• a written warning;
• a communication plan, as described above;
• conditions on, or withdrawal of, permission to come onto school premises. Parents are normally given the chance to make written representations first, and any restriction will be reviewed. Alternative arrangements will be made so that your child's attendance and education are not affected;
• reporting the matter to the police or other authorities.

Serious incidents, including any threat or act of violence, will be reported to the police and may lead to immediate removal from the site. The Trust will act in line with the DfE's guidance on controlling access to school premises and on preventing and tackling the bullying and harassment of school staff, and section 547 of the Education Act 1996, under which it is an offence to cause a nuisance or disturbance on school premises. We will always support staff who experience abuse, intimidation or harassment. Schools record breaches of this code and any communication plans or site restrictions.

We trust that all parents, carers and visitors will support this code of conduct, and we thank the great majority of our families who already do.