Staff Code of Conduct

Statement of Intent

Our preschool recognises each member of staff as an individual and understands that everyone has different tastes in fashion and diverse personal habits and medical requirements.  Whilst staff are welcome to dress and express their own personalities in their attitudes and behaviour, they must ensure that by doing so they do not endanger the children in their care, themselves or the other adults associated with the setting or in any way damage the reputation of the setting.

Aim

To outline the responsibilities of staff and volunteers regarding sensible dress and behaviour during both time and transit to and from sessions.

Methods

• Staff are required to dress appropriately while on the Preschool premises.  Low cut tops and bare midriffs are not considered appropriate.
• We ask that facial piercings are appropriate and safe and tattoos are covered where possible.
• Regular jewellery such as watches, earrings and necklaces can be worn as long as they do not interfere with the children and cannot cause harm to yourself or the children (dangly earrings being pulled, rings or watches that may scratch etc).
• ‘Smart watches’ which receive notifications of messages/emails should have the notifications turned off during working hours so they are not able to be read whilst monitoring the children. Watches with cameras can only be worn if the camera has been disabled.
• Please wear appropriate footwear; shoes with a solid base and which enclose the feet should be worn.  This is to protect feet and toes when moving equipment around.
• Whilst representing the Preschool staff are not permitted to smoke. We ask that anyone who does smoke refrains completely during the working session.
• Personal mobile phones are not to be used during the session unless an emergency arises.  Personal mobile phones must not be carried by staff members and should be stored away securely. 
• One extra personal mobile phone will be taken on outings for emergency use only.
• If the staff are required to take any prescription medication, they are responsible to check with their GP to see if it would affect their ability to work with children.
• Under no circumstances are staff permitted to work when under the influence of alcohol, drugs, strong medication or any other substance which may affect their ability to work with children.
• If staff are taking medication which may affect their ability to care for children, those practitioners should seek medical advice. The Pre-school Manager must ensure that those practitioners only work directly with children if medical advice confirms that the medication is unlikely to impair that staff member’s ability to look after children properly.
• Staff medication on the premises must be securely stored in the office or the medication box, and out of reach of children, at all times.
• Staff are required to notify the manager/chairman should they have any injuries or significant illness that could affect their ability to work with the children.
• Staff must not use offensive, racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, whilst working at the pre-school.

This policy was adopted by West Wycombe Pre-school Playgroup in October 2013.  Policies are updated when necessary and reviewed on a yearly basis.

Reviewed August 2023