Members' Code of Conduct Page

Sussex FSA Members’ Code of Conduct

Sussex FSA is a locality group affiliated to the National FSA. We encourage all our members to also join the National FSA.

The purpose of this code is to support our vision of ‘quality Forest School for all’ by empowering our members to participate, share and inspire people through their contact with Forest School. Following this code is one way Sussex FSA members support the FSA’s articles of association.

1. Celebrate and promote the Forest School philosophy

1.1 It is important for clarity that all Sussex FSA members have a unified understanding of the Forest School philosophy. Members should define Forest School clearly to others using the definition adopted by the FS community in 2011. You can view principles and criteria for good practice here.

1.2 Members should celebrate and promote quality Forest School work across the UK and beyond.

1.3 Members should work together to improve understanding of Forest School and its benefits to wider audiences.

2. Sussex FSA membership responsibilities

2.1 The FSA as an organisation may be judged by the conduct of individual members, directors and regional groups. All members should conduct themselves in a way that reflects the vision, aims and values of the FSA and which promotes the work of FSA.

2.2 Sussex FSA Members should ensure that their Forest School practice is within UK laws at all times, following the good practice guidelines of the Forest School principles and criteria, and does not bring the FSA, Sussex FSA or Forest School into disrepute.

2.3 The logo of the FSA belongs to the association and should not be used in any way by individual members, unless the member has been given specific permission from the FSA.

2.4 Modified FSA logos can be used by those granted permission to use them, but must only be used in the circumstances prescribed by the FSA.

2.5 Sussex FSA Members are encouraged to participate and contribute to the ongoing work of the FSA for example through consultations, local groups and online services.

2.6 Sussex FSA Members should use their membership benefits appropriately for the mutual benefit of all Sussex FSA members. Individual members should safeguard the benefits of their membership, and not transfer these benefits, such as their website password, to others.

3. Sustainable practices & care of the environment

3.1 Forest School aims to reconnect people to nature for the mutual benefit of people and the planet. Sussex FSA Members should have an awareness of environmental issues and demonstrate a commitment to caring for our environment.

3.2 Sussex FSA Members should share ideas and support each other to develop sustainable and ethical practices.

4. Additional

4.1 Sussex FSA Members will not add any copyrighted material to the Sussex FSA website without the consent of the owner of that material. Where a member breaches this rule the Sussex FSA shall hold them personally liable for any costs associated with their actions.

4.2 Sussex FSA Members will not add any licensed material to the Sussex FSA website unless they own the licence and the licence gives them express permission to use the material on the Sussex FSA website. Where a member breaches this rule the Sussex FSA shall hold them personally liable for any costs associated with their actions.

4.3 Members will follow the the Sussex FSA Communication Rules & Guidelines.

4.4 It is a requirement of Sussex FSA membership to agree to adhere to the code for the duration of an individual’s membership. A member who, following investigation, is found to be in breach of this code of conduct may, as an ultimate sanction, have their membership revoked.

FSA Website Communication Rules and Guidelines for Members

If you have arrived here after receiving an email from the moderators, then please read this page carefully. After that, if you still feel that your post has been removed unreasonably then please contact info@sussexfsa.co.uk

Introduction

Sussex FSA members are able to communicate with each other using various functions on the Sussex FSA website. These may include internal messaging, the forums, whole website activity page, and personal activity page. The Sussex FSA committee have agreed the following guidelines and rules for members communicating using the Sussex FSA website.

Guidelines

1. Whilst humour is a welcomed part of the discourse on the website it has to be balanced with a professional attitude.

2. Remember your face doesn’t show. Words alone can convey sentiment, but without benefit of inflection or facial expression, they can be misconstrued. Use descriptive wording to ensure your meaning is clear. By the same token, don’t jump to conclusions about another person’s intent in posting an unclear comment. When in doubt, ask for clarification.

3. Say online exactly what you would say in person. In other words, if you wouldn’t say it to the person’s face in front of your Grandmother, you shouldn’t type it into a forum.

4. Where you have a concern about a member of Sussex FSA committee or Working Party member, or an individual acting on behalf of the Sussex FSA, it is not appropriate to express this publicly on the Sussex FSA website. Instead, the Sussex FSA Chair/s or Secretary should be contacted directly using info@sussexfsa.co.uk, so that the matter can be brought to the committee's attention.

5. Third party individuals and organisations should not be discussed on the website. This amounts to gossip, which is not considered professional, and could lead to charges of defamation of character. We don’t want members getting themselves into trouble because of what they say on our website.

6. Contributors must use common sense when communicating on the website and are legally responsible for the content of their submissions, particularly if their submissions contain derogatory comments.

7. Personal relationship issues – This is a public forum and not the place for discussing specific personal relationship issues. We will not tolerate the practice of starting a thread under the pretext that it is a general relationship discussion, yet in reality it refers to a specific issue between two or more individuals.

8. Looking for a fight – Threads which set out to look for trouble, invariably create trouble. Don’t start them. We don’t want them on the forums.

9. Members need to respect that people may have different views from themselves and should be courteous when challenging these differences.

10. Off topic comments do not improve the clarity of the threads, website staff may move or edit off topic posts.

11. Comments that are intended for the Forum audience may not be intended for wider circulation. Postings to the Forum should not be forwarded to another party without the consent of the originator (or other participants in the case of a conversational ‘thread’).

12. Remember that email is not a secure medium and you should never send any confidential information. As a general rule (guidance), never send anything that you would not write on the back of a postcard.

13. Type in lowercase or standard case NOT IN CAPS. By the rules of netiquette, all caps equates to shouting. If you type with all caps, you will annoy and possibly offend other forum members.

Rules

1. Messages must not be abusive, obscene, defamatory or libellous, inflammatory, vulgar, sexually orientated, racial, political, hateful, threatening, in violation of any laws or good morals and practice.

2. Racial, ethnic, minority or gender based insults or any form of discrimination is prohibited.

3. Insulting (irony and sarcasm can be insulting), trolling, flaming, harassing or threatening anyone is prohibited.

4. Posting of material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, hateful, or invasive of a person’s privacy is prohibited.

5. Provocation for the sake of provocation is prohibited.

6. ‘Coded’ expletives in messages are not permitted (ie non-alphabetic characters disguising bad language).

7. Messages deemed to contain commercial advertising or unsolicited messages for the purpose of advertising a product or service, are not permitted. – No chain letters, spam or junk messages may be transmitted to other users.

8. Members may not post or distribute files, articles or other information subject to trademark, copyright, or other proprietary rights, except with the express consent of the owner of the rights.

9. The rules are not designed to anticipate any given situation, and consequently we reserve the right to take any actions we deem appropriate to ensure this community is not disrupted or abused in any way (see guidelines for applying the rules below).

Guidelines for applying the rules
If you feel someone has broken the website rules, please inform the website staff on info@sussexfsa.co.uk

The website is managed by the Web Admins and /or moderators (’website staff’). The website staff deals with all requests. In the case that there are doubts, the website staff may ask the opinion/support of the Sussex FSA Committee in order to take a decision.

1st offence:
The website staff will ask the user to comply with the rules. The suspect post will be replaced by a link to rules page & the original content of the post will be deleted.

2nd offence:
The user will be banned from the website (will not be able to log-in) for 1 month by the website staff.

3rd offense within an 18 month period/ major offence:
The user will be banned from the website permanently (the account will be deleted).