Code of Conduct

The intent of École Phoenix Middle School's 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.

As a community of learners, we are committed to working and learning together in an environment that is mutually supportive with an emphasis on connectedness, caring, and culture. Our goal is to treat one another with ‘dignity and respect’ while encouraging responsibility for our own actions. All students and staff members acknowledge and practice the four Tribes agreements: Mutual respect, Attentive Listening, Right to Participate/Pass, and Appreciations. The three main tenets of personal conduct expected in École Phoenix are: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Respect for the environment. The following are the principles upon which our code of conduct is based:

To establish and maintain safe, caring, and orderly environments for purposeful learning for all.
To establish and maintain balances between individual and collective rights, freedoms and responsibilities.
To teach, clarify and publish expectations for student behaviour while at school, while going to and from school, and while attending any school function or activity at any location. This includes any behaviour that occurs outside of school that could interfere with the learning of others.
To ensure that all students will receive equitable access to services regardless of race, color, ancestry, age, marital status, place of origin, religion, family status, physical or mental disability, sex or sexual orientation as per the Human Rights Code.

The following statements are provided to students by their advisory teachers to discuss and share with their parents/guardians.

Every student has the right to attend École Phoenix Middle School in safety and to be free from verbal or physical intimidation or discrimination.
Every student has the individual responsibility to show respect for themselves, students, all staff members, and other invited guests in the school.
It is the individual responsibility of each student to support the learning environment by coming to class on time and prepared to learn with all necessary materials.
Students are to remain on school property during morning and school breaks. The only exceptions are:
- Students going home for lunch with parent permission.
- Students leaving the grounds for appointments, etc. A parent note or call must accompany this and we need to know where the child is going, when they are leaving and or returning, and with whom they are travelling.
Possession of, or the use of tobacco or illicit drugs, and paraphernalia is forbidden.
Possession of or use of anything that may be construed as a weapon is forbidden.
Electronic devices can be used in classrooms with teacher permission.
Personal electronic devices are not to be used to photograph or record other students while on school property.
The internet is to only be used to support Student Learning Outcomes outlined by the Ministry of Education.
Students are expected to dress appropriately. At Phoenix the expectation is that clothing will: be appropriate to, and safe for, the intended activity; demonstrate respect for the rights and perspectives of others; and demonstrate a respect of the school context.
Stay away from parking lots, except when entering or leaving the building.

Conduct Expectations

Acceptable Conduct

Students are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner, while at school, going to and from school, and while attending any school function or activity at any location. Special considerations will be taken into account for students with intellectual, physical or emotional challenges when students are unable to comply with the code of conduct. This includes:

respect of self, others and the environment.
helping to make the school a safe and orderly place.
informing a “tellable/trusted” adult, or, through use of the ERASE website https://reportbullyingbc.edudata.ca/apps/bullying/, in a timely manner (in advance if possible) of incidents of bullying, harassment or intimidation.
engaging in purposeful learning activities .
acting in a manner that brings credit to the school.
demonstrating behaviours that are ‘in line’ with the basis of the BC Human Rights Code.

Unacceptable Conduct

These behaviours are examples only and are not an all-inclusive list.

Unacceptable behaviours include behaviours that:

violate a local, provincial, or federal law.
interfere with the learning of others.
interfere with an orderly environment. This includes situations where engaging in activities outside of regular school times that have a negative impact on the school environment.
create unsafe conditions.
result in the discrimination or intention to discriminate against a person or a group of persons in a public way.

Acts of:

using school internet services to view inappropriate sites or to send threatening or harassing comments or images.
bullying, harassment or intimidation.
- written, verbal or physical.
- cyber-bullying, from outside the school, is being addressed as a school- issue, and may result in consequences to the instigator.
personal violence, whether threatened, or physical, including those persons who are encouraging and/or supporting the “action”, or engaging in an aggressive action.
retribution against a person who has reported the incidents.
illegal acts, such as:
- possession, use or distribution of illegal or restricted substances (including tobacco or tobacco products).
- possession or use of weapons.
- theft or damage to property within our school community.

Rising Expectations

Consequences will take into account student’s age, maturity, and special needs. At École Phoenix Middle School, as children become older, more mature and move through successive grades we expect:

increasing personal responsibility and self-discipline.
increasing consequences for inappropriate behaviour.

Consequences

At École Phoenix Middle School, 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 for all students. In some cases interventions will be identified in students’ individualized education plans (IEP).
in cases where special needs students are unable to comply with the code of conduct, whereby their behaviours results in serious or repeated misconduct they may be removed from school until an approved safety plan has been developed. Parents will be consulted in the development of this plan.
disciplinary action, whenever possible, is preventative and restorative, rather than merely punitive; however, for serious or repeated behaviours, suspension may be a consequence.
reports of violence, whether actual or threatened, may be reported to the RCMP.
students, as often as possible, are encouraged to participate in the development of meaningful consequences for violations of the established code of conduct.

Notification

At École Phoenix Middle School we strive to ensure that we have open and positive communication with our students and parents/guardians. Our code of conduct will be displayed on the PAC board throughout the year. It will also be distributed to our staff, students and parents at the beginning of each year. As well it will be posted on the Phoenix website. Any serious breaches of the code of conduct will be reported to all involved parties. For example:

parents/guardians of both the victim(s) and offender(s)– in every instance
school district officials will be contacted at the discretion of the Principal.
police and/or other agencies – as required by law.
all parents/guardians – when deemed to be important to reassure members of the school community that school officials are aware of a serious situation or incident and are taking appropriate action to address it.