At West Vancouver Secondary School we have high standards for personal conduct as it involves other people, our environment, and our work. Moreover, we view the pursuit of appropriate conduct as a shared responsibility among students, parents, and staff members. Our Code of Conduct is based on respect and responsibility. It applies equally to students and staff, while in the building, while going to and from school, and while attending any curricular or extra-curricular activity.

The purpose of the West Vancouver Secondary School Code of Conduct and West Vancouver Schools District’s Code of Conduct is to establish and maintain a safe, caring, and orderly environment for purposeful learning and to establish and maintain appropriate balances between individual and collective rights, freedoms, and responsibilities. The code of conduct also outlines expectations for student behaviour. Please note that special considerations may apply to specific students if they are unable to comply with a Code of Conduct expectation due to having an identified disability of an intellectual, physical, sensory, emotional or behavioural nature.

West Vancouver Secondary School promotes the values expressed in the BC Human Rights Code, respecting the rights of all individuals in accordance with the law and prohibiting discrimination based on (but not limited to): appearance, indigenous identity, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, political belief, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and age – in respect of discriminatory publication and discrimination in accommodation, service and facility in the school environment. 

1. Treat other people with consideration.
2. Act in a positive, honest, and straightforward manner.
3. Respect others regardless of differences.
4. Promote the general welfare of our school.
5. Put a personal best effort into our work.
6. Respect public and personal property.
7. Attend all classes on time
8. Respect authority and adhere to classroom, school, and district rules.
9. Understand that it is the responsibility of the bystander to report and prevent incidents of harassment and bullying.
10. Be honest, positive and straightforward in our interactions 

The Principal shall, in accordance with School Board policy, exercise paramount authority within the school in matters concerning the discipline of students. The board authorizes the Principal in School District #45 (West Vancouver) to suspend a student in violation of school rules for up to five school days, to adjust or terminate that suspension, and to delegate this
authority to other administrative officers.

At West Vancouver Schools, we believe that a fair and equitable district-wide school discipline policy will contribute to the quality of a student’s educational learning experience. Therefore, this district-wide discipline policy has been adopted.

It is important that all members of the West Vancouver School District Community, including trustees, district and school administration, teachers, support staff, parents and students understand that our expectations of student behaviour as laid out in this document encompasses student behaviour while the student is at any West Vancouver School District school site, while the student is going to or from school and/or while attending any school function or activity at any location regardless of the student’s reason for being at such function or activity.
It is the responsibility of the school board, administrators, teachers and employees to safeguard the health and safety of each student. The School Board and district administrators will support district personnel who, in dealing with students on disciplinary matters, act in accordance with the BC School Act, School District policy 5.10, and school rules. Paramount in any
dealing with students in disciplinary matters is adherence to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the B.C. Human Rights Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom and the Canadian Bill of Rights.

Parents and guardians have the legal responsibility for the behaviour of their children as determined by law and community practice. Parents/guardians are expected to exercise the required parental controls so that the student’s behaviour will be conducive to the development of self-discipline and will not be disruptive to the school’s educational program. The board also expects the co-operation and support of all parents in the application of this policy as it works towards the best interests of all students.

The Board of School Trustees recognizes the importance of a safe, caring and orderly atmosphere to the quality of student learning. The Board also recognizes the need for school-based discipline that supports such an atmosphere and expects the highest standard of deportment from its students as they fulfill their responsibilities as defined by the BC School Act and within the Codes of Conduct established for each school within School District #45.

More specifically, the Board expects that all students shall:

• Obey district, school and classroom rules
• Respect public and personal property
• Actively promote the general welfare of the school
• Refrain from violence or threats of violence
• Maintain courteous relations with fellow students, teachers, staff and people in general
• Work at their studies without disturbing others
• Attend school daily and promptly
• Maintain appropriate standards of hygiene, dress and language
• Be honest and straightforward in their dealing with others

The Board realizes that no policy will cover all situations; therefore, the building administrator(s) or designate will make a determination of consequence and/or disciplinary action when student actions are NOT specifically addressed in this or any other policy. All actions by an administrator or designate will be made on a case by case basis. In addition to this, the board realizes that students mature and behave differently at different stages of life.

The School District Code of Conduct outlines very general expectations for student behaviour. The School Board realizes that sometimes students may have difficulty understanding how the Code of Conduct should be applied in everyday school life. Therefore, we have provided a list of negative behaviours that would involve a breach of the Code of Conduct by students and which could result in disciplinary actions:

1. Skipping classes or excessive tardiness. 
2. Vandalism or other incidents of defacing or damaging personal, school, or private property. Note: Students and or their parents/guardians are responsible for reimbursing SD 45 for costs incurred due to vandalism, graffiti and similar cases. 
3. Abusing others physically, verbally, or psychologically while at school, at a school related activity or in other circumstances wherein engaging in the activity will have an impact on the school environment. Examples would include fighting, violent behaviours, bullying, cyberbullying, threatening, harassing, intimidating, extorting, or showing intolerance of others because of race, culture, dress, or other perceived differences.  
4. Disrupting classroom learning, official school functions or the privacy of our school’s neighbours.  
5. Possession or use of prohibited drugs, alcohol and tobacco products, (including being in the vicinity of others engaged in using prohibited drugs and alcohol).  No smoking/ vaping is allowed on school property or within a two block radius of the school.  
6. Possession or use of firecrackers, fireworks, or items used to simulate fireworks.  
7. Possession or use of weapons, including any object meant to simulate the appearance of a weapon.  
8. Plagiarizing or cheating on tests, assignments or projects, or assisting someone else to cheat. 
9. Defiance of the authority of teachers and other employees; using profanity or confrontational behaviour in dealing with these adults.  
10. Theft. 
11. Using inappropriate language or dressing in a way that does not adhere to the dress code
12. Going to other schools during the school day, without permission from an administrator. 
13. Operation of a vehicle or other means of transport in a dangerous manner on school property (including cars, bicycles, rollerblades and skateboards). 
14. Personal Digital Devices* are to be appropriately used during instructional time in accordance with the District Admin Procedure 370 and the student expectations outlined within this School Code of Conduct.    If a personal digital device is required for instructional purposes, or to support a student’s medical and health or accessibility and accommodation needs, teachers/staff will provide clear guidelines and expectations around their use for these purposes and ensure that use is adequately supervised.    Considerations for personal digital device use will also be made to ensure equity to support learning outcomes for any student who may be disproportionately impacted by the lack of access.    *Personal Digital Devices means any personal electronic device that can be used to communicate or to access the internet, such as cell phones, phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and any other portable technology device.  

Consequences

Should a student have difficulty following the Code of Conduct in or on any school board property including, but not exclusively limited to, the classrooms, cafeteria, hallways or grounds, staff will intervene. There will be consequences for misbehaving. These consequences could include, but are not limited to, warnings, cleanup duty, phone calls to parents, letters
to parents, detentions, suspensions, and where the situation warrants notification of the School Board and or the WVPD.

In all of these cases, the student’s goal should be to understand how he or she failed to follow the Code of Conduct, accept the consequences gracefully, and avoid making the same mistake again. Students who choose to defy consequences, or who persist in misbehaving, will be referred to an administrator. Consequences will be more severe and may involve referral to the administration, family conferences, or suspensions in-school or out-of-school.

When a student fails to adhere to the Codes of Conduct the staff and/or administration will follow a pattern of progressive discipline. Progressive discipline establishes a process of clear, timely, consistent, and documented communications with a student and their parent or guardian to reinforce an understanding of expectations, to provide an opportunity to correct an
inappropriate behaviour, to improve appropriate behaviour, and to assure due process. The goal of progressive discipline is to modify specific behavior and to encourage appropriate behaviour. The goal is not to punish the student, but to alert the student and/or parent to the need to correct inappropriate behaviours. Special considerations may apply to students with special needs, if they are unable to comply with the Code of Conduct due to having a disability of an intellectual, physical, sensory, emotional
or behavioural nature.

The Board of Education realizes that no policy will cover all situations. Therefore, the building administrator(s) or designate will make a determination of consequence and/or disciplinary action when a student’s actions are NOT specifically addressed in this or any other policy. All actions by an administrator or designate will be made on an individual basis.

Increasing Expectations
When dealing with students, the administrator may adjust the consequence or disciplinary action based partially on the maturity level of the student, grade level of the student and the ability of the student to understand expectations and/or control their behaviour.

Reporting of Unacceptable Conduct
If a student reports that another student has breached the school’s code of conduct, the school will take all reasonable steps to maintain the student’s confidentiality.

Dress Code  

West Vancouver Secondary School is committed to providing students with learning environments that are safe, responsive, and inclusive. Our dress code recognizes that decisions about dress reflect individual expression of identity, socio-cultural norms, and that such decisions are personal.  

Students may attend school and school-related functions in dress of their choice provided that their choices:  

• Do not represent or promote alcohol or drugs 
• Use respectful language
• No not depict or promote violence, racism, sexism, or discrimination, and
• Conform with established health and safety requirement for the intended activity
• Are not intimidating to others 

Students have the right to dress in a manner consistent with their gender identity or gender expression. This includes students who may dress in a manner that is not consistent with the societal expectations of masculinity/femininity.  

West Vancouver Secondary School staff views educational integrity as a very important value. Students violating the principles of this policy will face the consequences. This is a serious offence, and a breach of our Code of Conduct.  

Why do we value educational integrity? 

• It promotes personal integrity.
• It creates respect for others and the integrity of others’ work. 
• It promotes equal opportunity for all students to demonstrate their authentic learning. 

Definitions:  What is educational dishonesty? 

• Any behaviour that gains an unfair advantage for a student over the other students. 
• Tutors should not assist students with assignments for assessment. 
• Giving out information from an assessment to other students, either directly or digitally. 
• Removing test material from the classroom either physically or digitally. 
• Failing to show up on the agreed upon time for a test.  
• Bringing unauthorized material into an exam room, or consulting such material during an exam. 
• Communicating with another student during an exam. 
• Plagiarism: taking work, words, ideas, pictures, information or anything that has been produced by another person or artificial intelligence and submitting it for assessment as your own.  Paraphrasing ideas or research without a citation also constitutes plagiarism.  Students should seek the advice of their teachers if they have any questions about what is expected or whether something is common knowledge or needs to be cited. 
• Copying: taking work from another student, with or without his or her knowledge and submitting it as your own. 
• Collusion: helping another student to be educationally dishonest. This includes making your exam paper visible to another student so he/she can copy you; you are also cheating. 
• Collusion versus collaboration:  Ideas that are produced collaboratively must be presented in your own written words.  Submitting the written work of another student as your own also represents collusion. 

Prevention:  How are we actively working to deter students from academic misconduct? 

WVSS teachers will communicate this policy to students, reviewing what constitutes academic misconduct.  Teachers are responsible for administering assessments, so no student has an advantage over another.  This includes having different forms of a test for students who are absent and making sure all electronics including wearable technology are removed from the classroom during exams.  Teachers will teach academic research skills, including conventions for paraphrasing and citing the ideas of others (“Six steps for effective paraphrasing” and “Paraphrase:  Write it in your own words”).  Students are expected to act with integrity.  If students have any questions around academic misconduct, it is their responsibility to seek out advice from their teachers. 

Monitoring:  What processes do we have in place? 

Students will be given the opportunity to practice the skills of paraphrasing and citation before submitting work for evaluation.  Final versions of work that is completed externally and for assessment will be submitted to Turnitin.com.  All incidences of academic misconduct will be recorded on a Google form.  Administrators and counsellors will review this form periodically and meet with students who have multiple incidents.   

Sanctions:  What will happen if you violate the principles of educational integrity? 

• Parents may be notified by teachers. 
• A record of the incident will be maintained by administration; counsellors may be notified. 
• A mark of 0 may be given. 
• The student may not be eligible to receive letters of reference or recommendation, school-based award or scholarships and may be taken off the Honour Roll. 
• Repeat offenses will result in more severe consequences.
• For incidents of academic misconduct which result in serious consequences the following steps are taken: 
  1. The student will meet with the teacher and an administrator and be given an opportunity to explain what has happened. 
  2. The teacher and administrator will then decide on a suitable consequence. 
  3. The teacher and administrator will inform the parents/guardians of the consequence. 
  4. Students and parents have the right to appeal any decision. 

IB Academic Integrity Policy – West Vancouver Secondary School

All teachers follow “WVSS Policy for Educational Integrity.”  This name was purposefully chosen to encourage integrity (one of our four pillars) in all subject areas.  Academic honesty is explained to students through the learner profile attribute of “principled.”  Policies for IB internal and external assessments follow.

Policy for IB Internal and External Assessment

IB teachers will follow the school policy for educational integrity and will report all incidents of academic misconduct to the IB Coordinator and administration.

Process for all work that is submitted to IB for assessment, internal and external.

• All work is submitted to turnitin.com.

Policy for dealing with incidents of academic dishonesty.

• Incidents of academic dishonesty will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis using the school process outlined previously.
• Depending on the nature of the problem, consequences may include but are not limited to the following:
  • fixing the problem
  • redoing the assignment under supervision
  • removal from the course

More than one incident of academic dishonesty with internal or external assessment may result in removal from the IB Diploma Programme.

For internal and external assessment (excluding exams).

Teachers are responsible to guide the students in the choice of topic and the requirements of the task.  They are also responsible for explaining the assessment criteria to the students.

It is the responsibility of teachers to explain the basic meaning and significance of concepts that relate to academic honesty, especially authenticity and intellectual property. Teachers must explain clearly the requirements and that the assignment must be entirely a student’s own work.  In particular, teachers must stress that students are not allowed any assistance (electronic or human).

Teachers are allowed to provide feedback on the first draft of an assignment but should not heavily annotate or edit the draft.

All incidences of malpractice must be dealt with before marks for internal assessment are submitted to IB.

All work submitted to the IB for moderation or assessment must be authenticated by a teacher and must not include any known instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice. Each student must sign the coversheet for internal assessment to confirm that the work is his or her authentic work and constitutes the final version of that work. Once a student has officially submitted the final version of the work to a teacher (or the coordinator) for internal or external assessment, together with the signed coversheet, it cannot be retracted.  If an instance of malpractice is identified after the final version has been submitted, the IB will be contacted.

Teachers need a reasonable amount of time to authenticate work and deal with any issues.  Students who submit their work late take the risk of the school not submitting their work if there is not adequate time to submit their work or there are any instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice.

 

Exams

Rules and regulations for IB exams are reviewed with all students prior to IB exams.

If there is an incident of academic misconduct in an IB examination, the following process will be followed:

1. The invigilator reports the incident to the IB Coordinator
2. The IB Coordinator investigates the incident and reports it to the Head of School.
3. The incident is then report via “Contact us” link on IBIS to IB.

West Vancouver Schools has developed a Risk Assessment Protocol that requires all staff to report any and all threat making behaviours whether they are verbal, written, or through actions. West Vancouver Schools has assembled threat assessment teams at both the school and the district level. Trained members consist of district administrators, district counselors, school administrators, school counselors, and West Vancouver Police liaison officers. Each secondary school has a school based team that includes the district administrator, the Principal or Vice-Principal, a counselor, and the school liaison officer.

Protocol:
A threat making behaviour is defined for these purposes as any action that makes the recipient of such behaviour feel
threatened.
For purposes of the District Threat Assessment Protocol these behaviours could include, but will not be limited to:

• Immediate Risk Student Behaviours which is a student in possession of a gun, or any other weapon while displaying
  threatening behaviour.
• High Risk Student Behaviours which include possession of a weapon, threats to destroy a school or school building,
  threats to kill or injure others (regardless of the method of delivery of such threats).
• Worrisome Student Behaviours including but not limited to drawing disturbing pictures, writing disturbing stories, etc.
  or internet harassment.

The protocol states that any West Vancouver School District 45 employee having knowledge of student threat making behaviour shall promptly report the information to the principal or designate who will respond accordingly.

All reported threats will be assessed by the school principal or designate and if deemed necessary the principal will contact the school team, the district team, or both.

Go here to download a copy of the WVSS Code of Conduct