Behaviour Policy
At St Paul’s Walden we have high expectations of all members of our school community. We believe that the school has an important role to play, in partnership with the home, by nurturing positive attitudes towards good behaviour in all our children. We believe that an effective school is one in which the learning environment is underpinned by an ethos shared by governors, teachers, teaching assistants, support staff, children and parents. We aim to support all members of our community to reach their full potential and pupils to develop into young people of increasing independence. We aim to equip all pupils with the necessary skills for a future in which they can make safe, respectful and responsible choices in life.
There are three core values at the heart of our school Behaviour Policy:
Be Safe.
Be Respectful.
Be Responsible.
The principle of this policy aims to:
- Encourage a calm, purposeful and happy atmosphere within the school.
- Foster a positive caring attitude towards everyone where achievements at all levels are acknowledged and valued.
- Encourage increasing independence and self-discipline so that each child learns to accept responsibility for his/her own behaviour.
- Have a consistent approach to behaviour throughout the school with supportive and positive parental cooperation and involvement.
- Make boundaries of acceptable behaviour clear and to ensure safety.
- Raise awareness about appropriate behaviour.
- Help pupils, staff and parents have a sense of direction and feeling of common purpose.
- To create an environment where pupils and adults feel safe to disclose and report unacceptable behaviours.
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The aims of this Behaviour Policy will be achieved by the whole community (governors, staff, parents, children, external providers, volunteers and the wider community) working together. We all have our own responsibilities, which are listed below.
Responsibilities of Governors
- To ensure the school has a Behaviour Policy and procedures in place that are in accordance with Local Authority guidance, locally agreed inter-agency procedures, and Government guidance.
- To ensure the Behaviour Policy is made available to parents on request.
- To ensure the school has procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff and volunteers which comply with guidance from the Local Authority and locally agreed inter-agency procedures.
- To ensure a senior member of the school’s leadership team is designated to take lead responsibility for behaviour
- To ensure that staff undertake appropriate behaviour management training.
- To nominate a Governor (usually Chair of Governors) to act as Commissioning Manager and be responsible for liaising with the LA and/or partner agencies in the event of safeguarding or other allegations being made against the Headteacher.
- To review the school policies and procedures regularly.
Responsibilities of Staff
- To fully comply with all the school’s policies and procedures.
- To ensure that when pupils are representing the school they are behaving appropriately in line with the school’s
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policies and procedures.
- To treat all children fairly, equally and with respect.
- To raise children’s self-esteem and develop their full potential.
- To provide a challenging and interesting curriculum by offering high quality learning experiences.
- To create a safe, stimulating and pleasant environment for learning.
- To use rules and consequences clearly and consistently.
- To be a good role model.
- To establish effective partnerships with parents so that children can see that the key adults in their lives share a common aim and want the best for their welfare, happiness and achievement in school.
- To recognise that each child is an individual and take into account the needs of each child.
- To praise and reward appropriate behaviour and achievements.
- To recognise the signs of and report incidence of peer on peer abuse.
Responsibilities of Parents
- To ensure children attend school regularly and arrive on time each day, no later than 8:45.
- To inform the school immediately of the reason for any pupil absence.
- To avoid taking leave of absence in term time.
- To ensure that their child is equipped for the day
- To attend parents consultations twice a year.
- To tell the staff about anything that may affect their children’s work and well-being at school.
- To show an interest in all that their child does at school and be proud of them.
- To offer support with learning at home, including the completion of homework.
- To encourage independence and self-discipline in their children.
- To establish good communication with the school and support its values and policies.
- To encourage respect and good behaviour and make their children aware of inappropriate behaviour.
- To work with staff to address behaviour issues with their children.
Responsibilities of the children
- Arrive at school on time and ready to learn.
- To work to the best of their abilities and to allow others to do the same.
- To treat others with respect at all times.
- To follow the instructions of all adults in our school.
- To respond appropriately to all members of our school community.
- To cooperate with children and adults in all aspect of school life.
- To take care of property and the environment in and out of school.
- To help formulate and comply with the classroom rules.
- To move sensibly and quietly in and around school.
- Not post about the school on social media sites.
Behaviour Strategies
The ‘Good to be Green’ reward system is in place across the school – this differs operationally from class to class depending on the age of the pupils and the agreed classroom rules. The underlying principles of the reward system are however the same.
Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments to the rewards, sanctions and teaching strategies are contained within the strategies in order not to disadvantage pupils with learning difficulties, disabilities and pupils who personal circumstances warrant an adjustment. This may mean that there is the appearance of the policy not being adhered to at times, as rewards and sanctions are applied “differently” but pupils, staff and parents should be reassured that the adjustments are only made when necessary in order to meet a pupil’s individual need.
Our school recognises that each child’s individual situation and circumstances should be taken into account when observing their behaviour and response to our Behaviour Policy. Some children may need an Individual Behaviour Plan, to be drafted by their class teacher with the input of the SENCO, senior staff, family and external agencies as appropriate.
Good to be Green Behaviour Scheme
The ‘Good to be Green’ scheme is an effective way of promoting positive behaviour, as it rewards those pupils who consistently behave appropriately. It also enables staff to track those pupils who find it harder to meet the school’s expected behaviour code. The scheme can be very visual, which allow our pupils to easily see how they are doing in class. We believe that it is important to promote a positive message regarding behaviour management at all times - ‘Good to be Green’ is a means of promoting our high expectations of positive behaviour. However, if a child has had a bad day, they always start afresh on Green the following day or after lunch depending on the age and needs of the children.
Every child starts their day on a positive note with a green card displayed in their pocket of the class chart. The card says: ‘It’s Good to be Green!’ and the children soon associate being on Green with a feeling of having done the right thing. Those children who remain on Green all day will be awarded a House Point.
Against the background of ‘Good to be Green’, throughout the day the children will receive instant feedback from staff and volunteers in the form of rewards and sanctions. It is important that the children know that these consequences will be fairly and consistently applied (while acknowledging some children’s necessary adjustments).
Rewards
- Instant and informal praise, when appropriate, is practised and reinforced by all adults.
- Pupils can achieve silver, then gold cards. When they have 5 gold cards these will be exchanged for a reward.
- Good work or achievements are shared with parents or carers. Stickers for encouragement and success including the Headteacher’s reward given to a pupil who produce a high quality piece of work for that particular child.
- There will be an annual award for the House with the least red cards - prize to be discussed with the children via School Council.
Consequences
We believe that children feel more secure if they know where the boundaries of acceptable behaviour lie and which consequence will be used if they overstep these boundaries. Consequences should be applied as soon as possible after the behaviour has occurred. They must be applied consistently, firmly, fairly and without confrontation, with the smallest possible sanction that is effective always being used. Children need to know why they are receiving a consequence and are to be given the opportunity to make amends. This could be simply picking up the pens they threw to the floor, after which the incident is over. Whole group consequences should be avoided where possible.
When pupils behave inappropriately, staff may use these strategies:
- Tactical Ignoring.
- Description of appropriate behaviour.
- Teacher proximity.
- Non-verbal signals.
- Eye contact.
- Clear and simple reminder of the rule.
As part of the ‘Good to be Green’ scheme, if the pupil does not respond then the teacher will go through the following steps, as necessary:
- Issue the child with a Stop and Think card.
- Issue an amber warning card.
- Issue a red card
- After a red card is issued, the child is given time to calm down after which a Reflection Sheet will be filled in by the pupil, with pupils being supported throughout this process as required. Reflection Sheets will be sent home to parents/carers and kept on file by the child’s class teacher, so that they can be monitored and analysed.
- If the behaviour continues then the pupil will be sent to a Senior Teacher, the Headteacher, or for reflection time in another class.
Monitoring ofBehaviour
Monitoring provides the opportunity to reflect as a school on our practices and whether we need to adjust or adapt our strategies to encourage the highest standards ofbehaviourfor learning. It also provides evidence of actual incidents to discuss with parents and other agencies, if appropriate and necessary. Dates and times are useful to see if there are reasons or patterns to the behaviour of individuals or groups of children.
As a school we monitor and record:
- Reflection Sheets.
- Bullying incidents.
- Racist comments.
- Incidents of serious and persistent disruption.
- Inappropriate behaviour is dealt with by the class teacher in the first instance and the by the Head when necessary;
- Children’s perceptions of behaviour through annual school questionnaire.
- Parents’ perception of behaviour(e.g. through Parentview).
Serious Unacceptable Behaviour
The Head will record serious unacceptable behaviour, such as that listed below using CPOMS. The use of consequences and any incidents or issues leading to the unacceptable behaviour should be recorded.
- Serious incidents which could include bullying;
- Peer on peer abuse,
- Abusive swearing,
- Theft,
- Persistent fighting,
- Vandalism,
- Racist incidents,
- Homophobic incidents,
- Any other prejudice-based incidents.
Parents will be informed immediately and a copy of the letter kept on the child’s file. Serious unacceptable behaviour may be an accumulation of minor incidents over a period of time.
If it is deemed appropriate, internal exclusions can happen, but these can only be sanctioned by the Head. Every avenue will be explored before a Pastoral Support Plan (PSP) and/or exclusions are considered, working closely with parents and outside agencies.
Under very exceptional circumstances physical intervention will be required to restrain a child’s physical behaviour or aggression where their behaviour is physically endangering themselves, other children, adults or causing serious damage to property. Physical intervention should not be considered in isolation. Staff will take steps to avoid the need to physically intervene through discussion or diversion.
Consultation:
All staff, children, parents and governing body via the Standards Committee have been consulted in the production of this policy.
Policy revised in line with guidance from Behaviour for Learning workshops run by Herts for Learning (Autumn 2014), Charlie Taylor, Getting the simple things right: Charlie Taylor’s Behaviour checklists (former government behaviour adviser, 2011), DFE Behaviour and discipline in schools (Feb 2016).
Hertfordshire Steps is a therapeutic approach to positive behaviour management. The Steps approach is based on the following principles:
- Shared focus on inclusion of all children and young people within their educational settings
- A shared set of values and beliefs
- Open and shared communication
- A shared commitment to diversion and de-escalation
- Shared risk management
- Shared reparation, reflection and restoration as a way Step On is training in de-escalation.
It emphasises the importance of consistency and teaching internal, rather than imposing external, discipline. It focuses on care and control, not punishment. It uses 4 techniques to de-escalate a situation before a crisis occurs and, where a crisis does occur, it adopts techniques to reduce the risk of harm.
This policy links to:
Anti-Bullying, Exclusion, Equality and Diversity, SEN, Child Protection, Sex and Relationships, Health and Safety, Restrictive Physical intervention, Race Equality, Teaching and Learning, Visits and volunteers, Esafety and data security, Drugs Education, Home/school agreement, Capability, Disciplinary, Complaints, Learning Outside the classroom/offsite visits.
DFE: Keeping Children Safe in Education, Use of reasonable force and Searching, screening and confiscation.
As a school community promoting and ensuring good behaviour is a responsibility shared by children, staff, parents and governors. The purpose of this policy it to ensure everybody understands their role and together we can ensure an environment where good behaviour is the expectation and the responsibility of all.
Date of policy: Summer 2023
Date of review: Summer 2026