Code of Conduct

The intent of the Pinecrest Elementary code of conduct is to establish guidelines for acceptable conduct to maintain a safe, caring, and orderly environment conducive for learning. All students are subject to the school's code of conduct while on school premises and during school activities off of school grounds.

Pinecrest’s code of conduct is established to maintain a safe, respectful, empathetic, and positive environment for our entire learning community.

At Pinecrest Elementary School we value life-long learning and show respect for ourselves, others and the world around us.

Our beliefs are directly linked to our code of conduct. These beliefs are the central principles understood and shared by the students, parents and staff of our school. All members of the Pinecrest learning community work hard to achieve and uphold Pinecrest’s code of conduct. At our school we are creating a learning community that is learning in relationship.

At Pinecrest this year, we continue to build a learning community that is an excellent place to learn at each day. Our teachers, support staff and parents continue to teach and encourage all of our students to be safe, respectful, empathetic and positive citizens. In our classrooms and in the school-wide setting we are focusing on four main areas, or agreements. These are: mutual respect, active listening, appreciations (with no put-downs) and positive participation. We are deliberately modeling and teaching these 4 behaviours.

“We believe that learning these behaviours is an ongoing, active and inclusive process and that as we focus on these positive actions it becomes our reality.”

At Pinecrest we are…

EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY SAFE

“We believe it is essential that all learners feel emotionally and physically safe”. We know that each day children need re-direction, coaching and encouragement- to learn to deal with social issues as they arise, especially during outside play. W.I.T.S. is a useful tool that most of our students have learned to use.

At Pinecrest we are…

RESPECTFUL OF OURSELVES, OTHERS AND THE WORLD ABOUT US

“Teaching our students to be respectful and modeling respect is fundamental to building a successful learning community.

We also believe that a respectful and positive community values effective communication, celebrates diversity and builds nurturing relationships.”

At Pinecrest …

WE APPRECIATE OTHERS AND ARE GOOD LISTENERS

“Appreciating others is a deliberate act that builds community. By recognizing other’s contributions and actively listening, we help increase people’s self-esteem and reinforce a sense of community.”

Building connectedness with students helps engage students in positive ways. By coaching students to listen empathetically when there are concerns and when ideas are shared we encourage a positive learning environment.

Our values guide the behaviour of everyone; they focus our energy and are the anchor for all our plans and decisions.

“We believe that a safe, respectful and caring community values communication, celebrates diversity and builds nurturing relationships between all members.”

Our beliefs provide the basis of our code of conduct and that provides our students, parents and staff with the vision of what we wish to achieve at Pinecrest. These beliefs guide the behavior of everyone; they focus our energy and are the center for all our plans and decisions.

All members of the Pinecrest learning community are expected to follow our code of conduct. This helps maintain an orderly environment for purposeful learning. The code of conduct also helps establish and maintain appropriate balances among individual and collective rights, freedoms and responsibilities.

The code of conduct clarifies our expectations for student behaviour while at school, while going to and from school, and while attending any school function or activity at any location.

Conduct Expectations

Acceptable conduct

How students are expected to conduct themselves at school, while going to and from school, and while attending any school function at any location.

• respecting self, others and the school
• helping to make the school a safe, caring and orderly place
• informing a “tellable” adult, in a timely manner (in advance, if possible) of incidents of bullying, harassment or intimidation
• engaging in purposeful learning activities in a timely manner
• acting in a manner that brings credit to our school

Unacceptable conduct

These are a few examples of unacceptable behaviours:
Note: (This is not an all-inclusive list).

• behaviours that:
  • interfere with the learning of others
  • interfere with an orderly environment
  • create unsafe conditions
• acts of:
  bullying, cyber bullying, harassment or intimidation
  violence in any form
  retribution against a person who has reported incidents
  illegal acts, such as:
  possession, use or distribution of illegal or restricted substances
  possession or use of weapons
  theft of or damage to property
  inappropriate use of the school computers
  trespassing and intruders

Growing Expectations

At Pinecrest we believe as our students become older, more mature and move through successive grades, we expect:

• increasing personal responsibility and self-regulation
• increasing consequences for inappropriate behaviour

Consequences

The severity and frequency of unacceptable conduct as well as the age and maturity of students is considered in determining appropriate disciplinary action.

For example:

• responses to unacceptable conduct are pre-planned, consistent and fair
• disciplinary action, wherever possible, is preventative and restorative, rather than merely punitive
• students, as often as possible, are encouraged to participate in the development of meaningful consequences for violations of the established code of conduct

Notification

Our school personnel will advise other parties of serious breaches of the code of conduct.