Code of Behaviour in Irish Schools: What Boards Must Include and Review

Section 23 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 requires a recognised school’s board of management to prepare and publish a code of behaviour after statutory consultation. The principal leads the work under the board’s direction; the board records adoption. The code must follow the guidelines issued under the Act, currently the 2008 NEWB guidelines hosted by Tusla.

Which guidelines apply? Checked 5 October 2026

Tusla’s current code-of-behaviour publication page still links Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guidelines for Schools (NEWB, 2008). We did not find published replacement guidelines in the official sources checked on this date. This guide therefore uses the 2008 guidelines.

The Department of Education and Youth’s Circular 0042/2026, section 1, describes revised TESS guidelines as due to be published. Tusla’s 2026 Business Plan, action 4.19, plans implementation supports in 2026 for enactment of the revised code in 2027. A plan is not a published replacement. Check Tusla again before adopting a substantial revision and record the edition used.

The current revised section 23, subsections (1)–(3), places preparation and publication with the board. It also specifies consultation and requires the code to follow the agency’s guidelines. A school’s existing document therefore needs more than a familiar title: its content and operation need to reflect these requirements.

The guidelines, section 2.3, page 15, describe the principal’s leadership role under the board’s direction and recommend that the board formally record adoption, the commencement date and review decisions. They also say the code should be submitted to the patron for approval. Keep that recommended patron step distinct from the board’s statutory responsibility; check your patron’s current arrangements when planning the approval route.

In practice, organise the review as a school-wide policy process. Establish which version is being reviewed, who will lead the audit, how consultation will work and which meeting will consider the resulting draft. Allow time to resolve substantive issues before recording adoption. A minute saying only “policy reviewed” does not explain what the board considered or what happens next.

What the code must cover

Section 23(2) sets out five required matters. Use these as a completeness check before considering the broader guidance on relationships, positive behaviour and implementation.

Required matter What to check in the school’s code
Standards of behaviour Explain the standards expected of students in language they can understand.
Responses when standards are not observed Set out the measures that may be taken and connect them with fair, proportionate practice.
Suspension and expulsion procedures Describe the process before either sanction, including investigation, response and decision arrangements.
Grounds for removing a suspension Explain how a suspension can be removed, rather than leaving that question unstated.
Notification of absence Explain how parents notify the school of a child’s absence.

The guidelines’ chapters 4–9 place these matters within a positive whole-school approach: understanding behaviour, setting expectations, promoting good behaviour, responding to inappropriate behaviour, relationships and implementation. Chapters 10–12 address fair procedures, suspension and expulsion. The document should help people act consistently, rather than function only as a list of sanctions.

Check that the code distinguishes support from sanction. Describe how expectations are taught, how concerns are understood and how responses take account of the individual student and circumstances. Staff should be able to explain the route from an initial concern to support, investigation or a formal decision without inventing additional rules outside the approved code.

Who should be consulted?

Section 23(1) requires consultation with the principal, teachers, parents of registered students and the educational welfare officer assigned to the school. Students are not listed in that subsection, but the guidelines, sections 2.3–2.5, pages 15–19, give students an active place in developing and reviewing the code. Other staff also bring relevant experience of its operation.

Design consultation so that people can respond to the issues being reviewed. For example, ask whether expectations are understandable, whether the absence-notification route works and whether students know how to seek help. Use accessible formats and age-appropriate discussion. Asking everyone to approve a long finished document is less informative than gathering views while there is still room to change it.

Keep a proportionate record of who was consulted, the method used, the main themes and the resulting changes. Explain where suggestions were accepted or why a different approach was chosen. These are practical recording recommendations, not a new statutory consultation format. Protect personal information: a general consultation summary should not identify children involved in individual incidents.

Suspension and expulsion: fair process first

The guidelines, sections 10.3–10.4 and 11.5, explain fair procedures. Before deciding on suspension, tell the student and parents about the complaint and give them an opportunity to respond. Investigate the facts and consider context, alternative responses and proportionality. Immediate safety concerns do not remove the need for the procedures described in the guidelines.

Section 11.8, pages 76–77, recommends written notification identifying the suspension period, reasons, study arrangements, return arrangements and appeal information. Section 11.9 covers removing a suspension. Section 11.12 recommends regular board review of how suspension is used. Check the school’s delegation and decision arrangements against chapter 11 rather than assuming every suspension decision follows the same approval route.

For notification to the educational welfare officer, distinguish suspension from expulsion. Section 21(4)(a) of the Education (Welfare) Act requires the principal to inform the officer in writing where a student is suspended for not less than six days. The guidelines, section 11.11, also address reporting suspensions through the attendance reporting arrangements.

Expulsion is a separate, serious process. Chapter 12 sets out investigation, the principal’s recommendation, board consideration and hearing, the board’s deliberations, consultation with the educational welfare officer and confirmation. Under section 24, the board or a person acting for it must notify the officer in writing of its opinion that the student should be expelled and its reasons. Expulsion cannot occur before 20 school days have passed after the officer receives that notification.

Use the current Education Act 1998, section 29 and official section 29 appeals service for appeal arrangements. The Act covers expulsion and suspension periods totalling at least 20 school days in a school year. The 2008 guidelines’ historical appeal contacts and terminology should not replace the current service. Check the current procedure when issuing a decision.

Is excluding a student for part of the day a suspension?

The guidelines, section 11.4, page 74, treat exclusion for part of the school day as a sanction, or asking parents to keep a child home as a sanction, as suspension. Calling it an informal arrangement does not avoid the suspension procedures. This matters when checking incident records and cumulative loss of school time.

A planned reduced school day is not automatically the same situation. The Department’s reduced-school-days guidance sets out a separate exceptional support arrangement and reproduces the guidelines’ warning about sanction-based exclusion. Check that guidance, including consent, notification and return-to-full-day arrangements, before using such an approach. Do not present reduced attendance as a routine behaviour sanction.

Connect the code with Bí Cineálta and behaviours of concern

The code and the school’s Bí Cineálta policy should be coherent, while retaining their different purposes. Our Bí Cineálta procedures explained guide covers prevention, response and board oversight. Check that the code’s language and response routes do not contradict the bullying policy. Use the anti-bullying annual review checklist for that policy’s separate annual review.

Circular 0042/2026, sections 2–4, updates training, monitoring and oversight for behaviours of concern and crisis situations. Section 3 states that physical restraint is only permitted where there is imminent risk to physical safety. Incidents must be reported to the principal and board, and the ETB where applicable; reports should be carefully reviewed. The circular also addresses NCSE reporting and existing child-protection duties.

The code should not turn emergency safety guidance into a general disciplinary permission. Ask the principal how the school’s support arrangements, training, reporting and board oversight fit together. Follow the full circular and underlying guidance for practice; this code review does not replace them.

Give parents the code before registration

Section 23(4) requires the principal to provide parents with a copy before registering the child. It permits the principal, as a condition of registration, to require written confirmation that the code is acceptable and that parents will make all reasonable efforts to ensure the child complies. The subsection does not make that written confirmation compulsory in every school.

Check how copies are supplied and how any confirmation the school requires is recorded. Keep the wording faithful to the Act: it is not a parental guarantee that no difficulty will arise. Section 23(5) separately requires a copy on request by a registered student or their parent.

Board review and the minute

The guidelines, sections 2.1–2.3, describe audit and review as a continuous cycle, with the board prioritising issues alongside the principal. They do not impose a universal annual deadline for the whole code. Recommend a scheduled review through the Irish school policy review calendar, with earlier work when evidence, incidents or new guidance warrant it.

A useful minute identifies the version, consultation considered, key issues discussed, adoption decision, commencement date, patron follow-up and agreed review point. Assign owners for communication or outstanding work. Review how the code operates as well as whether the document exists; repeated concerns may call for support or practice changes as well as revised wording.

Code of behaviour review checklist

This is an Edvance planning checklist; use the cited sources for the underlying requirements.

  1. Identify the current code, edition of guidelines and scope of the review.
  2. Check all five matters in section 23(2).
  3. Record consultation with the principal, teachers, parents and educational welfare officer.
  4. Include student voice and other staff experience as the guidelines recommend.
  5. Check positive behaviour, support and proportionate responses.
  6. Verify suspension procedures, notifications and grounds for removal.
  7. Verify expulsion procedures and the section 24 waiting period.
  8. Check part-day exclusions and current reduced-school-day guidance.
  9. Check consistency with Bí Cineálta and behaviours-of-concern guidance.
  10. Check pre-registration copies and any written confirmation required locally.
  11. Record board adoption, commencement, patron follow-up and communication.
  12. Schedule review and monitor implementation through the policy calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a code of behaviour a legal requirement for Irish schools?

Yes. Section 23 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 requires the board of a recognised school to prepare and publish a code of behaviour after statutory consultation, in accordance with guidelines issued under the Act.

Who approves the code of behaviour?

The board is responsible for the code and should formally record adoption. The 2008 guidelines say the code should be submitted to the patron for approval. The principal leads the work under the board’s direction.

What must a code of behaviour include?

Section 23(2) requires behaviour standards, measures for failure to observe them, suspension and expulsion procedures, grounds for removing a suspension, and procedures for notifying absence.

Is a reduced school day a suspension?

Excluding a student for part of the day as a sanction is a suspension under the guidelines. An exceptional supported reduced school day follows separate Department guidance; it should not be used as a behaviour sanction.

How often should the code of behaviour be reviewed?

The guidelines describe continuous audit and review and recommend recording review decisions. They do not set a universal annual deadline for the whole code. Align a scheduled review with the policy review calendar and review sooner when evidence or new guidance warrants it.