Behaviour Policy (Primary)

Aim:

To create a secure environment that allows children and adults to work together in a purposeful way and enjoy learning in accordance with the school code of conduct.

Goals:

• A consistently positive approach to maintaining appropriate behaviour
• An atmosphere of trust and respect
• A visible demonstration of the policy in every aspect of school life
• An increasing independence and self-discipline in order for pupils to accept responsibility for their own behaviour

Children are expected to:

• Treat everyone with respect
• Listen and respond to others appropriately
• Follow the agreed class code/set of golden rules
• Always try to do their best
• Act calmly and considerately
• Respect their own and others property

Adults (staff and parents) are expected to:

• Praise and encourage good work, behaviour and attitudes
• Model appropriate behaviour and language
• Highlight examples of appropriate behaviour and reward it
• Be fair and consistent
• Respect children’s ideas and opinions
• Give children guidance in understanding the difference between appropriate and inappropriate actions and words
• Mediate fairly in conflict situations
• Create an environment in which children feel secure to express their hopes and fears freely

Rewards:

• Intrinsic
• Success in achieving targets
• Verbal or written praise
• Showing or telling another person, class, teacher, Headteacher, peers
• Classroom displays
• Star/sticker systems
• Team Points in KS2
• Golden time in KS1 and KS2
• Pupil Star of the Week decided by each class teacher.
• Class of the Week with medals either by teacher votes, Key Stage leader or specialist teachers.

Sanctions:

• Knowing that someone is upset can sometimes be a sanction in itself
• Withdrawal of a privilege e.g. ‘time out’, missed playtime

Principal Commendations:

All staff, Primary and Secondary, are asked to nominate students who have made outstanding progress, attained exceptionally high academic levels or made significant contributions to the life of the school. Nominations should be made by the end of each month; the Principal will then select the winner or winners each month.

KEY STAGE TWO HOUSES

From Years 3-6 the children are in Houses

The team organisation is to:

• Provide a reward system
• Promote a sense of belonging
• Develop a feeling of responsibility to others
• Be able to work with different ages
• Allow Year 6 to take responsibility for success of their team and school

House Team points are given for:

• Good effort
• Good behaviour and attitude
• Helpfulness and thoughtfulness to their peers, team members and staff

House Team captains are selected from Year 6. It is their responsibility to collect House Points each week and to help organise Houseand inter House activities.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Basic Assumptions

People are less likely to misbehave if they are on-task

Pupils tend to be engaged in tasks if:

• The tasks are meaningful and the pupils aware of learning objective.
• The level of challenge is appropriate i.e. not too hard so the pupil feels overwhelmed or confused or not too easy so that the pupil becomes bored.
• The pupils have a clear sense of short-term and long-term goals and receive positive feedback leading to a growing sense of confidence.
• There is a recognition on the part of teachers that a pupil’s level of motivation can vary from EXTRINSIC to INTRINSIC. Recognition for positive efforts (work and be-haviour) can be more dependably achieved than for misbehaviour. The Teacher-Pupil contact rate is adequate. Experiences in school (which may not in themselves be unpleasant) can trigger off compelling patterns of behaviour (which may have developed out of school). These triggers may relate to learning, peers, adults/authority or organisations. Schools can recognise such situations and attempt to minimise them where possible.

Positive Approaches

Aim to ensure that pupils experience success through their efforts which can be developed through the National Curriculum / the broader curriculum (i.e. Circle work, PSHE, etc.).

Aim to ensure that pupils feel recognised as individual and unique people who have things to offer as well as to learn.

Encouraging Good Behaviour

Emphasis on encouraging and motivating pupils:

• Positive feedback
• Descriptive praise
• Give attention for success, not failure e.g. “Catch them doing good”
• Appropriate meaningful work

Respect for all individuals:

• Including their culture and background
• Modelling desired behaviour
• Listening to children and communicating that you have heard what they have said

Creating safety – physical/emotional:

• Clear and consistent use of rules and sanctions

Raise self-esteem:

• By communicating a sense of importance
• Ensuring pupils experience and have a sense of their own success

The EIC Staff Handbook - 22

• Maximising opportunities for pupils to take responsibility for themselves in their behaviour by, for instance, providing choices wherever possible.
• Ensuring that ‘feelings’ are part of the overt and hidden curriculum.

How children can sort out their own difficulties

Children should be encouraged to take responsibility for sorting out their own conflicts. This means that adults must take responsibility for teaching them and modelling strategies for doing this, and for seeing that children carry them out and reach a successful conclusion. Children should be encouraged to be assertive, to express their feelings and to resolve conflict without resorting to violence, swearing or abuse.

Suggested Strategy for resolving conflict – 3 steps

The others listen with no interruptions.

They are encouraged to maintain eye-contact.

Each child has a turn to say:

1. What the other(s) has/have done to upset them
2. How they feel about it
3. How they would like them to behave in future

No-one is allowed to interrupt or argue.

They go on taking turns until everyone has finished.

The adult is there as referee, not as part of the discussion. S/he makes sure that the turns are taken, that children stick to the three steps, that they listen to each other and maintain eye-contact. If the children cannot resolve the conflict after a reasonable time, then the adult can decide to make a judgement and take appropriate action.