At Minerva Primary School, we endeavour to create the conditions for a calm and happy community where effective learning can take place. We believe in the importance of all pupils and staff feeling safe and happy in school. We champion positive relationships between;
We believe that by creating an overwhelmingly positive environment, we will give all our pupils a better chance of success.
Our school culture and ethos are therefore inspired by trauma-informed approaches and the supporting science. Through developing a Trauma and Mental Health Informed Approach, we believe that we are supporting the current, and future, positive mental health and resilience of our children and the community we serve, which will enable them to engage fully in life and learning. We strongly believe in the power of relationships, and that all interactions are the opportunity for a positive intervention. We believe that all children need to feel safe and emotionally supported in school for any chance of academic success.
We recognise the impact of trauma on brain development and are mindful that children’s responses are sometimes due to unavoidable chemical reactions in their brains, rather than ‘negative choices’.
The evidence-based research that underpins our whole school approach to SEMH and supporting positive behaviours is based on three key models:
To help eliminate bullying and child-on-child abuse we will ensure that children are taught:
To protect the rights of all children to have a safe and secure learning environment, Minerva Primary School will continuously work towards preventing acts of bullying, harassment, and other forms of aggression and violence as these behaviours are unacceptable and interfere with both our school’s ability to educate children and a child’s ability to learn. If such a case arises, the staff at Minerva Primary School will follow the anti-bullying guidelines laid out in this policy. This will enable staff to:
This policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies:
We understand the devastating impact of Childhood Adversity Experiences (ACEs) on long term mental and physical health, but more importantly, we recognise that through ‘protective factors’, we can mitigate the potential impact of early trauma and/or interrupt the progression from early adversity to mental ill-health and early death. Therefore, it is fundamental that, wherever possible, we put these key protective factors in place to support all of our vulnerable children’s short and long term mental, physical and societal ill-health.
Protective factors include:
“One trusted emotionally available adult in the school, community or home before the age of 18 can make all the difference. For many children this trusted adult will be someone at school” (TIS 2019)
When planning our interventions and whole school approach to SEMH, including managing distressed behaviour, we believe that having knowledge of the neuroscience of mental ill-health is essential; we place particular importance on the ‘Panksepp Emotional System’.
Panksepp’s Emotional System identifies genetically ingrained emotion systems in the brain:
Each system can be overactive, under-active or optimally activated. Children who have suffered trauma tend to have overactive (RAGE, FEAR, PANIC/GRIEF) systems and under active (CARE, SEEKING and PLAY) systems, resulting in behaviours related to stress, anxiety, depression and anger.
Through our approach, interactions with children and interventions, we hope to activate the pro-social systems of CARE, SEEKING and PLAY in order to restore a balance of the systems, which underpins positive mental health. We do not expect a child who has an overactive RAGE, FEAR or PANIC system to be able to successfully manage the demands of school life without extra purposeful interventions to activate the pro-social systems.
By activating these systems we can:
“The ability to form meaningful relationships is fundamental to mental health and happiness. It’s the quality of contact we have with other people that is arguably the most important determining factor in our quality of life. We can only truly develop ourselves through relationships with others’’ (TISUK 2019)
Our school is invested in supporting the very best possible relational health. Therefore, we are committed to implementing as many of the components of Trauma and mental health-informed schools Model Three (detailed below) as possible. This model is supported by evidence-based research which shows positive change in well-being and mental health, when implemented successfully and consistently.
Protect – Our priority with any child in school, is to ensure safety first. It is the foundation on which everything else depends. Our focus is not only on the physical environment, but also on the relational environment and the very culture and ethos of our school. We aim never to place a child in a situation that they are not able to manage. We do this through:
Relate – We agree that the ability to form meaningful relationships is fundamental to mental health and happiness. It is the quality of contact we have with other people that is arguably the most important factor in our quality of life. Therefore we see the importance in:
Regulate – We recognise that a high Ace Score without the support of emotionally available adults, is likely to damage the children’s minds, brains and bodies. This is due to a high level of toxic stress, therefore we place great emphasis on supporting children in such a way that means we don’t leave them in a state of toxic stress. We do this by:
Reflect – It is important when supporting a child’s emotional and mental health to have those conversations around ‘big’ and difficult feelings. We support children to understand their thoughts and feelings, body sensations and reactions and encourage them to identify new options and strategies for ways forward, with both their hopes and difficulties. We can do this by:
When considering ‘distressed behaviours’ (which often present as negative behaviours), we implement strategies supportive of a Trauma Informed Approach to help prevent as many of these distressed behaviours as possible. We place great emphasis on our staff being ‘emotionally available adults’ in order to best support our pupils, both day to day and in moments of distress.
We encourage all our pupils to develop a sense of self-discipline, therefore we place great emphasis on helping them to;
Further to support positive behaviour, we believe in setting clear and consistent boundaries. We regularly remind the pupils why these boundaries are in place, with the vast majority being there to keep everyone safe and to help create a successful learning environment.
In order to create the best possible environment to support positive choices and behaviours, and support Trauma informed approaches we ask all staff to adopt a ‘whole school approach’ to support SEMH and behaviour. We adopt a range of mechanisms to ensure staff are adequately trained and informed.
We recognise the importance of children having significant roles and responsibilities in school. Classes have a wide range of responsibilities for the children and as a school, we have Pupil Parliament. Children can write a letter of application to become a minister and work with the Pupil Parliament Lead to enact a range of responsibilities throughout the school.
Giving sincere praise straight away for good choices is essential. We will praise wherever possible. When we use ‘praise’ we try to ensure that it promotes a growth mind-set.
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, where possible linking to our school values and the positive choice they have made. All staff should reward positive choices with immediate praise.
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/sticker for their behaviour instead. Wherever possible Dojos should be recorded immediately. We use this system to help create a sense of team and community as children earn Dojo Points for their ‘Houses’.
In each class, each week a pupil is selected who has shown some ‘star quality’. This may be in the form of an outcome such as an outstanding piece of work or an attitude such as the way they have responded to feedback. The pupils are presented with their star of the week certificate in Friday’s celebration assembly.
Where a pupil has demonstrated our school values to a significant extent, this is recognised through the awards of a ‘Values Award’.
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.
When discussing any behaviour with children, adults will do so in a Trauma Informed way by being empathic, nurturing and non-judgemental regardless of the behaviour that they exhibit.
Adults will support children to make positive choices using ‘Positive Language’ and when appropriate discuss with the child the potential consequences of their actions. This will not be issued as a threat but a supportive empathetic reminder of the boundaries that are in place. Staff can use ‘Scripts for consequences’ to support them with this.
When discussing behaviour with pupils, adults should refer to whole school concepts such as the ‘Zones of Regulations’. Although an appropriate sanction might be used, we believe that quality ‘reflection’ with an emotionally available adult is a more important and effective intervention to prevent further similar, unwanted behaviours. In this conversation the staff member should try to establish the child’s concern (what led to the child becoming distressed/making negative choices), the adult’s concern (how their actions are impacting on the well-being of others), and finally a solution moving forward. This is a ‘collaborative problem-solving approach’ and where possible will be used after all distressed/challenging behaviours.
When a pupil is in a heightened state of distress or anxiety, they will not be able to hear or engage in these conversations. In these instances, adults will support the pupil to make a positive choice and their main focus will be to make sure the pupil, and everyone else, is safe. Where possible, adults should empathise with the emotion driving the behaviour, name this emotion and explain it is okay, but the behaviour is not. This should avoid a toxic shame spiral. In cases of distressed behaviours, staff should follow the CARE approach. Once the pupil is calm and safe, then staff can proceed with the reflection stage/collaborative problem-solving approach and putting in place a possible consequence or sanction.
Adults should never use threatening body language towards children and where possible, adults should use a calm and supportive tone when addressing behaviour and should very rarely shout at a child; this would normally be reserved for a situation where a child is in immediate danger or attention needs to be gained from across the playground.
We must ensure that we use appropriate sanctions which are age appropriate, fair and consistent. Where possible we avoid ‘punitive’ sanctions and will always explain why the sanction is being applied and how it relates to their actions. We will also address what change in behaviour is required to avoid future incidents. We are also mindful that it is the behaviour rather than the child that is being identified as unwanted so we are saying I am concerned that your behaviour is currently unsafe’. We also believe that we must apply a sense of proportion to all situations and that the sanction is appropriate to the offence.
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:
We hope that this will prevent further unwanted behaviours and remove any potential triggers etc.
If there is a positive change in their behaviour, recognise it and help them reflect.
If there is repeated unwanted behaviour, a refusal to change their behaviour (after the appropriate support of an adult) or a behaviour that is disruptive to the whole class then we believe an ‘intervention’ is needed. This will be in the form of a ‘positive interaction’ away from the classroom where the child is supported to reflect on their behaviour with an ‘emotionally available adult’ At this stage, SLT will be informed. The ‘collaborative problem solving approach’ will be followed. Once the child and adult have successfully reflected and problem solved, then any actions needed to help prevent similar future behaviours will be actioned and if appropriate a sanction may be used.
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. This will limit the need for physical intervention, which should only be used as a last resort and by where possible a qualified member of staff (Team-Teacher Trained). A member of SLT/or the Principal will be updated accordingly in order to decide whether any further action is required.
Further action could include such things as:
The child will have time with an emotionally available adult to discuss the incident. Again, the adult will use a ‘collaborative problem-solving approach’ to aid this discussion and hopefully prevent a similar incident from occurring again.
Parents will be notified by the end of the day.
Where a pupil’s behaviour continues to be a concern, a meeting will be held with parents / carers to agree the way forward. We believe that ‘children do well if they can’, so a supportive meeting would be held aimed at identifying specific ‘lagging skills’ or unsolved problems that the child may have, which results in the unwanted behaviours. We will look at how the adults can help address the lagging skills and unsolved problems. We will also again, encourage the pupil to develop a sense of self-discipline by helping them recognise their emotions, reflect on why and accept responsibility for their actions.
Following three cycles of APDR (assess, plan, do review) any child who consistently needs support ‘in addition to or different from’ their peers is identified as SEND (SEND code of Practice 2015) Once they are entered onto the SEN register an IEP (Individual Education Plan) is written for them. As a school, our IEPs include the child’s own voice about their gifts, strengths and skills and preferred ways of working. Each IEP comprehensively outlines the areas of difficulty the child is experiencing, the scaffolding which is needed to support the child within Quality First Teaching in class. The IEP includes the external agencies working with the child, the assessments which have been carried out to bring about this understanding of SEND need and the SMART targets linked to the child’s broad area of need. The targets will all have described where, when and how they are to be accomplished and review data at the end of each term describing their successfulness before re-setting. Early Years targets will be re-set more frequently due to their rate of developmental progress.
The CARE Plan is a positive and personalised approach to supporting children during their most distressed behaviours. The CARE plans detail effective strategies to use when a child is showing signs of distress or has reached ‘crisis point’. The CARE plans highlight signs of ‘distressed’ behaviours which are personal to each child and successful strategies and supportive language to help de-escalate, often this will be through co-regulation. The CARE plans are accessible for all staff to easily follow, even including helpful scripts to ensure consistency of language. We believe that if we have a common approach then we will be able to support and coach the child in moments of distress to make positive choices and learn to self-regulate in the future.
In the most extreme situations this sanction could be a suspension or permanent exclusion. This will follow the statutory guidance for those with legal responsibilities in relation to exclusion. 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 reintegration meeting with the child, parent/carer and a senior member of staff.
At our school, we use Team Teach as part of our commitment to creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment for all pupils and staff. Team Teach provides a structured, evidence-based approach to managing challenging behaviour through positive strategies, de-escalation techniques, and, where absolutely necessary, safe physical interventions. This approach prioritises dignity, respect, and the emotional well-being of every child, while ensuring that staff have the skills and confidence to respond consistently and appropriately. By using Team Teach, we aim to reduce risk, promote positive relationships, and uphold our safeguarding responsibilities.
Staff will only use ‘Team Teach’ techniques when the risks involved in doing so are outweighed by the risks involved by not using these techniques. These are:
Wherever possible only staff who have been trained will engage with children in this way but on rare occasions this may not be possible. Every incident will be logged and checked by a senior member of staff. We strongly believe in the ‘power’ of language and empathetic approach will in all but the most extreme cases enable us to avoid positive handling.
All behaviours will be recorded systematically on our information management system. This will enable us to have a positive overview of all behaviours across the school, allowing us to continually monitor positive and distressed behaviours and as a result develop strategies to help us continually improve behaviour.
Behaviour will be reviewed regularly by the SEMH Lead. High levels for any one child or type of incident will be brought to the attention of the senior leaders at their next meeting. Actions will be agreed and shared with all staff as necessary.
The Education Act 2002, Education and Inspections Act 2006 and Equalities Act 2006 all make reference to a school’s legal responsibility to prevent and tackle bullying. By law, all state schools must have a behaviour policy in place and displayed on their website and must also follow anti-discrimination law. This means staff must act to prevent discrimination, harassment and victimisation within the school.
Schools have the legal power to make sure pupils behave and do not bully outside of school premises, for example on public transport or in nearby public communal areas. If seen as appropriate the Principal or staff can choose to report bullying to the police or local council. During school hours, including while pupils are taking part in school visits, after school clubs and cyber bullying the school has direct responsibility to ensure children feel safe and secure.
The AC supports the Principal in all attempts to eliminate bullying from the school. The AC will not condone any bullying at all, and any incidents of bullying that do occur will be taken very seriously and dealt with appropriately.
The AC monitors incidents of bullying that do occur and reviews the effectiveness of this policy regularly. The members of the AC require the Principal to keep accurate records of all incidents of bullying and to report to the members of the AC on request about the effectiveness of the school’s anti-bullying strategies.
A parent/carer who is dissatisfied with the way the school has dealt with a bullying incident can make a complaint to the AC or to the Cabot Learning Federation. The complaint will be dealt with in accordance with the CLF complaints policy which can be accessed from the school website.
It is the responsibility of the Principal to implement the school’s anti-bullying and child-on-child abuse strategy, to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the school policy, and that they know how to identify and deal with incidents of bullying. The Principal will report to the AC about the effectiveness of the anti-bullying policy on request. Although the Principal has overall responsibility, they may have nominated a staff member to implement the anti-bullying and child-on-child abuse policy.
It is the Principal (or designated member of staff) who must ensure that all children know that bullying and child- on-child abuse is wrong, and that it is unacceptable behaviour in school. The Principal will draw the attention of children to this fact at suitable moments. For example, the Principal may decide to use an assembly as the forum in which to discuss with the children why bullying is wrong.
The Principal will ensure that all members of staff receive sufficient training to be equipped to identify and deal with all incidents of bullying and child-on-child abuse.
The Principal will set the school climate of mutual support and praise for success, so making bullying and child- on-child abuse less likely. When children feel they are important and belong to a friendly and welcoming school, bullying is far less likely to be part of their behaviour.
Members of staff will do all that they can to eradicate bullying and child-on-child abuse; they will ensure that they follow the school’s relevant policies and procedures.
All members of staff will routinely attend training that equips them to identify bullying and child-on-child abuse to follow school policy and procedures with regard to ‘behaviour management’.
Staff will use a range of methods within PSHE lessons to help prevent bullying and child-on-child abuse to establish a climate of trust and respect for all. They will use drama, role-play, stories etc. within the curriculum, to help pupils understand the feelings of bullied children and to practise the restraint required to avoid lapsing into bullying behaviour. Ring fenced time will also be used to praise, reward and celebrate the successes of all children (such as celebration evenings or assemblies) and thus to help create a positive atmosphere.
Members of staff will keep a vigilant watch on suspected ‘bullies’; any incidents will be handled carefully. It is important that the child responsible for initiating the bullying is dealt with appropriately. The person dealing with the incident will need to collect all the relevant information and then provide the Principal with a copy in order that he/she can decide on an action. All cases are individual and various strategies will be employed by the Principal to address the issue.
Teachers and support staff will do all they can to support a child who is being bullied.
Parents/carers, who are concerned that their child might be being bullied or who suspect that their child may be the perpetrator of bullying, should contact their child’s class teacher immediately in a calm manner. If they are not satisfied with the action taken they should contact the Principal. If they remain dissatisfied, they should follow the procedure detailed above. Parents/carers have a responsibility to support the school’s anti-bullying policy by actively encouraging their child to be a positive member of the school and this expectation of support is outlined in the home/school agreement (if they have one).
Pupils are encouraged to tell somebody they trust such as a teacher, senior leader etc. if they are being bullied, and if the bullying continues they must keep on letting people know; the children are taught several strategies to help them with this.
Pupils are also encouraged to participate fully in activities that raise their awareness about bullying in order that they clearly understand what to do if they, or another child, are being bullied.
Bullying is defined as repeated negative behaviour that is intended to make others feel upset, uncomfortable or unsafe.
Abuse is something which usually physically or emotionally hurts another person by using behaviour that is meant to scare, hurt or upset that person.
Child-on-child abuse is when there is any kind of abuse or bullying between children/young people both on and offline.
Physical: Deliberately hurting particular children on a regular basis
Verbal: Deliberately hurting feelings through name-calling
Ostracising: Making someone feel left out and different by deliberately setting out to exclude them
There are many different kinds of bullying, including:
Sexting is sending inappropriate pictures, videos or messages – they can sometimes be called ‘nude pics’, ‘rude pics’ or ‘nude selfies’, but can also be rude messages. Pressuring someone into sending these pictures, videos and messages is abuse. It is illegal to have these kind of pictures or videos of a person if they are under 18 years old.
Cyber-bullying is the use of technology such as mobile phones, email, chat rooms or social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to harass, threaten, embarrass, intimidate or target a child. Unlike physical bullying, cyber-bullying can often be difficult to track as the cyber-bully (the person responsible for the acts of cyber- bullying) can remain anonymous when threatening others online, encouraging them to behave more aggressively than they might face-to-face.
There are many different types of cyber-bullying, including:
Minerva Primary School is covered by the CLF’s IT Acceptable Use Policy. The ICT code of conduct is explained and discussed with pupils in assemblies, PSHE classes and IT classes.
All children have upsets and squabbles; these are not classed as bullying and are dealt with through the Behaviour Policy. Actions not considered to be bullying are:
Some reasons why children might bully someone include:
All forms of bullying cause psychological, emotional and physical stress. Each child’s response to being bullied is unique; however, some signs that may point to a bullying problem are:
Incidents where it has been deemed that a member of staff has been bullying a child will be taken very seriously. The Principal, with the support of the AC, will deal with this; formal action will be taken where necessary.
Such action will also be taken if it is deemed that a member of staff is bullying other members of staff.
In the event of the Principal being involved in such incidents, reports will be given immediately to the chair of the Academy Council who will also take formal action where necessary.
If you are a member of staff who is experiencing bullying (by other adults or students), you should inform your line manager, a member of the senior leadership team or your union representative as soon as possible. For visitors to the school, any concerns should be directed to the Principal (or other appropriate member of staff).
All members of Minerva Primary School are encouraged to challenge all forms of bullying, including prejudice-based bullying, if they come across it.
The following steps must be taken when dealing with incidents of bullying:
This school has set procedures to follow in implementing sanctions where a bullying incident has occurred, as described above. Sanctions are applied in appropriate proportion to the event. In the event of all other avenues being exhausted, or in particularly serious cases that lead to exclusion, the Academy Council will examine the evidence that a wide range of strategies had been tried and failed to affect a positive change in the bullying behaviour.
