Policies

A. Discipline Plan

The Discipline Plan is implemented jointly and consistently by all the teachers at Civilizations. We try to let the teacher represent the school in all discipline matters so as to enhance the student’s perception that the teacher is truly empowered.

Class discipline

If a student in your class fails to obey your lead, you should go progressively through the following:

Write the student’s name on the board (show minimal reaction; you must not let this interrupt your flow of teaching).

1. Upon the next transgression, put a tick against the student’s name. Repeat upon the next 3 transgressions.

2. After the third transgression, counsel the student. If you feel the problem is persisting, please discuss the student with your coordinator or headmistress.

3. After the fourth transgression, please get the student to call his/her parents from the headmistress’s office.

4. With the approval of the Headmistress, call the parents to the school to deliver a warning. The warning is documented through a conference form.

5. Suspended the student for two days. A headmistress may take this action without consulting with a committee but should convey this decision through the teacher.

6. Suspend the student for a limited period that is longer than two days. This suspension is enacted through a letter signed by the teacher and the headmistress; it requires approval at a formal forum: an admin meeting attended by the Principal, Headmistress, the teacher, and the coordinator.

7. Expel the student: this procedure for this is the same as 7 above.

Courtesy in the corridors

1. At break-time and module-time, please line up the students inside the class and let them out in a line.

2. Please shut off the lights and fans and bolt the door before leaving.

3. At module time, please make sure you hand the class over to a module teacher.

4. If you meet a child outside the classroom, behave as if you are with him/her inside it. In fact, you are required to be even more vocal about discipline in such situations than when inside the classroom.

Homework

1. If a student fails to finish his/her work, please write “Homework not done” on the notebook.

2. If a student regularly fails to turn the homework in, send a written notice to the parents warning of impending detention. 

3. If the problem persists after step 2 above, detain the student from home-time to 2.30 pm. 

Uniform

1. If a student is not wearing his/her uniform, talk to them; repeatedly if needed. 

Mobile Phones

1. Mobile phones are only allowed to students in grades 9 and above on Saturdays. In addition, the school may grant special permission to certain individuals on a case by case basis. 

2. Students must exercise due discretion in the use of the mobile phone they carry. Their use is dictated by cultural courtesy rather than formulaic rules. A teacher may subjectively judge that a phone was being used discourteously and may confiscate it, in which case point 3 below will apply. 

3. Phones brought to the campus without due authorization will be confiscated and returned two weeks later. Without exception.  

Head Lice

1. It is the parents responsibility to keep their ward’s hair clear of head lice. The school ensures that head lice does not spread from student to student.

2. Please check students for head lice. Your judgement on the presence or otherwise of head lice is considered final.

3. Pin a pro forma warning slip in the diary of the student who has head lice.

4. If you find head-lice the following Monday, please remove the student from the class after checking with the Headmistress. 

5. COntinue to detain the student in the library until such time that the head-lice is cleared. 

6. Communication with the parents in this regard is entirely through the diary. At no time is a phone call made to the parents.

Discipline do’s and don’ts for teachers

1. Please keep your exit passes on your table. Students should take an exit pass and leave the class without asking you.

2. You may remove one or both of the exit passes for some time when you do not wish students to leave class.

3. Let your students back into class without asking permission.

4. Always try to boost a child’s ego. Do not use negative words for students or yourself such as ‘stupid’ or ‘slow’.

5. Do not speak to the students in a loud voice.

6. Do not bang the board or the desks with your hand, etc, to get the class to go quiet.

7. When a class gets too loud, stand in front and stare at the noisy or inattentive students. The class will go quiet in a minute.

8. Do not leave your class under any circumstance.

9. At the end of the period, do not leave the class-room until your replacement teacher reaches the class.

10. Never bring a child to your headmistress for a reprimand. All discipline issues must be handled through the teacher.

11. Please leave the staff-room a couple of minutes before your class starts to avoid delaying a chain of waiting teachers.

B. Bullying

1. Bullying is defined as physical, psychological or verbal attacks against an individual or a group causing physical or psychological damage to the victim. It is usually conscious or willful and is commonly repeated. 

2. Spotting, reporting and responding promptly to bullying are together key to addressing it. 

3. Teachers and students of the school are trained to recognize bullying and to report it promptly.

4. Parents are encouraged to report bullying through the school diary. All diary comments are viewed by a headmistress.

5. School staff watches over the students everywhere on campus. 

6. Any bullying in the community is reported to and discussed in the Principal’s weekly administrative meetings. 

7. Any bullying reported in the school is shared promptly with the parents of the victim and the bully.

8. Support is provided to the bully and the victim to modify their behavior. 

Cyberbullying

The school community has adopted guidelines for ensuring healthy social media interaction by and between the community's students. As you would expect, the guidelines have been developed after extensive discussions with the staff and parents. 

1. The online conduct of the school’s students is supervised by the school community that includes the school’s staff as well as parents of the school’s students. 

2. The school community considers students’ conduct on social media to be within the school’s jurisdiction. When on social media, students are expected to conduct themselves as if they were on school premises. 

3. The school community does not expect students below grade 9 to maintain their personal mobile phones at home. Accordingly, students are not expected to have Whatsapp accounts in their own name. 

4. Students below grade 9 may use their parents’ mobile phones to communicate with their classmates. Parents are expected check messages so exchanged and to periodically participate in students’ WhatsApp groups such that the students are made aware that parents are regularly monitoring the discussion. Parents may expect due courtesy from their children’s classmates, and if they feel they were not extended it, should arrange a conference with the class-teacher. 

5. Parents and staff recognize that while social media participation is necessary, group discussions have the potential to degenerate quickly into bullying. An unhappy discussion might require an early  response from the parents and teachers. This should motivate the parents to contact the school immediately upon coming across discussions they find objectionable or potentially dangerous. 

6. The school staff does not directly eavesdrop on student groups, instead, it is instructed to react quickly to parental complaints. In addition, the school responds to situations it learns about from other sources. In this regard, the school reserves the right to unilaterally and pre-emptively respond to situations in the best interest of the community.  

C. General

1. Use of outside influence

   • All of the school’s decisions are made on campus without any interference of outside forces. In the past, outside influence has always resulted in a delay and then, always, an adverse decision.

   • Use of outside influence is prohibited and has strong consequences for students on behalf of whom such influence is used.

   • The school works through a detailed discipline plan. Consequences of transgression are progressive (tougher consequences for larger transgressions) and cumulative (tougher consequences for habitual transgressors). Tough decisions are always made through committees. No single individual can change these decisions.

2. Change in student record

   • The school strongly discourages change in school record. The school is also required not to make changes in records of students. Accordingly, for any changes in student record to take effect, students will have to be taken off the school database and readmitted. This would require payment of admission fee.

3.  Fee Payment

   • Fee collection works through a system. Late payment results in increasing penalties that are detailed on the Fee page.

4. Poor performance

   • The school detains students in extraordinary circumstances.