BEHAVIOUR POLICY: GROWING YOUNG MINDS

Frederick Bird 2017

MARCH 2017 J SILVERTON, HEAD Review date: 2018

We want:

Children who want to come to school

Children who want to learn

Children who want to do the right thing for themselves and others

Children who feel safe, valued and cared for.

We will:

Ensure all stakeholders work together to achieve this.

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A Behaviour Policy – Frederick Bird 2017

Vision and ethos

Our ideal:

At Frederick Bird everyone feels safe, happy and valued. The school provides a positive

environment where respect and good manners pervade. Behaviour is taught, not assumed

and high expectations are the norm. Children are treated as individuals, who need different

levels of support to reach and maintain school standards.

The school culture enables ALL children to learn and to grow. As its own community, the

school insists on a harmonious, caring, family atmosphere where shared school values are

upheld and all individual family values are respected.

We are consistent, persistent, insistent…and caring.

Our behaviour policy builds on intrinsic motivation – as the sustainable skill children will

need to be ultimately successful.

Aims

1. Model, foster and encourage respect across and between all stakeholders across the

school in order to have a cohesive, harmonious school community.

2. To be consistent in our application of policy and practice so that children feel fairly

treated and can therefore understand the expectations

3. To treat children individually and fairly, understanding that they have different

needs, starting points and home lives and we give them what they NEED, not all the

SAME in order to treat them fairly.

4. For every child to be ready for learning

“It is not so much what is poured into the student, but what is planted that really counts.” – Unknown

2

Shared values, beliefs and principles about behaviour

Respect

Unconditional,

positive

regard

Persistent,

insistent and

consistent

Aim to

return to

learning

Respect

is

key.

Many conflicts including staff and/or

children are a result of

misunderstandings.

Stress causes children to

react in uncharacteristic

ways and can escalate

problems and cause

conflict.

Some children come from home

with a completely different set of

values to school ones and therefore

they may need a greater level of

understanding and a different set of

strategies.

Building a relationship with the child is

central to the strategies used.

Behaviour must be

taught not

assumed.

Support needs to be

personalised to the

child.

We don’t shout at

children.

We don’t take

things personally as

adults.

“Teach a child how to think, not what to think.” – Sidney Sugarman

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Legislation

OFSTED GOOD Pupils conduct themselves well throughout the day, including at lunchtimes. The school is an orderly environment. Pupils respond quickly to instructions and

requests from staff, allowing lessons to flow smoothly and without interruption. Low-level disruption is rare.

Pupils’ good conduct reflects the school’s efforts to promote high standards. There are marked improvements in behaviour for individuals or groups with particular behavioural needs.

OFSTED OUTSTANDING Pupils’ impeccable conduct reflects the school’s effective strategies to promote high

standards of behaviour. Pupils are self-disciplined. Incidences of low-level disruption are extremely rare.

For individuals or groups with particular needs, there is sustained improvement in pupils’ behaviour. Where standards of behaviour were already excellent, they have been maintained.

From the Teacher's Pay and Conditions Document (2012), teachers are required to:

61.8 Promote the safety and well-being of pupils

61.9 Maintain good order and discipline among pupils Linked to this duty of care there is a duty to act in loco parentis, in the manner of caring and reasonable parents. The Teachers’ standards, introduced in May 2012, refer to a teacher’s duty to:

demonstrate consistently the positive attitudes, values and behaviour which are expected of pupils (Teacher standard 1);

manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment (Teacher Standard 7);

make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school (Teacher standard 8);

communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievement and well-being (Teacher Standard 8).

Related research

There is a mismatch between what science knows and what schools do. (Dan Pink)

Maslow’s Hierarchy – needs must be met at different times – need knowledge of the child

Delayed gratification – the longer the wait for the reward, the less effective it is.

Extrinsic systems externally motivate but research suggests they do not have long lasting effect on the

child’s psychology and learning behaviours/success. They tend to be more effective in the short term.

Intrinsic systems – lead to lessons for life and for success.

In Summary, Maslow’s hierarchy teaches us that children need different approaches at different times.

Extrinsic rewards can reduce a child’s natural desire to do the right thing but our society expects them.

We will continue to use extrinsic motivations to bridge the gap to intrinsic and for the purposes of visibly

focusing on the positive.

“Teacher: The child’s third parent.” – Hyman Berston

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Preparation for living in modern day Britain

In preparing children for life in British society, this policy will support the spiritual, moral,

social and cultural development of all of our learners It also takes into account the advice on

British values and the Prevent strategy from the government, in preparing children to know

what is right and wrong in terms of British society. Values such as democracy, following

rules and respect for ourselves and others form the pro-active teaching aspect of our

expectations of behaviour.

Whilst we understand that different people may hold different views around what is right

and ‘the law’, the school will promote British values in our school context.

Growth mindset

In our school we teach the children about learning a Growth Mindset approach. This work

by Carol Dweck promotes the concept that through hard work, even most basic abilities can

be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting

point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great

accomplishment. The opposite is a fixed mindset, in which people believe their basic

qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time

documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them.

This approach also underpins our behaviour policy.

Our school promises.

Respect

Responsibility Honesty

Kindness

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Expected behaviours:

Early years

Quiet inside, indoor voices

Walking inside

Being gentle

Looking after things and each other

Kind hands and kind words

Respect shown to everyone

Doing what they are told the first time

Being engaged in school – taking part

Ready to learn

Polite

Good listeners

Being a good friend

Years 1 and 2 (as EY, and …)

Listening

Being kind to each other

Respect

Being engaged

Polite

Building independence

Solving own problems

Being honest – own their actions

Accept consequences

Taking initiative

Be a good role model

Indoor voices

Respect things as well as each other

Years 3 and 4

Be ready to listen

Respect

Ready to learn

Accept consequences

Focus on their own learning

Be honest

Take responsibility

Listen to others

Politeness to everyone

Being engaged

Look after each other

Walking inside

Allow others to learn

Communicate respectfully

Have empathy

Work independently

Years 5 and 6

Communicate politely

Show respect

Listen to others

Follow instructions the first time

Voice opinions appropriately - both how and

when

Persevere

Respect others personal space

Take responsibility

Be honest

Work hard

Show patience

Arrive calmly and ready to learn

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We teach good behaviour - it takes time

Strategies and rewards to encourage good behaviour

EYFS

WOWs for work

Postcards home

Always club

Children on gold star to Always club

Gold bag

Postcards home

Treat box

Crazy time!

Marbles in the jar (whole class/group)

Years 1 and 2

WOWs

Postcards home

Always club

Treat box (team points)

Children choose rewards

Send to Head for good work

Golden tickets

Stickers

Time outside in the afternoon playing

Years 3 and 4

Wow for work postcards home

Always club

Send to SLT with good work

Public year 3 and 4 tea party with teacher

(from Golden ticket wins)

Dinnertime jobs

Dinner time with teacher

Treat jobs

Parental feedback at the end of the day

Spontaneous individual or class reward.

Years 5 and 6

WOWs for work

Postcards home – 1 for each child each

year.

Always club

Individual behaviour tracking – so children

can self-score and aim to improve – good

marks are rewarded with a gold star on the

chart.

Class spontaneous award – each class has a

chest of ‘treats’ – varied to appeal to

different children. Children are invited to

pick a treat when the teacher deems a

reward is appropriate and will benefit the

child.

Class personalised rewards – at the

discretion of the teacher… ie football game

as a treat.

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Unacceptable behaviours:

Any behaviour which is not described as acceptable above, is unacceptable. Appendix 1

describes some common behaviours within the chart showing what each behaviour would

lead to.

Strategies and sanctions to eradicate unacceptable behaviour (including

stance on exclusions)

All unacceptable behaviours will have consequences (see Appendix 1).

Initial low level behaviours should be managed by good classroom management procedures.

Teachers can employ their own strategies for this but the emphasis is on describing the

positive and NOT making a feature of the negative. At this point it is especially important to

‘nip things in the bud’ using effective strategies and focus on a return to learning of the

child, rather than the behaviour.

If unacceptable behaviours escalate there are appropriate consequences (Appendix 1). The

chart works in 2 ways – children either move through it or they can go straight to the

appropriate level, if the level of severity warrants it.

EXCLUSION

At the most extreme (RED) level exclusion, internal, fixed term external or permanent

exclusion are options. These decisions are ONLY to be made by senior staff and will reflect

the incident AND take into account the child’s individual circumstance. It is important to say

that whilst the school will do everything it can for any child, if one child puts others at risk of

harm, or themselves, permanent exclusion may be an appropriate outcome. School

procedures and authority procedures will be adhered to in this instance.

Foundations for effective classroom management – checklist.

It is worth reviewing these factors within the classroom if behaviour is becoming an issue for

one or more child. This can be done with the support of the inclusion leader/phase leader if

required.

Suitability of work for the child’s needs – is it appropriate?

Engagement – is the work interesting?

Learning style – are they sitting for too long?

Seating arrangement/physical factors – are they being distracted? Can they see the

board? Can they hear the teacher?

Unknown factor – are they sitting by someone distracting? Is something happening

at home? Medical issues? Has there been a sudden change? Why?

Are you as a teacher setting clear boundaries, using the reward and sanction systems

clearly?

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Behaviour support systems

If all of the issues above yield no improvement, it is possible to try supporting behaviour in

one of the following ways:-

Ask the inclusion leader/phase leader for support – observe the child/the teacher –

model a lesson so YOU can watch the child.

Devise a plan (short term) for the child. This maybe a chart that they have to report

to senior staff/parents daily/weekly. At this point you may choose to bridge their

movement from unacceptable behaviour to acceptable behaviour with rewards but

they must not be excessive or remain a feature of the child’s individual management

(a –it is unfair on other, b – they will rely on them and need bigger ones).

Involve senior staff/parents.

Unstructured times:

At unstructured times the children will be encouraged to follow the same system of

acceptable behaviours. Any incident will be dealt with in the same way – in that LTS staff will

be trying to return the child to a place of acceptability, using strategies developed in

training.

More serious incidents MUST be reported to senior leaders immediately.

Challenging behaviours and Behaviour strategies for SEND children

The inclusion leader has a broad programme of strategies and interventions that support

children with more challenging needs. She liaises with the class teachers and parents

around this work and it is regularly reviewed.

If teachers identify children with more extreme needs within the classroom (where this

generic policy is not effective for them), they should speak to the Inclusion leader (Natalie

Franklin-Hackett) immediately, for support and advice.

Strategies that may be used to further support children with more challenging behaviour

within and outside of the classroom are:

managing behaviour techniques for specific need ie autism

physical contact with children

escalation and de-escalation strategies

outside agency support

mentors specific withdrawal programmes

nurture groups support – a withdrawal groups

1 – to – 1 learning support, specific to need

Thrive programme

Art therapy support

Educational Psychologist support

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Parental partnership

Parents are a vital part of supporting good behaviour. Appendix 1 shows where they need to

be involved to improve behaviour. They are also encouraged to come in regularly to see

their children’s’ learning and to see them rewarded. We also use postcards home.

Recording, monitoring and reporting behaviours

Phase leaders keep records of incidents on the classroom through class sheets provided by

the class teachers.

Senior leaders and teachers log more serious incidents on C-POMS so that they can be

monitored and tracked.

Exclusions (fixed term and permanent) are reported termly to the Governing Body.

Racist incidents are also logged and reported. Parents are always made aware of any racist

incident involving their child.

Staff roles/staff development and support

Teachers and teaching assistants are responsible for ALL of the children in their class.

Teachers have a duty to employ strategies to ensure that ALL of the children are safe and

progressing well. Where they need support for more challenging situations, it is the duty of

senior staff to support them fully. At all times there will be a positive, problem solving

approach to the support of all staff and all children.

Role of governors

The Governing Body read this policy and are made aware of the level of good behaviour in

the school in termly reports by the Head Teacher, They also have a duty to form a panel

where a permanent exclusion takes place.

Governors are actively involved with reviewing behaviour in the school as it forms such an

important part of the child’s general safety which it is their duty to ensure.

Review

This policy is reviewed annually by the Governing Body and senior staff.

Also Refer to anti-bullying policy.

APPENDIX

Appendix 1 – steps structure

Appendix 2 – classroom chart and explanation

Appendix 3 – guidance for parents

“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” – Anonymous

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What we expect

Respect

Kindness

Taking responsibility

Honesty

What we do to encourage it

5 step system – visible colour zones

Positivity and praise

Individual rewards

Class rewards

Certificates - weekly awards

Star of the week/star of the term

Referrals to senior leaders for good work

Unexpected rewards

Always club

Liaison with parents for praise

What is unacceptable

Breaking any of the four school promises:

Respect

Responsible

Kindness

Honest

No hitting, no hurting, no fighting….

What we do about it

5 steps system:

1. warning

2. 5 minutes reflection in class

3. 5 minutes reflection in another class

4. Support from another adult

5. Referral to AHT/DHT/HT

Extrinsic

motivation,

bridge to

Intrinsic

motivation success

Summary overview

Foundations in place:

No shouting/no hitting policy

Strong relationships

Good teaching

Effective learning environment

Stage Within green Step 1 - yellow Step 2 - Orange Step 3 - Red Not always on task -some time

wasting Non completion of work Distracting another child Interruption Calling out Accidental damage Wandering Shouting out on odd occasions Singing in lessons

Persistent low level behaviour (within green) Teasing others Telling lies Name calling Unkind remarks/put downs Answering back Walking away Negative body language. Running in school Shouting out persistently Persistent wandering

Persistence of yellow Not responding to instructions, being un cooperative Deliberate, persistent unkind behaviour Lack of respect for an adult Inappropriate or bad language (accidental) Deliberately hurting another pupil Play fighting

Persistence of orange Serious acts of violence – ie hitting, fighting, kicking, spitting Persistent bad language/verbal abuse Continued refusal of adult instruction Deliberate damage to property/building Deliberate damage to self/others Theft Racial/homophobic/prejudice abuse

Strategies In class behaviour management strategies Positive language. Re-focus to learning Focus on primary behaviour, ignore secondary behaviour.

Continue positive behaviour management Time loss – 5 minutes reflection table and sheet

Continue positive behaviour management Time loss class next door – reflection sheet For persistent low level, start a behaviour report card.

Report card Individual behaviour plan Seek external support

Consequences Warning Reflection sheet/time out in class

Timeout next door class – reflection sheet Referral to YGL/AHT – option for sanction ie loss of playtime, letter of apology (as appropriate)

Referral to senior leaders – DHT/HT Possible internal/external/ permanent exclusion

Recording Class behaviour log (YGL) Whole school log – discussion by AHT end of week Tracking by senior staff

Meeting with parents – regular tracking

Parental liaison

Discuss with parents end of day Meeting with parents Track home /school

1

All children’s names will start off on the green and they move up…and down. Children or teachers can move the names BUT be aware that moving a name down might escalate behaviour – so with some children in some circumstances it would be wise for the teacher to move it down discreetly. Children can earn the right to move back up as soon as they are showing expected behaviours. Each morning and afternoon starts afresh – reset to green. Celebrate moving up publicly. Be discreet about moving down. Don’t draw attention to unacceptable behaviour, draw attention to good behaviour.

Step 1

Step 2

Step

3

Appendix 2 – classroom chart and explanation

We have a new BEHAVIOUR SYSTEM. We have talked to the children about it. We have four new school promises, which the children helped to choose.

Respect

Responsibility

Honesty

Kindness We expect the children to behave in line with these promises, to all adults and all children. This is what we call acceptable behaviour. We expect this and we also reward this – to show everyone what we want and to let the children know that they are doing the right thing. Rewards can be postcards home, treats, certificates and lots of other things.

We have reviewed what happens when children show unacceptable behaviour – see the chart below.

Sanction step system

Children start the morning and afternoon on green. If they show unacceptable

behaviour they move down the steps. Red is the most serious. Children can move

straight to red for things like racism, swearing, hitting or showing defiance.

At every stage there are consequences and you will be told if your child moves to a

step.

If your child is behaving in a way that makes themselves or others unsafe (violence,

aggression) we may have to exclude them. This can be a permanent exclusion – it is

very rare, but it will happen if needed to keep everyone safe.

At Frederick Bird we think hitting and hurting is very serious. We have a NO

SHOUTING and NO HITTING policy. We do not shout at the children and they don’t

shout at us, or hit anyone. We ask you to support us in this. Sometimes children say

their parents tell them to ‘hit back’. This is unacceptable behaviour and we will not let

that happen in school. In that way, everyone will stay safe. We are very happy to talk

to you about this.

Thank you for your continued support

Step 1

Step 2

Step

3

GUIDANCE FOR PARENTS – BEHAVIOUR POLICY Here is a summary – the full policy is on the school website