Our school has developed a School Code of Conduct based on the Ministry of Education's Code of Conduct. As per our Board's policy and the Ontario Safe School Act, a school's Code of Conduct is developed in consultation with parents, educators and the Catholic School Advisory Council. All members of our school community are responsible for adhering to the expectations as outlined in this Code of Conduct.
We focus on prevention, early intervention and progressive discipline as the key to maintaining a positive school environment in which students can learn and educators can teach. When inappropriate behaviour occurs, our schools are required to utilize a range of interventions, supports and consequences that are developmentally appropriate and provide opportunities for students to learn from their mistakes. In some cases, a short-term suspension may be a useful tool. If a serious incident occurs, a long-term suspension or expulsion may be required.
Please review our Code of Conduct with your child(ren). If you have any questions, please contact the school.
Safe, Caring and Healthy Elementary Schools |
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The Durham Catholic District School Board recognizes that a school should be a place that promotes responsibility, respect, civility, and academic excellence in a safe learning and teaching environment. A positive school climate exists when all members of the school community can succeed, feel safe, comfortable, and accepted. It is the responsibility of all members of the school community to work together to create a positive learning environment where all members feel supported. COVID Public Health Protocols/Practices will be communicated to the school community as they are received by the DCDSB. Adherence to these procedures is mandatory for the safety of all members of the DCDSB community. |
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Access to Premises |
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Parents/guardians are welcome to visit the school to discuss an issue with teachers or administrators. In keeping with the Board’s Access to School Premises Policy, all doors will remained locked during school hours. Our Safe Welcome Program provides an intercom and camera at the main door of the school for all visitors to communicate with the office prior to entering the school. This enhances the safety of students and staff. Please remember that anyone coming into the school must first sign in at the office and obtain a Visitor’s badge. (Parents/guardians are not allowed access to the school yard before school or during recesses and noon hour.) At recess time, the school yard is well supervised and staff will question anyone whose presence is not expected. Each member of staff is wearing photo ID and is identified on duty with a safety vest. If a parent/guardian needs to pick up their child during the school day, this must be facilitated through the office. Members of the office staff will call the student down to the office to be signed out. If parents/guardians send a friend/relative/designate to pick up their child, please advise the school in advance and ask the designate to provide photo identification at the office. If the student returns to school before dismissal, they must sign back in at the office so that the student's attendance can be monitored. |
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Make Every Day Count - Attendance Matters |
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Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Now is the time to start building this habit so your child learns right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college or university and in the world of work.
Did You Know?
Research shows:
School success goes hand in hand with good attendance! What You Can Do:
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Safe Arrival - Automated Attendance |
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The Durham Catholic District School Board uses an automated attendance system called Safe Arrival to report a student absence. Safe Arrival makes it easy for you to report your child’s absence, it allows staff to quickly verify student attendance which in turn allows staff to respond to unexplained student absences. Parents are able to report their child’s absence quickly and conveniently using three different methods:
All three methods are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Future absences, like doctor’s appointments can be reported ahead of time. For more information, please visit the school website. |
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Restorative Schools |
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We believe that safety begins with positive connections between the students, staff and parents. To foster these relationships, staff in the Durham Catholic District School Board use restorative practices, including classroom circles and small group conferences to build community within the classroom and the school. Restorative Practice is rooted in the same philosophical approach as Canada’s Native Aboriginal communities. It rests on the belief that it is best to do things with people, rather than to them. When conflict arises, using restorative practice engages students in a fair process that responds to behavior in ways that strengthen and repair the relationship. It is collaborative rather than adversarial in nature. The aim of restorative practice is to hold individuals accountable for their actions while restoring and repairing any relationships amongst each other and within the community that may have been harmed. Catholic Restorative Schools will:
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School Code of Conduct |
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All schools base their individual school Code of Conduct on the Ministry of Education Code of Conduct. As per Board Policy and the Ontario Safe School Act, each school’s Code of Conduct will be developed in consultation with parents, teachers and the Catholic School Advisory Council. All members of the school community will be responsible for adhering to the expectations as outlined in this Code of Conduct. Schools within the Durham Catholic District School Board will focus on prevention, early intervention and progressive discipline as the key to maintaining a positive school environment in which students can learn and educators can teach. When inappropriate behaviour occurs, all staff members will utilize a range of interventions, supports and consequences that are developmentally appropriate, that include opportunities for students to learn from mistakes, and that focus on improving behaviour. In some circumstances, short term suspension may be the method of progressive discipline utilized. In the case of a serious incident, long-term suspension or expulsion, which is further along the continuum of progressive discipline, may be the response that is required.
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School Code of Conduct for Remote Learning |
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Click here for the School Code of Conduct for Remote Learning. | ||||||||
Roles and Responsibilities |
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School Boards School Boards provide direction to their schools to ensure opportunity, academic excellence, and accountability in the education system. It is the responsibility of the School Board to:
Principals Under the direction of their School Boards, principals take a leadership role in the daily operation of a school. They provide this leadership by:
Teachers and Other School Staff Members Under the leadership of their principals, teachers and other school staff members maintain order in the school and are expected to hold everyone to the highest standard of respectful and responsible behaviour. As role models, teachers and school staff uphold these high standards when they:
Students Students are to be treated with respect and dignity. In return, they must demonstrate respect for themselves, for others, and for the responsibilities of citizenship through acceptable behaviour. Respect and responsibility are demonstrated when a student:
Parents/Guardians Parents/Guardians play an important role in the education of their children, and can support the efforts of school staff in maintaining a safe and respectful learning environment for all students. Parents fulfill their role when they:
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School Code of Conduct on School Bus Vehicles |
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All school bus vehicles are considered an extension of the classroom and all school policies such as Safe Schools, and School Code of Conduct apply to the school bus. All transported students whether on a field trip or home to school transportation are expected to behave in a manner on the bus that ensures that everyone remains safe. Since the bus is an extension of the school, students are accountable to the school principal who has the authority to ensure that student conduct on the school bus is appropriate. Due to the nature of the activity of riding a bus, the following are expectations for all methods of school transportation as per the School Code of Conduct. All students must:
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Safe and Caring Schools Report It – Non-Emergency Report System |
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Parents and students are encouraged to report incidents of bullying or other school safety concerns as soon as they happen by contacting their teacher and/or school administration. We recognize that bullying affects a student’s sense of safety and security, and some people may not feel comfortable reporting bullying or other school safety incidents. To help ease this worry, students and parents are welcome to use the Report It page available on the school website to report incidents of bullying or other safety concerns that have not already been reported. School safety concerns can be reported anonymously or contact information can be given so that appropriate follow-up can occur. The information provided will be forwarded to the school principal for action and a follow-up response if requested. | ||||||||
Community Threat Assessment and Intervention Protocol– Fair Notice |
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The Durham Catholic District School Board is committed to providing safe learning environments for all students, staff, school visitors and community members. When student behaviours pose a potential threat to safety or serious harm to self or others, all schools in the Durham Catholic District School Board follow the Community Threat Assessment and Intervention Protocol (C-TAIP), which outlines how a school responds immediately to threatening behaviour. This protocol involves supports from various partners, including community agencies, hospitals and police services. Personal information shared throughout this process will always respect and balance each individual’s right to privacy while ensuring the safety of all. For more information, please refer to the school website or ask the principal for more information. | ||||||||
Search and Seizure |
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According to the Police/School Board Protocol for Durham Catholic District School Board, it is the right and authority of the Principal or designate to search school and personal property, such as lockers, desks, backpacks, purses, etc., without notice or permission of any person as long as the Principal or designate has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a breach of school regulations and that the search would reveal evidence of that breach. In exigent circumstances, Police may come onto school premises to conduct their own searches, also without prior notice to or permission of any member of the school community. | ||||||||
Community Partners |
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Through outreach, school and community partnerships already in place may be enhanced and new partnerships developed with community agencies and other groups within the community (e.g., Kinark Family and Child Services, Aboriginal Elders). Community agencies are important resources that schools can use to deliver prevention or intervention programs. Protocols are effective ways of establishing connections between boards and community agencies and formalizing the partnership. These partnership agreements must respect all applicable collective agreements and Board policies.
Durham Regional Police Service Partnerships The Durham Regional Police Service plays an essential role in making our schools and communities safer. The police investigate incidents in accordance with our Police/School Board protocol. This protocol is based on the provincial model developed by the Ministry of Education. The Durham Regional Police Service are instrumental in supporting our schools with all emergency preparedness procedures and Safe Schools initiatives. Each of our schools has regular access to a School Liaison Officer. |
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Emergency Response Plans |
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Each September, as part of our Police/Board protocol we practice our emergency response procedures so all staff and students are well prepared in the event of a real emergency. Using newsletters and the school website, we will provide all families with details of our practices and the role that parents play in supporting a school’s emergency response. Fire Drills: Students practise the appropriate way to exit the building when they hear a fire alarm. Practices are held when students are in class, at recess and where an exit might be blocked. Lockdown: Students practise the appropriate way to respond to a threat of danger inside the school using the R-SAFE acronym. Students are taught to get to the nearest and safest location as quickly as possible, what to do when they get there and the importance of remaining quiet. Hold and Secure: Students practice how to respond to a threat of danger outside the school. In the case of a Hold and Secure, all exterior doors remain locked and students remain inside, away from exterior doors and windows until the Hold and Secure has been lifted. In most cases, the need for a Hold and Secure is at the request of the police, based on a situation in the neighbourhood. In these cases, the school must wait for the police to lift the request for a Hold and Secure. Shelter in Place: Students practice how to respond to an environmental danger, like a hurricane. In most cases, the response will be a Hold and Secure with specific directions based on the environmental concern. Bomb Threat: Students are taught the appropriate response to a bomb threat which includes never touching a suspicious package, and listening carefully to the directions of the teacher or the administration if an evacuation is warranted. |
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How can parents help? |
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Parents can help by following the procedures associated with each of plans should they be present during a drill or should a real situation occur. School administration must follow the direction of the police as soon as they become involved in an emergency response. As such, Parents must understand that schools are unable to release students during an emergency response without the expressed permission of the police. Parents can also assist the school by emphasizing with their children the importance of closely following the direction of the staff during a drill or a real emergency. Parents should encourage their children to share any information they may have about a threat of violence toward a school or information they may have after a violent incident. It is everyone’s responsibility to help keep our school safe. |
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Permission for Photo and Video Sharing at School |
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As we try to keep pace with social media that is so much a part of our students’ lives, it is important to be reminded of people’s right to privacy. While taking photos or videos at various school events, please be mindful that it is illegal to post/upload/share photos or videos of anyone other than yourself or your child on the internet or anywhere without the expressed consent of the person or their guardian. Sharing photos or videos of others without their consent is a privacy violation. | ||||||||
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) |
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BYOD allows students to bring their own electronic devices to school for educational purposes. Students are expected to use devices responsibly, and only with the permission and direction of teachers or other staff members. Research indicates that the use of technology increases engagement, which leads to improved student success. The following are reasons why BYOD works well:
Our students are going to live and work in a world where people use electronic devices regularly. They need to learn how to use devices in a respectful, responsible and ethical manner. The Durham Catholic District School Board’s BYOD procedures, School Codes of Conduct and Ontario Graduate Expectations will guide teachers in the process of teaching students what it means to be good digital citizens. Not every parent can, or wants to send their child to school with an electronic device. Teachers will continue to plan lessons that do not require the use of a personally owned device. Teachers are encouraged to give advanced notice when they plan to incorporate electronic devices into a lesson. Students without devices will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with other students or borrow a school device. Students are required to use the Board’s wireless network, which they can access at no cost while at school. They will not be permitted to access their paid data plans while in school. The Durham Catholic District School Board’s network filter will help prevent students from accessing inappropriate web content while they are logged in at school. Schools will have plans in place to help students keep their devices secures. Ultimately, students are responsible for lost, stolen, and/or damaged personal electronic devices, just as they are for other personal items brought to school. |
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Elementary School - Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement |
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Durham Catholic District School Board Concussion Policy |
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All school boards in the Province of Ontario are required by law to have a Concussion policy and school board administrative procedures in place so that students, school staff and parents/guardians understand their role in preventing, managing and reporting suspected or diagnosed concussions. A concussion is the term for a clinical diagnosis that is made by a medical doctor or a nurse practitioner. The definition of concussion below is adapted from the definition provided in the concussion protocol in the Ontario Physical Education Safety Guidelines. A concussion:
A specific concussion protocol and tool now exists in all Durham Catholic District School Board schools that includes responsibilities for Board and school staff, students and parents/guardians. Additionally, health units and sports and fitness organizations in Durham are using this protocol to raise awareness to help prevent and manage concussions. It is important to note that all suspected concussions must be reported and a medical doctor or nurse practitioner make a diagnosis and participate in the Return To Learn and/or Physical Activity documentation process. The concussion tool noted in this student agenda is a resource for school staff, parents/guardians and students. Parents/guardians and students are encouraged to contact your school principal for more details about the new concussion management and prevention safety protocols that exist to promote student safety and success. For more information about the Board’s Concussion protocols, please see the Board’s Concussion Policy (PO614) and the Concussion Administrative Procedure (AP614). |
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Student Agenda |
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Read our student agenda for more information on school procedures, dress code, and more. |