We provide daily means of transport to school at a fee. The bus fee is published at the end of every term. We will pick up and drop off students at home and at times at agreed points and times (i.e. where the road is not motorable). Where students must be dropped off or picked up, parents or guardians are required to sign off.

Currently, we operate the following routes:

T1 Corridor

Danfa Gravel Pit, Apollonia City, Bawleshie-Royal Valley Estate, Dodowa, Mensah Bar, Otinibi Junction-Legon Higher Court, Sasabi, Adenta 3rd Gate, Adenta SDA Junction, Oyarifa Anointed, Abokobi, Pantang West

T2 Corridor

Adenta SSNIT Estate, Adenta Housing Down, Adenta Barrier, Adenta Approtech, Oyarifa JB Estate, Kuottam Estate, Oyarifa School Junction, Malejor, Kas Valley- Oyibi, Otinibi Road, Teiman, Valley View, Amrahia Tollbooth, Amrahia-Ghana Christian University College, Valley View University

T3 Corridor

Owusu Ansah, Adenta Frafraha, Rowi, Fulani Nsuoano

T4 Corridor

Saka Homes, Amanfro, Amrahia Zongo, Amrahia Newtown, Ashiyie, Fulani, Baron 1&2, Sodjaman Block Factory, Greenfield Estate, Sodjaman Presby Junction, Elegant Homes Katamanso, Foster Homes

T5 Corridor

Castlegate Estate, Regimanuel Gray Estate, Johanna Court

Students are always expected to be courteous and consider their safety and that of others whiles on the bus. The learners are taught to observe the following rules:

• remain seated while the bus is moving.
• refrain from loud conversation.
• no boisterous conduct.
• keep all parts of the body inside the bus.
• fasten seat belts. Seat belts are mandatory.
• no profanity or vulgar language on bus.
• no eating on the bus

The school’s code of conduct and regulations are designed to refine the character and personality of students for life. It also seeks to provide a framework for running the school effectively and to promote the image of IB Arthur School.

Acceptable Behaviour

Acceptable behaviour includes but is not limited to the under-listed. These also constitute students’ personal pledge to themselves and the School.

1. To be always courteous to staff, fellow students, and school visitors.
2. To greet staff on the school compound and in the classroom.
3. To stand aside out of the way for teachers, parents and the elderly coming towards me or from behind.
4. To show appreciation by saying “Thank you” to staff and students who help me.
5. To show remorse by saying ‘I am sorry. Say ‘please excuse me to ask for the way.
6. To arrive at school on time.
7. To settle down quickly and quietly in class.
8. To be attentive and behave quietly in my lessons.
9. To be respectful to my classmates.
10. To be honest and fair in all that I do.
11. To always wear my school uniform with pride.
12. To keep my shirt tucked in all day as a boy.
13. To arrive at school in the official school uniform.
14. To faithfully deliver all letters given to me to my parents/guardians.
15. To submit homework on time and well-presented.
16. To respond immediately when the school bell rings.
17. Not to race in the corridors to endanger me and others.
18. Not to talk when my mouth is full.
19. Not to litter the school.
20. To use the washrooms appropriately.
21. To take good care of all school properties and ensure others do the same.

Classroom behaviour

1. Keep quiet and listen attentively whilst teaching is in progress.
2. Raise your hand if you wish to ask or answer a question or contribute.
3. Wait for your turn to speak.
4. All manner of distractive and disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated.
5. Avoid making others miserable by teasing, bullying, and making them uncomfortable.
6. refrain from the verbal and physical assault on others.

Unacceptable Behaviour

1. There should not be any form of disturbance in or out of class.
2. There should be no loitering during school hours.
3. Students are not permitted to leave their classrooms to call any teacher for a lesson apart from the class prefect. Teachers have their teaching timetables and are expected to be in their classes at the expected time.
4. Students should not litter the classroom floors or the school compound. Dust bins and litter bins are provided accordingly. All students must ensure that their classrooms are kept tidy at the close of the day. Desks, lockers, and dust bins should be emptied of all rubbish.
5. Toilets and other places of convenience should be left in an acceptable condition after use.
6. Boys should use the bidet for urine. The toilet seat should be lifted to avoid wetting with urine.

Discipline/Sanctions

The school aims to maintain high moral and disciplinary standards. Sanctions will include but are not limited to:

1. Warning
2. Withdrawal of privileges (i.e., playtime or free time within the classroom. Withdrawal from a lesson, e.g., Sports, is never an option, though it is possible to exclude a student from an after-school activity if they misbehave (e.g. Football team)
3. Send the student to another classroom (by prior agreement with a colleague)
4. Doing dictionary work.
5. Inform the Head of School.
6. Inform the parents or invite parents.
7. Place the student on a daily report (report book to be seen by the teacher and parents).
8. Reference of the matter to the Disciplinary Committee.
9. Suspension for a period between a day and 10 school days, depending on the gravity of the offence.
10. If a student is so disruptive, continually, then the student will be excluded from school permanently.

Disciplinary measures stated above may become necessary for certain offences including the following.

1. Truancy-absenting oneself from classes/school without permission
2. Leaving the school compound during school hours without permission
3. Bullying of students or extorting items from other students
4. Possession and or use of dangerous weapons and using classroom materials as weapons.
5. Fighting
6. Lying
7. Using foul language on peers or teachers
8. Disrespect to teachers, fellow students, and auxiliary staff
9. Assault on other children
10. Assault on teachers, other members of staff and other students.
11. Stealing and pilfering
12. Examination malpractices-cheating
13. Failure to write exams without justifiable cause.
14. Violence that puts self and others at risk
15. Flouting the authority of students’ leadership and staff
16. Any other misconduct deemed serious by the school.

Emergency Measures

Fire, lock-down and emergency evacuation drills are held at school each term. Students will be asked to go to a designated area, led by their classroom/subject teacher. Every drill is treated as a genuine emergency and is acted on accordingly with urgency.

Concerns / Complains

When parents have concerns regarding the classroom, they must register their complaints at the Office of the Administrator on 0201607006 or office@ibarthurschool.edu.gh

Internal Suspension

It is hoped that students will not contravene any of the above, but if they do, the school authorities will assume it was done knowingly and wilfully and with full acknowledgement and acceptance of the consequences. A student will be secluded and given dictionary work to undertake throughout the suspension period.

Personal Electronic Devices

Personal electronic devices including cell phones and other handheld devices may not be used on campus without prior approval and under the supervision of a teacher. We request that toys and trading cards remain at home as well. Children should not bring to school expensive items. These include mobile phones, cameras, tablets etc. When it is necessary (needful for coursework or emergency communication purposes,) parents or guardians would be contacted or they would be expected to inform school authorities while they lodge the gadget with the school. In such circumstances, all personal property should be properly marked for clear identification.

Classroom Visitation

We discourage unplanned visits from family and relatives as this could be extremely distracting to the classroom. Parents who wish to visit their child’s classroom should call the Administration office to receive permission.

Birthday Parties and Celebrations

Parents and guardians should note that birthday celebration is not allowed on campus under any circumstances.

School Feeding Program

We collaborate with parents to serve breakfast, lunch and dessert five days a week for all pupils. A menu for each academic term is determined two weeks before each term opens. The cost of feeding is incorporated into the school fee. Parents can also provide their children with their preferred breakfast and lunch; however, it will not justify a reduction in school fees.  We have available refrigerators and microwaves to preserve food should parents decide to provide their own meals.

Textbooks and Equipment

At times students are allowed to take textbooks and reading books home to complete homework tasks. Parents are required to assist students to take good care of the books and return them in good condition. Parents are to ensure that the books are not used where there are food and drinks and are not placed in school bags with leaky water bottles. In the event of a student losing a book, or significantly staining it, a charge for the replacement of the book will be made. When students leave the school, all textbooks must be returned.

Bullying

We are committed to providing all our students with a caring, friendly, and safe environment for learners. Bullying of any sort is not tolerated. If bullying does occur,  the incident will be dealt with promptly and effectively. Anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to inform the staff.

Absence for longer days

Parents and guardians should inform the school if they wish to take their wards out of school for reasons such as transfers, going on leave etc. A month’s or a term’s notice will be required. The parent or guardian will still be required to pay the full term’s fees.

IB Arthur School seeks to protect students and provide employees, partners and representatives with the overarching principles that guide our approach to students’ protection. We believe that students should never experience harm of any kind on our campus.

We will seek to keep students safe by:

• Setting an organisational culture that prioritises safeguarding and acts transparently so that it is safe for those affected to come forward and report incidents and concerns with the assurance that they will be handled sensitively and properly.
• Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
• Adopting child protection policies and practices including a Code of Conduct for employees, partners, and representatives.
• Requiring employees, partners, and representatives to read the Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct and sign that they understand and agree.
• Providing effective management for employees, partners and representatives through supervision, support, and ongoing training.
• Recruiting Teaching Faculty and other staff safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
• Ensuring that we provide child protection and safeguarding tools, resources, and expertise.
• Sharing child protection concerns with relevant agencies and organisations in the country where any abuse is suspected or alleged to have taken place.
• Dealing with all concerns and allegations of abuse seriously and responding appropriately, including informing the Police and children’s services.
• Ensuring that any staff member found responsible for a breach of the child protection policy faces disciplinary action, including, in serious cases, dismissal.

We will maintain our commitment by:

• Raising awareness – we will ensure that employees, partners, and representatives are aware of the need to keep children safe.
• Prevention - we will ensure that employees, partners, and representatives minimise risks to children through awareness, good practice, and appropriate training.
• Responding - we will ensure that all employees, partners, and representatives take action to keep children safe where concerns arise regarding possible abuse.
• Recording - we will be consistent and clear in our recording and ensure that employees, partners, and representatives record incidents they have been made aware of.
• Reporting - we will ensure that all employees, partners, and representatives understand the IB Arthur School Child Protection Policy procedure when concerns arise regarding the safety of children.
• Referring – we will ensure that we make appropriate and timely referrals to statutory agencies in response to concerns arising regarding possible abuse.

Incident identification and reporting guidelines

The guidance and procedures below, together with the forms provided in the appendices provide the framework and mechanism for incident identification and reporting.

Recognise

Child abuse occurs when adults or children inflict or fail to stop physical, psychological, or other harm occurring to children. It is not easy to categorise harm and this list is not exhaustive, but abuse can broadly be identified as:

Physical Abuse: Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child, including by fabricating the symptoms of, or deliberately causing illness in a Child.

Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as causing severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children; or preventing the child from participating in normal social interaction. It may involve the child seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve causing children to frequently feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children.

Sexual Abuse: Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape or anal intercourse) or non-penetrative acts (e.g. oral sex). They may include involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Neglect: Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the Child’s health or development, such as failing to provide adequate food and clothing, shelter including exclusion from home or abandonment, failing to protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger, failure to ensure adequate supervision including the use of inadequate care-takers, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Child Sexual Exploitation: Child sexual exploitation is a type of sexual abuse in which children are exploited for money, power, or status. These can occur individually or together. The perpetrator of abuse is most often someone known to the child. This could, for example, be a member of the school, an employee, a partner, and a representative or a family member. You may become aware of abuse in any of the following ways:

• • • A child discloses to you that they are being or have been abused.
    • If you suspect that a child is being or has been abused or observe behaviour causes concern.
    • If you are concerned or made aware, that a child is involved in extremist activity.
    • If a direct allegation of abuse is made against an employee, a partner, and or a representative.
    • If the School is informed by the police or another statutory authority, or other entity that an employee, a partner, and a representative is the subject of an investigation or allegations.

Respond

For disclosures or allegations, stay calm and take time to listen do not interrogate the person reporting the abuse but accept what they have to say; offer reassurance that the person reporting the abuse has done the right thing; tell the person you will have to report it to Head of School. Do NOT promise secrecy.

Record

Make careful notes of what was said by you and the other person as soon as possible after the event, and/or complete the form in Appendix 1. This should be completed within 24 hours. Recording should be kept factual, with no reference to subjective opinions. As much detail as possible should be recorded in writing on the form.

Report

Always report it, do not deal with it alone. Once recorded, submit the form to the Administrator. Again, this must be within 24 hours of the initial concern, suspicion or disclosure. It is the duty of any Staff who finds out about a possible case of abuse to report it to the Administrator. It is the Administrator responsibility to ensure that appropriate referrals are made and that the case is followed up adequately. It is not for you to decide whether or not suspicion or allegation is true. If the Administrator is the subject of the suspicion/allegation, the report must be made to the Director who will make decisions about who to inform.

Refer

 Except for when a child is in immediate danger when you may need to contact the emergency services, it is the Administrator's responsibility to act immediately on receipt of a report, and within 24 hours of receiving it. Referrals should be made in line with the relevant law and guidance in the country in which the abuse is said to have taken place. Where a problem or behaviour has been noticed, record and share with the Administrator. If it relates to an employee or a partner, the Administrator may speak with them. Where a behaviour is recurring or is deemed serious and it relates to an employee or a partner, the Administrator will speak with them. Where it has been established that there is a problem and/or a disclosure has been made, record and share with the Administrator. the Administrator will refer it to the appropriate state agency (e.g. social welfare, police, etc.).

Allegation against an employee, a partner or a representative

There may be three types of investigation depending on the nature of an allegation:

• • • A criminal investigation (external)
    • A child protection investigation (external)
    • A disciplinary or misconduct investigation (internal)

 The results of any police or child protection investigation will influence and inform any disciplinary investigation, but all available information will be used to reach a decision.

Possible suspension of an employee, a partner, or a representative

If the Management is made aware of a child protection related complaint against an employee, a partner, or a representative, they will ensure that they are sensitively removed from any situations where they may have direct contact with children. It should then be explained to the person, in private, that there has been an allegation made against him/her, although the details of the allegation should not be given at this stage.

The person should be informed that further information will be provided as soon as possible but that, until consultation has taken place with the relevant agencies and within the organisation, they should not be working with children. It may be best, under the circumstances, for the person to return home on the understanding that the Management will telephone him/her as soon as possible.

The information provided to him/her at this stage will need to be very limited. This is because discussions need to take place first with other agencies who may need to be involved. If the person is a member of a trade union or a professional organisation, he/she should be advised to contact that body. Arrangements should also be made for the Representative to receive ongoing support in line with the responsibilities the organisation has towards his or her welfare.

Where there is an accusation of abuse against an employee, the employee may be suspended whilst an investigation is conducted. Circumstances in which suspension will be necessary are:

• • • where the is a potential or definite risk to a student(s)
    • where the allegations are so serious that dismissal for gross misconduct is possible
    • where a suspension is necessary to allow an investigation to happen

Where suspension is being considered, Management must arrange to speak with the employee that same day. The employee will be advised to seek the advice or assistance of a professional or friend. The employee will be informed that an allegation has been made and that, after the interview, the suspension might occur. It must be made clear that the conversation is not a formal disciplinary hearing but is to put forward a serious matter, which may lead to suspension and further investigation.

The employee must be invited to respond. Full notes must be taken of the interview and the employee invited to read and sign them as a true record after the interview. A copy of the notes will be given to the employee. The employee must be invited to identify any persons who may have information relevant to the investigation. These names must be added to the list of those to be interviewed.

Investigation into allegation

 If, because of the conversation, Management considers that suspension is necessary along with a full investigation of the allegation, the employee must be advised that s/he is suspended from duty. Written confirmation of the suspension must be given within one working 13 days, giving reasons for the suspension. The Management must inform the Employee of the likely course of action. A decision will be made about whether an internal or independent investigation is necessary or whether to wait for the outcome of investigations by external agencies. Any internal investigation will be conducted by the Management.

Reinstating a Staff Member after suspension

Based on the findings of any internal, independent, or external investigations, the Management will decide whether the employee should be reinstated and if so, how this can be sensitively handled. This may be a difficult decision, particularly where there is insufficient evidence to uphold any action by the police. In such cases, the Management will reach a decision based upon the available information, which could suggest that on a balance of probability it is more likely than not that the allegation is true. The welfare of the child will remain of paramount importance throughout.

Allegations of previous abuse

Allegations of abuse may be made sometime after the event (e.g. by an adult who was abused as a child or by an employee or partner or representative who is still currently working with Learners). Where such an allegation is made, the Management will follow the same process as detailed above. This is because other children may be at risk from this person.

Concerns or allegations relating to Partners or representatives

Should the Management be made aware of allegations of current or historic abuse that relate to a partner or representative, they should follow the reporting process above and the Management will contact the Partner organisation to report the concern. The Management will record the steps the organisation will take (or has taken) to deal with the concern. The Management may decide to inform the relevant authorities directly depending on the nature and level of the concern. The Management will discuss and agree on what level of relationship to maintain with that organisation based on how they respond to the report.

Keeping an ongoing record

Information about suspected abuse must be accurate and a detailed record should always be made at the time of the disclosure/concern using the reporting form in Appendix 2. Following the initial report, the notes section on the reporting form should be used to document any actions and decisions taken, follow up, investigations and referrals together with the reasons for these.

These notes should be compiled as the situation unfolds, with each entry being made as soon as possible after the event it describes. The notes should be signed and dated by the person making them, and the person’s name should be printed alongside. It must be kept confidentially. The personal details (including address) of the alleged victim should never, under any circumstances, be given to the alleged perpetrator. The notes should be held on file for 10 years.

Support to deal with the aftermath of abuse

The School will work with others state agencies to ensure that children and parents affected by the abuse can access the support they need. Support and signposting will also be available for the alleged perpetrator, should the allegation prove false or should they continue to work with the School after the allegation.

Confidentiality

The welfare of the child is paramount. Privacy and confidentiality should be respected where possible but if doing this leaves a child at risk of harm then the child’s safety must come first. Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned. Information should be handled and disseminated on a need to know basis only. This includes the following people: the Director, the Administrator; Management or the parents of the person who is alleged to have been abused (unless the allegation is against them); the person making the allegation; and the relevant local/national authorities. Information will be stored in a secure place with access limited to designated people, in line with data protection laws (e.g., that information is accurate, regularly updated, relevant and secure).