Policies · GES Laws · Code of Conduct · SOPs
How we run this school. In writing. Public. Reviewed every year.
Every world-class school lives by clear laws, codes, principles and procedures. This page holds every one of ours in a single, searchable place — from the Ghana Education Service laws we follow to the daily SOP for opening the compound.
Regulatory framework
Ghana Education Service laws we follow
IBS operates as a private basic school registered with the Ministry of Education under the Ghana Education Service. Every policy on this page is written to comply with these primary statutes and directives.
| Instrument | What it governs | How we comply |
|---|---|---|
| Education Act 778 (2008) | The primary law governing basic and secondary education in Ghana — free, compulsory basic education, roles of GES, and school management. | Registered with GES district office. Curriculum aligned to the National Common Core. Annual return filed. |
| Children's Act 560 (1998) | Rights of the child, protection from abuse, welfare, right to be heard. | Named Guidance Counsellor as safeguarding lead. Written child-protection policy on this page. Reporting line to Department of Social Welfare. |
| Ghana Education Service Council Regulations | Standards for teacher licensure, discipline, curriculum, assessment and inspection. | Only licensed teachers hired. GES inspection welcomed twice-yearly. Discipline register kept per class. |
| Common Core Programme (CCP) & KG Curriculum | Standardised curriculum by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA). | Every scheme-of-work referenced to CCP indicators. HOD moderation each term. |
| WAEC Regulations for the BECE | Registration, invigilation and integrity for the Basic Education Certificate Examination. | Examinations Officer trained annually. Chief Invigilator model followed. Zero incidents recorded. |
| Data Protection Act 843 (2012) | Consent, purpose limitation and security for personal data of pupils, parents and staff. | Privacy policy on this page. See Security & Data. |
| Labour Act 651 (2003) & SSNIT / GRA / PAYE regulations | Employment contracts, statutory contributions and payroll taxes. | All staff on written contract. Monthly SSNIT and PAYE remittance via SchoolOS payroll. |
| Public Health Act 851 (2012) | School health, sanitation, food hygiene, immunisation records. | School nurse maintains immunisation register. Food vendors screened termly. See Health & Safety section. |
| Ghana National Fire Service Regulations | Fire safety certification for public buildings. | Annual fire-safety certificate current. Termly fire drills logged. |
| District Assembly Business Operating Permit | Local operating licence. | Renewed each January. |
| Anti-Corruption & Whistleblower Act 720 (2006) | Reporting of financial or ethical wrongdoing. | Anonymous suggestions channel + Board audit committee. |
| Persons with Disability Act 715 (2006) | Accessibility, non-discrimination in education. | Ramped access to Primary block; individualised learning plans available. |
Guiding principles
The ten principles that guide every decision.
Behind every rule, procedure and lesson at IBS is a small set of guiding principles. These are the “why” before the “what”.
Child first
Every decision passes the test: is this best for the child?
Christ-centred living
Faith is not a subject; it’s the culture. We teach, discipline and serve in that spirit.
Excellence over shortcuts
The right way costs a little more time. We take the time.
Integrity and transparency
Records, decisions, and finances are written down, explainable and available on request.
Respect for every person
Every learner, parent, staff and neighbour deserves the same dignity.
Safe by design
Safety is engineered into policies, not added afterwards. Two-adult rule. Locked medicine cupboard. Named safeguarding lead.
Data drives decisions
Every claim we make about pupil progress is backed by a number in SchoolOS.
Continuous improvement
What worked last term is not automatically right for this term. We measure, review, adjust.
Parent partnership
We work with parents, not around them. Communication is regular and honest.
Stewardship
Every cedi, every hour, every desk is entrusted to us. We spend, spend and use it accordingly.
Codes of Conduct
What we expect of pupils, staff and parents.
🎓 Pupil Code of Conduct
- Be honest — in speech, work and behaviour.
- Be punctual — on the compound by 7:30 AM, ready by 7:45 AM.
- Wear complete IBS uniform, cleanly and correctly.
- Show respect to every teacher, prefect, staff, guest and fellow pupil.
- Give your best effort to every lesson, homework and assessment.
- Care for our compound, books, desks and washrooms.
- No bullying, no fighting, no name-calling — ever.
- No mobile phones on the compound (JHS 3 may keep one in the office).
- Speak up if you see something unsafe or unfair — to any adult or prefect, or via Suggestions.
- Represent IBS with pride in and out of school.
👔 Staff Code of Conduct
- Put the child first in every decision.
- Never be alone with a single pupil behind a closed door. Two-adult rule always.
- Prepare thoroughly — every lesson has a written plan filed weekly.
- Mark within one week; give feedback that helps the child improve.
- Speak to parents with courtesy; document every substantial parent conversation.
- Handle pupil data as if it were your own child’s. Never share it outside authorised channels.
- Never accept gifts of value from parents or vendors that could influence judgement.
- Report concerns about a colleague through the correct channel, in confidence.
- Dress and speak professionally on and off the compound while identifiable as IBS staff.
- Attend CPD and safeguarding training — both are mandatory.
- Never smoke, consume alcohol or use inappropriate language on the compound.
- Never accept private tutoring fees from a pupil you teach at IBS.
👨👩👧 Parent / Guardian Code of Conduct
- Support the school’s rules and reinforce them at home.
- Ensure your child is punctual, uniformed and prepared for the day.
- Attend parent-teacher meetings and read all communications sent home.
- Pay fees on time or agree a written plan with the Bursar in advance.
- Raise concerns through the correct channel — class teacher first, then HOD, then Headmaster.
- Address staff with respect on the compound and online. No public confrontations.
- Never discipline another child or their parent on the compound.
- Follow the visitor protocol: sign in at reception, wear the visitor badge.
🎖️ Prefect Code of Conduct
- Lead by example — you cannot enforce what you don’t live by.
- Never use your badge to punish; escalate to the duty teacher instead.
- Speak up for pupils who are unheard or unsafe.
- Report to your Prefects Council weekly.
- Serve without expecting reward; the honour is the reward.
Safeguarding
Child protection & safeguarding policy.
Policy statement. Every child at IBS has the right to be safe. Every adult on this compound is responsible for that safety. Concerns about the wellbeing of a child are acted on within 24 hours — without exception.
Named leads
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Guidance Counsellor · guidance@ibs-edu.org
Deputy DSL: Assistant Head (Student Affairs) · affairs@ibs-edu.org
Governor for safeguarding: Board Chair · board@ibs-edu.org
External reporting
Department of Social Welfare (Amenfi West) · for immediate danger.
Ghana Police Service — DOVVSU: 191 (or 18555 free text).
Child Rights International hotline.
How disclosures are handled
- The adult who receives a disclosure listens carefully — without leading questions — and reassures the child.
- They write a factual record within one hour on the Safeguarding Report form.
- The report is delivered to the Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day.
- The DSL decides within 24 hours whether the matter is internal, requires medical care, or must be escalated to the Department of Social Welfare or Police (DOVVSU).
- All records are stored in a locked confidential file; SchoolOS entries are role-restricted to DSL/DDSL/Head.
- Every case is followed up until closed, with the outcome documented.
Academic integrity
Academic honesty policy.
Grades at IBS reflect the pupil’s own work. Cheating, plagiarism, exam malpractice and forging signatures are all serious offences.
| Offence | First occurrence | Second occurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Copying homework | Zero mark · re-submit · parent notified | Detention · HOD conference |
| Cheating in a class test | Zero mark · written apology · parent notified | Suspension pending review by Headmaster |
| Malpractice in terminal exam | Zero mark · exam board review · parent conference | Suspension · case-review committee |
| Impersonation / signature forgery | Suspension pending investigation | Recommendation for expulsion |
| Plagiarism in JHS project work | Redo project · reduced grade · parent notified | Zero mark · HOD conference |
Behaviour
Positive discipline & behaviour ladder.
Discipline at IBS is restorative first — a child in trouble is a child to be helped. The behaviour ladder makes the consequences clear so that every teacher, pupil and parent knows what to expect.
| Level | Examples | Response | Recorded by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Low | Being late; incomplete homework; small classroom disruption. | Reminder · House-point deducted · a note home. | Class teacher |
| 2 · Medium | Repeated Level-1 · fighting · answering back a staff member. | Detention (30 min) · parent conversation · SchoolOS log. | HOD or Assistant Head |
| 3 · High | Bullying · vandalism · exam malpractice · theft. | Suspension pending Head’s review · parent conference · restitution. | Headmaster |
| 4 · Severe | Assault · repeat serious offence · safeguarding-crime allegation. | Suspension · case-review committee · police / DOVVSU referral as applicable. | Board of Governors |
No corporal punishment is used at IBS. This aligns with GES Ghana’s current directives on positive discipline in basic schools.
Health & safety
Health, safety & sanitation policy.
Daily standards
- All washrooms sanitised morning & afternoon
- Sick bay staffed by the School Nurse
- Two-litre water available in every classroom
- Kitchen & dining hall inspected daily by duty prefect
- Waste segregated at source
Termly / annual
- Fire drill every term — every block
- Kitchen & food-vendor health screening (termly)
- Immunisation-status verification (annual)
- DVLA bus inspection (semi-annual)
- Fire-safety certificate renewal (annual)
Emergency response
- Evacuation muster points marked on every block
- First-aid kit in every corridor
- Staff trained in first aid & CPR
- Emergency contact card for every pupil
- Direct line to nearest health facility
Communicable disease
- Symptomatic pupils isolated in the sick bay
- Parent contacted for pickup within 1 hour
- Return-to-school only with medical clearance
- Class-wide notification for suspected outbreak
- Reporting to district health directorate as required
Wellbeing
Anti-bullying & wellbeing policy.
Bullying is defined at IBS as repeated unwelcome behaviour intended to harm, intimidate or exclude another person. It includes physical, verbal, social and digital forms.
- Any pupil, parent or staff who witnesses bullying reports it to a class teacher or via Suggestions.
- The class teacher documents the report and passes it to the Guidance Counsellor within one day.
- Guidance interviews affected parties separately, agrees a restorative plan.
- Parents of both parties are informed within 48 hours.
- Follow-up interviews at 1 week and 4 weeks confirm the situation is resolved.
- Termly wellbeing survey checks the anonymised temperature of the whole school.
Privacy
Data protection & privacy policy.
IBS collects and processes personal data of pupils, parents and staff for the sole purpose of delivering education, safeguarding and lawful school operations.
Who is responsible for your data
- Data controller: I.B.S Educational Complex, Asankrangwa, Western Region, Ghana
- Data Protection Officer: dpo@ibs-edu.org
- General enquiries: info@ibs-edu.org
- Supervisory authority: Data Protection Commission of Ghana — dataprotection.org.gh
Data we collect
- Pupil records: name, DOB, sex, class, academic results, attendance, health, disciplinary log
- Guardian records: name, phone, email, address, relationship
- Staff records: qualifications, licences, bank/MoMo for payroll, next-of-kin
- Fees & payments (masked card / MoMo reference only — never PAN)
Why we may lawfully hold it
- Contract — to deliver the education a parent has enrolled their child for
- Legal obligation — records the Ghana Education Service and tax law require us to keep
- Vital interests — medical and emergency-contact details used to keep a child safe
- Consent — photographs, media and marketing, which you may withdraw at any time
How long we keep it
- Pupil academic records: 7 years after the pupil leaves
- Attendance and discipline logs: 3 years
- Safeguarding records: 25 years from the pupil's 18th birthday
- Staff employment records: 6 years after employment ends
- Financial records: 6 years (tax requirement)
- Job applications from unsuccessful candidates: 12 months
- Photographs used in media: until consent is withdrawn
How we protect it
- Role-based access in SchoolOS — only the people who need the record can see it
- Individual staff accounts with their own password — never a shared login
- Encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS on every page) and encrypted in the browser store
- Regular backups of school records
- Physical files locked, keyed access
Your rights
- To see the personal data we hold about you or your child
- To correct it if it is wrong
- To ask us to erase it once the retention period ends
- To object to any processing you consider unfair
- To withdraw photo/media consent at any time
- To complain to the Data Protection Commission
To exercise any of these, email dpo@ibs-edu.org. We respond within 30 days.
What we never do
- Sell your data to any third party
- Share pupil photos publicly without written parental consent
- Store card numbers on our servers (payments via Paystack)
- Share records with anyone outside authorised staff
If data is lost or exposed
A school that says a breach could never happen is not being honest. This is what we do if one does.
- Contain it the same day. Access is revoked, affected accounts are suspended and the cause is isolated before anything else.
- Record what happened. What data, whose data, how many people, how it occurred and what has been done. Every action is written to the system audit log.
- Notify the Data Protection Commission where the breach affects personal data, without undue delay.
- Tell the families and staff affected in plain language: what was exposed, what risk it carries, and what we are doing. We do not wait until we have every answer.
- Fix the cause, not the symptom, and record the change so the same fault cannot recur unnoticed.
Report a suspected breach to dpo@ibs-edu.org. Anyone may report one — staff, parent or pupil — and no one will be penalised for raising a concern that turns out to be nothing.
Who else processes data for us
We use a small number of service providers who process data strictly on our instructions:
- Microsoft 365 — school email, documents and calendars
- Cloudflare — website hosting, security and the SchoolOS database
- Paystack — fee payments (we never see or store full card numbers)
These providers store data outside Ghana. We do not send pupil or staff personal data to any public AI service.
Cookies
This site sets only strictly necessary cookies — a sign-in cookie for staff using the SchoolOS portal, which is removed when you sign out. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
Read the full technical architecture on our Security & Cybersecurity page.
Feedback loop
Complaints procedure.
We take every complaint seriously. Complaints follow a clear ladder so that concerns are resolved close to source, quickly and fairly.
| Step | Who | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Speak to the class teacher | Parent or pupil raises the issue directly | Same week |
| 2. Head of Department | If unresolved, HOD reviews and responds | 5 working days |
| 3. Assistant Head | Reviews HOD response, mediates if needed | 5 working days |
| 4. Headmaster | Final internal decision | 10 working days |
| 5. Board of Governors | Only if the process was flawed — not a re-hearing | 30 working days |
Standard Operating Procedures
The SOP library.
Below is a live index of every SOP in force at IBS. Each SOP has a version, an owner, an effective date and a review date. Full text lives in the SchoolOS SOP module.
Documents & downloads
Everything in one place.
The following documents are available on written request to head@ibs-edu.org. Parents receive the current versions on admission.
📄 Parent Handbook (2026/27)
All-in-one guide for families.
📄 Staff Handbook (2026/27)
Contract terms, code of conduct, HR policies.
📄 Pupil Handbook
Age-appropriate version of school rules.
📄 Fees Structure & Payment Policy
All classes · payment channels · instalment rules.
📄 Safeguarding Policy (v4.0)
Full version with forms.
📄 Data Protection Policy
Our full policy under Act 843.
📄 Anti-Bullying Policy
Reporting forms + wellbeing survey.
📄 Complaints Procedure
Detailed ladder + form.
📄 GES Compliance Register
Live in SchoolOS — extracts on request.