Instructor Code of Conduct

Our Code describes who and how our students are taught at the club. Instructors must meet our requirements before teaching and then follow both the instructor and student Codes of Conduct.

Fundamentals

Guiding principles

• Only assigned instructors will instruct, guide, or correct students at a given class.
• Teach by showing and explaining; never touch students.
• Maintain start-to-finish accountability for student wellbeing from “doors open” to “doors closed,” without distraction.
• Unconditionally respect the School and follow these principles.

Prerequisites

• Be a certified instructor with the club.
• Be formally assigned by the club to run the specific class or branch location.
• Have formally agreed to follow this code.

Students not meeting these fundamentals, regardless of seniority, attend the class only as a student and follow guidance from the assigned instructor.

General responsibilities

Wellbeing of new students & beginners

• Check if new students have any health issues that need to be taken into consideration.
• Provide a hard copy of the Student Code of Conduct.
• Encourage them to register online, accepting the code and noting any health issues in that submission.

Class supervision at all times

• Focus solely on students from arrival to closing, refraining from personal training.
• If a student needs to exit the class, investigate and offer assistance (medical, accompaniment, or calling 000).
• Instructors can delegate to qualified assistants, who must follow this Code.
• Ensure all students receive equal attention and involvement in class activities.

Physical contact responsibilities

General rules

• Regardless of their level, students should never be touched in their training.
• Instruct by showing and explaining, never by touching.

Safe partner training and sparring

• General guidelines:
  • Ungraded students must not be involved in any partner work or sparring.
  • Actively monitor the safe practice of all partner work to prevent injury.
• Two-step attack/sidestep defence drill:
  • Graded students only
  • Explain that it is strictly non-contact
  • Pair students by gender and size.
• Chi Sao practice:
  • 8th-grade students and above only
  • Confirm students are comfortable to participate with the contact involved
  • Pair students by gender and size.
• Controlled sparring:
  • Graded students only
  • Explain that the aim is to learn, not ‘win’
  • Explain that there should be zero striking contact
  • Explain that there may be defensive forearm and leg contact.
• Tournament training:
  • Where students elect to compete in tournaments, explain the risks and manage their safety. Train them for the event and ensure protective equipment (such as mouthguards and shin guards) are used.

Preventing & managing misconduct

Managing student conduct

• Responsibilities
  • Prevention of misconduct is the first priority.
  • Accountability for student safety and wellbeing with vigilant observation of class behaviour, including social interaction before and after the session itself.
• Definition
  • Misconduct includes but is not limited to the following behaviours between students: Not bowing; Physical or psychological aggression or bullying; Sexual advances or unwanted personal attention; Ignoring instructions from the instructor.
• Incidents
  • Immediately stop and inform students of misconduct. Follow up with a 1:1 discussion (warning) after class to prevent a repeat.
  • Where misconduct is serious, the student must immediately be removed from the class and given a warning afterwards.
  • Report misconduct for the reference of other club instructors via the Club Inbox (admin@barrypangkungfu.com.au).
• Penalties
  • Penalties for misconduct range from: warnings, suspensions and expulsion
  • Report all warnings to the School and leadership team (Barry and the black sashes) via the Club Inbox.
  • Provide support to the affected student and reassure them of the process being followed.
  • Decide the penalty without delay and in consultation with Club Leadership if suspension or expulsion is likely.

Instructor conduct

• Monitor quality
  • Encourage honest feedback and hold discussions within the instructor group in order to proactively make corrections.
• Review feedback
  • Allow students to freely submit feedback on their class experience (online form).
• Failures
  • If an instructor consistently fails to meet the Code, Club Leadership may review their responsibilities.