Gosforth Park Out of School Club does not tolerate from any person, whether a parent, carer or visitor: bullying; aggressive, confrontational or threatening behaviour; or behaviour intended to result in conflict. Our Club is a place of safety and security for the children who attend and for the staff who work here.
Unacceptable behaviour
Unacceptable behaviour includes, but is not limited to, the following:
· Shouting at members of staff, whether in person or over the telephone
· Physically intimidating a member of staff, eg standing too close or blocking their exit
· Using aggressive or abusive hand gestures, eg shaking a fist towards another person
· Any other threatening behaviour, both physical and verbal
· Swearing
· Physical violence: pushing, hitting, slapping, punching or kicking
· Spitting
· Racist or sexist or otherwise abusive comments.
At Gosforth Park Out of School Club we do not tolerate such behaviour whether it is directed at the staff or at any of the children in our care.
Procedure
If a parent, carer or member of the public behaves in an unacceptable way towards a member of staff or a child attending the Club, we will take the following steps:
· In order to ensure the safety of the children and to limit possible distress, we will remove them from the vicinity of the incident.
· The manager or senior member of staff will seek to resolve the situation through calm discussion.
· If the individual wishes to make a complaint we will encourage them to follow the Club’s Complaints procedure, or to complain directly to Ofsted if they so choose.
· If the individual continues to behave in an aggressive and intimidating manner, we will insist that they calm down or leave the premises immediately.
· If the individual refuses to calm down or leave the premises, the manager will contact the police without delay.
When the immediate incident has been resolved, the manager and staff will reflect on the incident, and decide whether it is appropriate to ban the individual from the premises for a period of time. The decision will take into account both the seriousness of the incident and whether the individual has behaved aggressively before.
If we decide that a ban is appropriate, we will write to the individual concerned to inform them of the reasons for the ban and its duration.
Related policies
See also: Equalities policy, Complaints policy, Safeguarding policy.