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Behaviour Policy

Serious Unacceptable Behaviour

Control and Physical Interventions

This document is a statement of the aims, principles and procedures regarding Behaviour Management at Manor Lodge Community Primary School. It was developed through a review of the Behaviour Management Policy of January 2001 and by a process of consultation and discussion with teaching staff during the Autumn term 2006.This policy was approved by the Governing Body on 12th October 2006 It will be kept under review. A schedule for the review of this and other policy documents is set out in the School Improvement Plan. Back to top

Rationale

At Manor Lodge Community Primary School, we believe that:
- l teachers have the right to teach in a calm, supportive and purposeful atmosphere
- l children have the right to learn in a calm, supportive and purposeful atmosphere
- l pupils have the right to come to school without the fear of being bullied Back to top

Aims

It is our aim to
- create and maintain, through good behaviour and discipline, an environment and a code of conduct which promote and secure good teaching, effective learning, and high standards of achievement
- establish a school ethos and broad curriculum that promote positive attitudes and values, so that all children learn to take responsibility for their own actions.
- establish systems and procedures that promote good behaviour
- provide regular opportunities for discussion and reinforcement of the Behaviour Policy in class, during assemblies and at school council meetings.
- enable children to develop a sense of involvement and citizenship through providing appropriate opportunities for them to contribute positively to the life of the school
- encourage a partnership between children, parents and staff in order that school and home work together effectively in supporting the development of positive attitudes and good behaviour, including making copies of the Behaviour Policy available to parents.
- monitor the behaviour of individuals and groups and to evaluate provision in light of this Back to top

School Rules

The school has a set of three school rules, agreed by staff and governors, which provide a clear focus against which all behaviour can be measured.

The rules are:
- Respect ourselves
- Respect each other
- Respect our school

The rules are displayed prominently throughout the school, and are referred to regularly, including during assemblies, during class discussions relating to behaviour, and as part of dealing with specific incidents. Back to top

Class Rules

At the beginning of each academic year, each teacher works with the children in their class to develop and agree a simple set of class rules that describe in positive terms the ways in which the children are expected to behave. The class rules are displayed in the classroom and are referred to regularly during class discussions relating to behaviour, and as part of dealing with specific incidents.

Each classroom will display a green board (good behaviour) and a red board (unacceptable behaviour), with, for example, sunshine/cloud, smiley face/sad face to reinforce good/unacceptable behaviour as appropriate to the year group. All children will start each day with their name on the green board, to emphasise the fact that everyone has a fresh start, and names should be removed from the red board at the end of the school day to avoid unnecessary sharing of negative information about individual children?s behaviour. The green/red boards are used to support the system of rewards/sanctions that is outlined below. Back to top

Rewards

We believe that it is vitally important to acknowledge and celebrate good behaviour, and to use positive reinforcement wherever possible to increase desired behaviours and to modify inappropriate behaviours. The use of rewards is a powerful tool that is highly effective in behaviour management, and the school uses a variety of rewards within classrooms and throughout the school.

Rewards include:
- non-verbal reinforcement e.g. smiling, nodding, ?thumbs up?
- verbal or written descriptive praise
- ticks on the classroom green board, leading to rewards at the discretion of the class teacher
- stickers, certificates (see samples in Appendix), awards and prizes
- individual/ group/ whole class privilege time, including ?golden time? during the last session each Friday afternoon Back to top

Sanctions

When, despite the use of positive reinforcement and rewards, children break the school rules and behave inappropriately, the school has sanctions in place to encourage them to modify their behaviour. The system of sanctions is carefully structured to ensure consistency throughout the school and to provide children with many opportunities to modify their behaviour.

Sanctions:
- verbal warning that a behaviour is unacceptable, with reference to school/class rules and description of appropriate behaviour
- use classroom sanctions e.g. move/isolate child, withdraw privileges, complete work at break time/lunchtime (under supervision)
- record child?s name on the classroom red board: the child can move back to the green board at the teacher?s discretion when behaviour improves
- continuing/additional unacceptable behaviour: cross recorded next to the child?s name on the red board, with loss of specified number of minutes of Friday ?golden time? (differentiated according to age/needs of child)
- name and 1 or more crosses on the red board in one day: child?s name recorded in the teacher's red book?
- if child's name is recorded in the teacher's red book on more than 3 days in one week, or on a regular basis, a letter will be sent home to parents/carers informing them that their child is not behaving appropriately and requesting that they discuss this with their child
- If there is no improvement in behaviour, the child will be placed on behaviour report for a predetermined period (usually one week), with a letter sent home to inform parents/carers, and encouraging them to arrange an appointment with the class teacher. If parents do request a meeting, teachers can request that the headteacher or a member of the SLT attends.
- If there is continued unacceptable behaviour, despite daily report, a letter will be sent home requesting parents/carers to come into school for discussion with the class teacher/SLT/headteacher
- continued unacceptable behaviour may lead to fixed term exclusion
- at any stage of the process, teachers can liaise with the SENCO/Behaviour Intervention Worker so that appropriate support can be put in place as soon as possible. Back to top

Serious Unacceptable Behaviour

There are some behaviours that will not be tolerated at Manor Lodge School. These include:
- rudeness to staff e.g. arguing, abusive language, defiance
- unprovoked aggressive behaviour towards children or staff (verbal or physical)
- racist behaviour
- leaving premises without permission
- theft
- damage to school property

In such cases, the headteacher and governors will exclude pupils for a fixed period of time, using the following guidelines:

Swearing at staff 1-5 days
Aggressive behaviour towards children 1-45 days
Aggressive behaviour towards staff 1-45 days
Racist behaviour 1-45 days
Leaving premises without permission 1-5 days
Theft (if proved) 1-5 days
Damage to school property 1-5 days

When the child returns to school, a meeting with the headteacher will decide the conditions for readmission. If the child then continues to break the school rules and behave in an inappropriate way, an additional exclusion may be given at the discretion of the headteacher and governors. Back to top

Permanent Exclusion

Permanent exclusion at Manor Lodge is seen as a last resort. It is only used when a child, in spite of structured intervention by the school, continues to exhibit inappropriate behaviour, as outlined in the section ?Serious Unacceptable Behaviour?, and has accumulated 45 days of fixed term exclusions in a year, or has exhibited behaviour of such severe magnitude as to warrant removal from school immediately. In the latter case, the police may become involved. Back to top

Control and Physical Interventions

Every person has the right to be protected from harm, and the governors seek to protect all children from any form of physical intervention which is unnecessary or inappropriate. However, our staff deals from time to time with pupils who can exhibit disturbed, distressed and distressing behaviours, which put either themselves or others at risk. Governors also acknowledge the need to minimise the risk to staff of false accusations of improper conduct towards a pupil, and to ensure that staff feel confident about appropriate action to be taken in difficult circumstances.

Manor Lodge has adopted the guidelines written by Sheffield L.E.A. in September 1998, ?Guidance on Care, Control and Physical Interventions in an Educational Setting?. A copy of this is given to all staff. In summary, physical restraint should be seen only as a last resort used to prevent a child:
from harming him/herself
from harming others
from causing serious damage to property

In all circumstances, the staff concerned must:
- employ the minimum amount of force for the minimum period necessary to restrain the child
- keep talking to, or otherwise communicating with, the child (e.g. When you calm down I can let go.)
- avoid threatening or committing any act of punitive violence
- keep his/her temper under control
- try to ensure there are witnesses
- report the necessity for intervention to the headteacher
- fill in a report form (see appendix )

The headteacher will provide appropriate support for the child and staff concerned, notify parents of the action taken and initiate appropriate follow-up, and review the incident, feeding back to relevant staff and reviewing procedure if necessary. Back to top