Professional Code of Conduct & Ethics

1Preamble: Keepers of the Sandbox

HIS is a sandbox, not a school — a protected environment where students attempt real things, safe enough to fail in and real enough to matter. The adults of HIS are the keepers of that sandbox. Everything students are asked to become — honest, brave, disciplined, generous doers — they must first see in us.

This Code completes the triangle begun by the Student Code of Conduct (F.1) and the Parent Code (R.2): the same standard, held highest for the professionals. It applies to every employee equally — a Head Coach, a researcher-in-residence, a kitchen professional, a driver. At HIS there are no unimportant adults, because students are watching all of them.

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2Scope

This Code applies to all employees and long-term contractors and volunteers:

• on campus and at every school activity, trip, competition, placement visit, and event;
• in all professional dealings — with students, families, colleagues, sister companies, partners, hosts, and vendors;
• online and in public, wherever conduct affects students, colleagues, or the school's integrity;
• in continued professional practice conducted under the HIS name or affiliation (M.20).

Where this Code and a specific policy overlap, the specific policy governs the detail; this Code governs the spirit. Nothing in this Code limits safeguarding duties, which always come first (J.1).

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3The Professional Standard: Five Commitments

Mirroring the five student commitments:

1. I act with integrity. I am honest in my teaching, my assessment, my research, my records, and my dealings. I model the Academic Integrity Policy I enforce — in citation, in data, in my own use of AI. My predicted grades, references, reports, and evaluations say what I believe to be true (C.31): an inflated grade or a soft report is a lie told to a family and a university. I keep my promises to students; they remember.

2. I put children first. The safety, dignity, and development of students outrank every other professional interest — my convenience, my results, my program's prestige, and my school's reputation. I know and follow the boundaries of J.2 without exception; I report every concern, including about colleagues, promptly through J.1/J.9; I never let loyalty outrank a child.

3. I master my craft — and stay a doer. I hold myself to the standard of my discipline and of the coaching profession: prepared, current, precise. If I am on the expert track, I continue my real work (M.20) and bring it into the sandbox; that is why HIS hired me. I pursue growth as seriously as I ask students to, and I let colleagues see and challenge my practice.

4. I keep the sandbox safe and real. I enforce safety rules absolutely — in labs, kitchens, workshops, venues, and vehicles — because those floors are what make ambitious attempts possible. I keep the work real: authentic problems, honest standards, no theater. I protect honest failure: a student's failed experiment or venture is learning, never a mark against them — and the same is true for a colleague's well-designed pedagogical experiment that doesn't work (C.47). I distinguish failure from misconduct in students, and I expect the school to do the same for me.

5. I serve fairly and guard my independence. I treat every student, family, and colleague impartially — across nationality, culture, means, ability, and house. I hold no favorites in assessment, selection, casting, or house competition. I manage every conflict of interest by disclosure (A.6): I do not tutor my own students for pay (M.13), accept gifts beyond M.14 limits, or let any relationship — including with sister companies — influence a professional judgment about a child.

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4Specific Standards

4.1 With students. Warm, boundaried, professional — as defined in J.2: communication only through approved channels, no covert one-to-one contact, no favoritism or exclusion, physical contact only as J.2 permits. Coaches challenge students hard and respect them completely; sarcasm that wounds, humiliation, and public shaming are not coaching.

4.2 With families. Honest, courteous, and boundaried (R.3). Staff do not solicit or accept private arrangements with families — paid tutoring of own students, private favors, or gifts beyond policy (M.13, M.14) — and refer attempts at improper influence to leadership, including any involving sister-company relationships.

4.3 With colleagues. A respectful workplace (M.11): no harassment, bullying, or discrimination; disagreement conducted professionally and in the right room; credit given where work was done; new colleagues, expats, and career-changers actively helped to succeed. Public criticism of a colleague in front of students or parents is a serious breach.

4.4 Confidentiality and data. Staff protect student, family, and staff information under O.3 and O.1: access only what the role requires, share only with those entitled, discuss students only professionally, and never use community information for private benefit.

4.5 Digital and public conduct. Staff follow M.12 online: no personal social-media contact with current students, professional tone in every channel, and care that private accounts never undermine professional standing. Only authorized spokespersons speak for HIS (R.9); experts publishing under the HIS affiliation follow M.20. AI tools are used transparently and within school policy, and never to fabricate assessment, reports, or research.

4.6 Money and advantage. No employee uses their position for private gain: procurement follows N.4 at arm's length; related-party dealings are disclosed (A.6, N.10); school property, facilities, and student work are used for private benefit only with written permission (M.23 for expert-track IP); expense claims are exact.

4.7 Alcohol, substances, and judgment. Staff are substance-free at work and whenever responsible for students, including trips and evening events (M.15). Impaired judgment around children is not a private matter.

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5The Duty to Speak

A sandbox stays safe only if adults speak. Every employee has an affirmative duty to raise — promptly, through J.1/J.9 for safeguarding, A.9 for wrongdoing, or line management for professional concerns — anything that endangers students, corrupts fairness, or compromises integrity. HIS protects good-faith reporters absolutely (A.9); retaliation is itself a gross breach of this Code. Choosing not to see is choosing.

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6Breaches

Concerns and breaches are handled under the Disciplinary & Termination Procedures (M.10), with fair process: notice of the concern, a genuine hearing, proportionate outcomes, and appeal. Safeguarding allegations follow J.9/J.1 first. As with students, honest error and well-intended professional judgment that misfires are treated as learning; dishonesty, boundary violations, unsafe conduct, and abuse of position are treated as what they are. Gross breaches — above all, harm to a child, dishonesty in assessment or safeguarding matters, and retaliation against a reporter — may warrant dismissal at the first instance.

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7What Staff Can Expect From HIS

The school owes its professionals the same standard: honest and timely feedback (M.6); fair process in every concern (M.9, M.10); protection from abusive treatment by anyone, including parents (R.2 §7); real investment in growth (M.5, M.7); respect for the expert track's professional identity (M.19–M.23); workload that is sustainable (M.28); and leadership that models this Code visibly. A school cannot ask its adults to be keepers of the sandbox and treat them as replaceable.

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8Acknowledgment

Signed at appointment and re-affirmed annually:

I have read and understood the HIS Professional Code of Conduct & Ethics. I accept the five commitments, understand my duty to speak, and understand how the school will respond to breaches.

Name: ______________________ Role: ______________________

Signature: ______________________ Date: ______

Reviewed every two years by the Director of People & Culture and the Designated Safeguarding Lead; approved by the Board. The version in the current Employee Handbook (M.1) is authoritative. Where a translation is provided, the English version prevails.

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