We are very proud and fortunate to have very dedicated and supportive wider communities at our school.  Staff, governors and parents/carers all recognise that educating children is a process that involves partnership between home and school and understand the importance of a good working relationship to equip children with the necessary skills for adulthood.
For these reasons we welcome and encourage parents/carers to participate fully in the life of their child’s school.

Purpose and scope

3.1 This policy covers unacceptable behaviour which is committed by a parent:
In any Trust or school buildings or on a Trust or school site;
* by telephone to the Trust or a school;
* by email to the Trust or a school;
* on social media and any other public electronic media platforms (e.g., websites) referring
* to the Trust or a school or a member of staff of the Trust or school;
in any other setting which, in the reasonable opinion of the CEO or Chair of Trustees (or any person authorised by them), should be regulated by this policy.

The following behaviours are considered unacceptable by the Trust:

Unacceptable conduct

3.1.1 Unacceptable conduct includes:

• verbal or written threats of violence or harm;
• swearing or the use of other abusive, offensive or threatening language;
• intimidation, coercion or humiliation;
• aggressive or disruptive behaviour;
• harassment, bullying or causing distress;
• physical violence, including damage to property or injury to individuals;
• discriminatory conduct or use of discriminatory language (sexist, racist, other);
• frequent, unwarranted and/or unnecessary correspondence which is hindering the proper running of the Trust or its schools;
• making deliberately false, malicious or vexatious accusations;
• consumption of alcohol (unless alcohol has been allowed at a specific event) or use of illegal drugs on the Trust or school’s premises, or accessing the Trust or a school’s premises whilst intoxicated;
• any behaviour that violates the law or school policies;
  incitement of others to do any of the above.

This is not an exhaustive list but seeks to provide illustrations of such conduct. It will ultimately be for the Trust to determine whether conduct is deemed to be unacceptable.

3.1.2 Any form of communication that threatens the safety or well-being of staff or pupils will be taken seriously and addressed immediately, with the goal of protecting the safety and well-being of all members of The Sigma Trust

Inappropriate use of social media
3.1.7 The Trust encourages parents to approach staff with concerns and to make use of the Trust’s Complaints Procedure to escalate matters where necessary.

We urge parents to refrain from expressing concerns about the Trust, its schools or its staff on social media sites. Expressing concerns on social media may damage the reputation of the Trust and/or its schools and the integrity of its staff may be unnecessarily called into question.

Negative comments posted on social media can cause upset and is often counterproductive to the overall aim of educating pupils. Furthermore, comments made about individual members of staff may be considered defamatory or amount to cyber-bullying.

3.1.8 It is a criminal offence to publish information which would likely lead to the identification of a teacher who is subject to an allegation of misconduct until such time as they are charged with an offence or the Secretary of State for Education publishes information about the teacher in connection with a disciplinary case (Education Act 2011). All
members of the community need to be aware of the importance of not publishing named allegations against teachers online as this can lead to prosecution and a fine.

3.1.9 Should the Trust become aware that a parent is using social media to target the Trust, any school or its staff, it may (or it may authorise a school to):

• report the post(s) to the relevant social networking site;
• contact the parent or social media page owner to require the post to be edited or removed;
• issue the parent with a restricted communication plan (see below);
  where appropriate, inform the police or other relevant agencies