Rules

Please refer also to Kaleide's Agreements Book

It is our aim to create an environment where children, parents and staff value respect and care for each other and their surroundings. To do this, students are asked:

• not to fight, hit, kick, tease, gossip, lie, cheat, steal, form cliques, call each other names, use offensive or vulgar language or do anything to hurt another person or themselves;

• not to disrupt school activities or others’ learning;

• not to damage the trees, plants, or animals that live there;

• not to damage the materials or the school building;

• not to play inappropriately with sticks or throw stones in the playground;

• not to run or shout inside the building;

• not to jump on the trampoline if another person is already using it;

• not to jump on the trampoline with their shoes on;

• not to take sand out of the sandpit

• not to eat inside the school, except when the dining-room is open. Children can always eat outside.

At Kaleide children are able to take an active role in building our community, and our meeting system ensures that everyone has a say in matters which affect them. We have few rules so far (perhaps the children will come up with more!):

• NO child can leave school grounds without permission.

• NO child can use matches without facilitator supervision.

• NO child can use the Woodwork Workshop, the Kitchen, the Music Room (Allegro) or the Psychomotor Play area without adult supervision.

• NO child can bring or use pocket knives at school without facilitator approval and supervision.

• NO child can use racist, sexist, homophobic, or other hurting words about who and what people are.

• NO child can exclude anyone else based on a person’s skin color, racial heritage, cultural heritage, gender, gender identity, or any other differences and qualities about someone’s personhood that cannot be changed.

• NO guns or weapons from home (although children can build their own)

• No glass containers, mirrors or other glass or ceramic items in the gardens, so that we can safely maintain our “shoes optional” policy. (Children’s ceramic art pieces are an exception.)

• No foods or drinks with refined sugar are allowed at school.

• No cling film or tin foil in school. No plastic wrappers.

• No gum or candy or sodas of any form, including those using sugar substitutes.

• No mobile phones or electronic devices from home.

Stop Rule

Whenever a person is doing something to a child that the child does not like, then the child can tell the person to "stop" and if the person does not stop, then the child can tell a facilitator or a child mediator, or bring the situation up at a whole-school meeting.

This simple action is a model of the first steps that politically active persons take when they want to change events in society.

Toys

Toys from home

With few exceptions, personal toys cannot be brought to school. Toys from home are difficult to keep track of and can get mixed in with school toys. Also, when children bring toys from home they often play privately with the toys or with the same few friends rather than intermingling with other children, seeking new friendships, participating, coming up with new ideas, or more creatively using the materials in the school.

Children naturally feel protective and territorial about their own toys. The number of problems and hurt feelings is likely to increase when toys from home are at school. We want the school environment to maximise children’s opportunities to explore their own imaginations. The equipment at school is carefully chosen for their expressive, creative and developmental opportunities.

Exceptions

Comfort stuffed toys, books, magazines, rocks or treasures are usually okay, but parents/children need to check in with you first, preferably the day before bringing things from home. Books and CDs usually need to be previewed in advance by a facilitator.

Commercial Toys

No Barbie dolls (or extended family), war toys, super hero dolls, or toys heavily promoted on TV or in movies.

Money

Generally, no money is allowed at school. There is to be no buying or selling of anything at school or making deals at school where the money will be paid later. Children may sometimes attempt to bargain for objects, food, etc. We find this kind of buying and selling to be overpowering, particularly of younger students, and often hurtful and exclusionary. As facilitator you can work with the students to organise special plans or events that include selling and are supportive of school philosophy and limits.

Language

“Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

We want to ensure that everyone feels respected and honoured in our differences. Our policy is to talk about how certain words hurt people and how they affect the school's emotional atmosphere. Insults are not acceptable at the school. Swear words, even when they are not directed at another person, are not acceptable either. When a child is using these words, we work with them apart from the group to help them understand our limit and the reason behind it. We discuss our limits directly with the children and they are expected to comply. If they cannot stop themselves from using these words, then we may ask them to come into the Psychomotor Play area and explore feelings of anger or frustration with them.

We like to compare swear words to environmental pollution; words are not just words, they convey images and actions, and their emotional charge spreads among a group of people. We would like to keep our school environment as "clean" as possible in terms of language pollution, and encourage the language of respect and caring.

Pets

For safety reasons we ask that parents and children don’t bring the family pet to school, even if the pet is friendly to children. Planned visits of family pets can sometimes be arranged, however, they must be arranged in advance with the facilitator of the group.

Food

We encourage families to eat healthy and buy local organic produce whenever possible. No sweets or chewing gum are allowed at the school, and processed foods should be kept to a minimum.

Packed lunches should be wholesome and balanced. No highly sugared or processed foods should be brought for snack, lunch or any school outings.

Adult's Behaviour

• Smoking is not permitted in the school premises (including the gardens) or the proximity of the school, following Spanish regulations.

• Alcohol and sugary drinks are not allowed.

• Litter should always be collected and deposited in the recycling bins at the school.

• Mobile phones and electronic devices should be on silent mode and not used at the school.