This policy should be read along with our Child Protection policy, Special Needs policy, Peer to Peer Abuse policy and E-safety policy.
Clear boundaries must exist when dealing with good and poor behaviours. If pupils know what is expected of them and this is consistent then they will feel safe.
All pupils should try to be the ‘best they can be’ and make the greatest effort to uphold the school’s vision and values.
Our school aim is to help your children learn in a safe and stimulating place. Our school values are: Compassion / Courage / Collaboration / Excellence
This policy will be supported by other documents such as class rules, home-school agreement, newsletters, assemblies and within the curriculum. Each year we will remind everyone of our policy. It will be kept under constant review.
Pupils’ responsibilities are to:
Parents’ responsibilities are to:
Teaching Staff responsibilities are to:
The Head of School’s responsibilities are to:
The School’s Core Group will:
At our school we expect high standards of behaviour from our pupils. Adults in school will be good role models and have high expectations. Pupils can be rewarded for good behaviour daily, weekly and termly. These rewards are shared in a celebration assembly each Friday afternoon.
The emphasis will be on reward rather than sanction. We will use the following strategies:
Giving sincere praise straightaway for good choices is essential. We will praise wherever possible but we do not praise for doing what we expect of all children.
When we use ‘praise’ we try to ensure that it promotes a growth mind-set. The table below gives examples:
These are correct: you must have worked hard. I like how you have tried to solve that problem.
At times praise may need to be tailored in relation to the individual. For example, if a pupil struggles to settle after a break and does so well, this should be noticed and praised. Praise should be explicit, explaining what value they have shown, or what positive choice they have made. All staff should reward positive choices with immediate praise.
Good behaviours can also be rewarded with stickers. This can be dependent on the individual pupil. This way, pupils who struggle with certain aspects of school life can get given a reward that parents and other staff can see.
We use the class Dojo system to reward learning behaviours in class. Dojo points are given to pupils who do their very best or who demonstrate exceptional work. Test scores and rapid improvement can also be awarded dojos.
The use of the word ‘exceptional’ here is important. It means that Dojos are not given for things that we would expect of all children such as sitting in their seat or starting work.
For example, a Dojo should not be given to an individual who is following expectations even if this individual often struggles to meet these expectations. This pupil would be given praise for their behaviour instead. Where ever possible Dojos should be recorded immediately.
Pupils will be rewarded for showing good behaviour at break and lunchtimes with a Values VIP voucher. These can be given by any member of staff as and when they see “above and beyond” behaviour. These tickets will be used for examples of kindness or demonstration of our values. Pupils should not be given Values VIPs for following the expectations even if this individual often struggles to meet these expectations. However, this should still be rewarded with immediate praise.
In each class, each week a pupil is selected who has shown some ‘star quality’. This may be in form of an outcome such an outstanding piece of work or an attitude such as the way they have responded to feedback. It is important that pupils earn this award and it is not given ‘on rotation’ basis. The pupils are presented with their star of the week
certificate in Friday’s celebration assembly. Their teacher will read out a description of why they have received the award. These pupils will be invited to have squash and cake in the head’s office after the assembly.
The two pupils in each class with the most number of Dojos for the week will be crowned Dojo Royalty. These pupils will be invited to wear a crown and to parade at the celebration assembly.
This is an annual event at the end of July to celebrate their time at our school. There are awards given to pupils who have achieved high ‘levels’ or who have made accelerated/exceptional progress.
This will be a special recognition award decided by the senior leaders of the school. This will be given to a child who has made an outstanding contribution to the school community. This will be a surprise award. The parents will be invited to the end of term celebration assembly.
It is important that all poor behaviours are challenged. However, in the vast majority of cases pupils are given the chance to change their behaviour. When possible this will be done through reminders. It is important not to shame a pupil about their behaviour. It is better to remind them of the positive choices they could have made and have likely made in the past. Poor behaviour choices will be dealt with by staff in a calm manner that looks to build a positive relationship whilst still recognising those behaviours.
Behaviours considered to be ‘low level’ are those that break the flow of learning within the classroom. We will use the following “reminder process” to help restore good learning behaviours:
Where possible, an adult will both take and collect the pupil from the alternative classroom. They will check-in with the child, check that everything is ok and reinforce a positive return to their classroom.
There are scripted sheets to follow that can help with useful language. We hope that this will prevent further poor behaviours and remove any potential triggers etc. It is important at this point that the pupil is clear they return to class with a clean slate.
If a pupil refuses to cooperate and move to an alternate class, they will then be given a 5 minute timer and asked to move by the time is up. If they move then this choice will be recognised. We understand that sometimes asking a child to move may unsettle them, so they will be given time to make the right choice. If they still refuse, then this will mean they move onto Stage Two.
Stage Two is used for repeated poor behaviour in the same session. It is also used for certain poor behaviour such as use of bad language or open defiance to follow an instruction intended to keep them safe. This will be recorded on the behaviour log.
In most cases Stage Two is asking the pupil to meet with the head at lunch time for a time of reflection. Scripts are available for staff to use. On occasion it may be that a pupil is asked to complete Stage Two in another place e.g. head’s office or a quiet safe space etc.
If the pupil refuses to attend or this happens on a frequent basis they will be moved to Stage Three.
If a pupil’s behaviour continues to be disruptive or they show a significant level of anti- social behaviour then they will be moved by a supporting adult to a safe space. These pupils will be supported using the CARE approach in order to understand why they are distressed. The Head and the Behaviour Lead will be informed in order to decide whether any further action is required.
Further action could include such things as:
Parents will be notified at the end of the day. Anti-social behaviour can include:
Racist incidents will not be tolerated and will be treated on a par with physical assault. This may also require further intervention. Consequences and actions by the school will be proportionate with the perpetrator’s age and level of cognitive understanding.
Substantiated cases of racism will be reported as is our statutory duty.
Homophobia will not be tolerated and will be treated on a par with physical assault.
These incidents and any anti-social behaviour will be recorded on an ABCC form. In the most serious cases fixed term exclusion might be applied. Repeated incidents or the most extreme incidents could result in permanent exclusion.
Where a pupil’s behaviour continues to be a concern a meeting will be held with parents / carers to agree the way forward. Following this meeting a conversation will then take place with the pupil present to address their behaviour and help them make the right choices in future. This will be recorded in a number of ways:
The Behaviour Support Plan is a formal contract that is drawn up between the parent/carer, child and school. It is at this stage that a contract is signed by all parties and external agency support may be requested.
Three SMART targets are agreed at the initial BSP meeting in consultation with all present. These are written in child speak and progress towards them is recorded daily. Weekly feedback is provided to parents so that they can support at home.
A BSP review meeting is held after six weeks to determine progress. At this point one of three courses of action will be decided upon:
A Pastoral Support Plan (PSP) is put in place when either the Behaviour Support Plan has been ineffective, or a pupil is in danger of exclusion.
The Pastoral Support Plan is written in accordance with advice from the behaviour specialists and the SENCo. Parents/carers, the child, the class teacher, SENCo meet together to write and agree the targets for the PSP. The child’s progress towards their behaviour targets are reviewed every half term.
A Positive Handling Plan is put in place where a child is known to express their distressed behaviour though aggression towards others. The plan identifies the triggers that may lead to violence and how this might be de-escalated. It will also state what restraints may be used if the child is likely to harm themselves or others. The plan is agreed with parents / carers.
Any pupil who commits serious or persistent breach of the new COVID-19 protection rules may be sanctioned by the headteacher using the full range of sanctions available, dependent on the seriousness of the breach, up to and including in extreme cases permanent exclusion.
At Minerva we appreciate that a slightly different approach to positively managing behaviour is required in the EYFS. We reward positive behaviour to support self-regulation in the following ways:
Sanctions we use when dealing with poor and unacceptable behaviour may include:
We must ensure that in dealing with such behaviour we use appropriate sanctions which are age appropriate, immediate, fair and consistent. We make clear why the sanction is being applied and what change in behaviour is required to avoid future unwanted behaviour. We try to avoid group sanctions as they can breed resentment. We are also mindful that it is the behaviour rather than the child that is being identified as unwanted i.e. ‘Your behaviour is ’. We also believe that we must apply a sense of proportion to all situations and that the sanction is appropriate to the offence.
In the most extreme situations this sanction could be a fixed term or permanent exclusion. This will follow the statutory guidance for those with legal responsibilities in relation to exclusion (2017). This document can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion or there will be a copy in the school office.
After a fixed-term exclusion there will always be a re-integration meeting with the child, parent/carer and a senior member of staff.
Staff will only use restraint when the risks involved in doing so are outweighed by the risks involved by not using restraint. These are:
Only staff who have been trained will use restraint and every incident will be logged and check by a senior member of staff.
All behaviours will be recorded systematically on our information management system (SIMS) in the first 15mins at the end of the day. This will enable us to have a positive overview of all behaviours across the school, allowing us to continually monitor positive and negative behaviours and as a result develop strategies to help us continually improve behaviour.
Each week the Behaviour Lead reviews the behaviour log. High levels for any one child or type of incident will be brought to the attention of the senior leaders at their next meeting. Remedial actions will be agreed and share with all staff as necessary.
The Behaviour Action Plan will be reviewed termly and new actions generated where patterns of type of incident have increased.
