Version Control
Policy Prepared by: Jackey Cook
Document Name / Meeting Submitted / Summary of Changes / Next ReviewBehaviour Policy / SLT 7.11.16
Staff consulted 11.11.16
Approved by SLT 18.11.16 / Re-written Policy v1 / Autumn 2019
Behaviour Support Policy Governor's Statement of General Principles
The Governors of Mount Tamar School are fully supportive of the school’s behaviour policy and acknowledge the important role that it plays in the effective management of a teaching and learning environment.
All members of the school community are entitled to share a caring and supportive environment, where each feels safe and confident working and playing within a well established framework of guiding principles.
Within this context, the school’s policy is to support and enable;-
· The pupil’s right to learn
· The teacher’s right to teach
· The parent/carers’ right to participate in the pupil’s education and development.
It is the school’s aim to
Acknowledge that each member of the school community has equal rights regardless of race,gender, background, religious belief or ability and that these rights are worthy of respect and extend beyond the school.
Enable all members of the school community to appreciate the spiritual and cultural diversity of our society and to treat such issues with due tolerance, interest and respect.
Develop lively enquiring minds together with a positive wish to learn, to question and to argue rationally and to apply themselves intelligently to tasks.
Develop a sense of self-respect, self-confidence and self-reliance, with the ability to work hard and succeed at tasks.
To encourage all members of the school community to participate in,and contribute to, group and team activities, to accept responsibilities and to develop self-awareness and self-discipline leading to independence.
Parents/Carers' responsibilities
· To be aware of the school rules and expectations and to support the school in the
implementation of this policy
· To make children aware of appropriate behaviour in all situations
· To encourage independence and self-discipline
· To show an interest in all that their child does in school
· To foster good relationships with the school.
· To alert the school as soon as there are any concerns.
Overview
At Mount Tamar school, we believe students learn best in an environment that is safe, secure and in which expectations of good behaviour are both encouraged and explicit.
By law, all school staff have the power to discipline students for misbehaviour which occurs in school and in some circumstances, outside of school. Our policy acknowledges the school’s legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 in respect of safeguarding for all of our students with Special Educational Needs. When dealing with behaviour issues, all of our students require support so that they learn from any incident. Our rewards and sanctions are based on an individualised approach that takes account of their complex needs, their understanding of the situation and what will have an effect.
Our aim is to deal with behaviour issues through finding the root cause of the problem which gives staff a good starting point. As part of supporting students with ASC,SEMH, ADHD and other complex needs all students are given a key adult who works with them enabling the student to learn different strategies to cope. Students also have their own Safe Space that they can use when they are feeling anxious, upset or unable to cope. All students have an ‘’ About Me Profile’’ which all new staff read as a way of getting to know the pupils quickly. The school has an excellent therapy team that all students and staff can access for additional support.
We aim to support students by helping them to find what works for them. We promote a restorative approach as this helps to empower students to resolve conflict. Staff are aware that our students need to be supported by taking account of their individuality.
The School’s Behaviour Management Philosophy
Mount Tamar is a school that is built firmly on an ethos of nurture and respect. Pupils and staff work in an atmosphere that is both structured and supportive.
This policy is designed to support the pupils in developing a committed approach to good behaviour and allow them to learn to their full potential whilst working in safe and secure atmosphere.
The policy is rooted in positive reinforcement of behaviour expectations and encourages the pupils to develop into well-rounded and self-disciplined individuals. To achieve this goal the pupils need to feel valued, secure and confident, as well as having high levels of self-esteem.
The school works hard to help every pupil to feel good about themselves and to know that their opinions and roles in the school are valued and that they contribute to the school as a whole. They are given opportunities to develop confidence through roles which encourage commitment and responsibility.
What we do to reward positive attitudes and behaviour?
● Our whole school approach to rewarding positive behaviour will be followed consistently by all staff.
● Behaviour Watch and Vivos are used to record learning and behaviour during each period of the school day and award ‘Shop points’ as a method of praise.
● Feedback and agree scores with pupils during the plenary at the end of every lesson
● Accumulated ‘Shop points’ may be spent in the online shop
● Instant verbal praise
● Written comments on work where appropriate
● Bonus Vivos awarded for special behaviour
● Well Done postcards sent home
● Displays of the children’s work in the classroom to acknowledge their achievements
● Weekly Celebration Assemblies
● Individual Behaviour targets reviewed termly
● Top earners rewarded with trips
● Stickers
● Individual behaviour rewards programmes
● Certificates
● Records of achievement
Pupils will need support to develop positive behaviour and social skills and these pupils
may require help using a number of embedded systems. Where deemed necessary some
pupils will be invited to join one or more of the following;
● School Counselling
● Off-site learning
● One to one learning
● Individual timetable
● Learning Mentors
Curriculum
In class disruption may be attributed to many factors but delivery of the curriculum can be a key cause of problems within the classroom. Pupils who are consistently presented with work
which is too challenging or not sufficiently stimulating may get frustrated and this can lead to a lower level of self control and lack of drive for personal improvement. It is therefore essential that the needs of each pupil in the school are met through providing an interesting and dynamic curriculum.
As a school we strive to present the pupils with interesting and challenging learning which stretches their ability whilst giving them a sense of pride on completion of a good piece of work.
We embrace the principles of accelerated learning and use these to allow pupils to find their favoured style of learning. Learning is presented in a range of ways to encourage the different styles for each individual.This is done by using a wide range of tools to allow them to develop skills to become more independent learners. We help the pupils to be active participants in their learning and develop confidence to set targets for themselves as well as responding to teacher led targets.
Teachers consider a range of issues when planning and delivering lessons; this helps to create a good classroom atmosphere and a positive learning environment.
It is the school’s policy to involve pupils in open discussion with parent/carers at Reviews and other Parent’s Evenings and open evenings to encourage the pupils to have full involvement in their learning and help to generate a high level of self-esteem. Pupils are also included where appropriate in parent/ carers’ meetings to discuss behaviour issues so that they are able to fully understand any problems that may be occurring and have opportunities to express their opinions and be involved in the setting of behaviour targets.
School Parliament
The School Parliament has a very important role in some of the decision making processes of the school. It is a highly valued ‘Voice of the Pupils’. Pupils are democratically elected by their peers in each class and there are 5 Cabinet members that hold a position on the school’s Extended Senior Team for an academic year. The Cabinet members attend regular meetings with Parliament in which they are kept informed and consulted about developments and changes in the school. They are also given opportunities to raise concerns they have about issues arising and the running of the school. Issues from meetings are then fed back to parliament member which feed this information back to their classes, so that all pupils are given opportunities to express their own views or opinions on matters discussed.
School Rules
The school rules are a cornerstone of the behaviour management policy of the school. Due to the importance of these it was deemed essential that every member of the school had an input into the rules.
As a result of the School Cabinet and Parliament spent a great deal of time discussing and considering appropriate rules. The rules that follow have been written by the pupils of Mount Tamar School and are what they deem to be appropriate rules by which the school should operate.
Classroom Rules
Classroom rules are created by every class at the beginning of every academic year. The pupils are encouraged to consider why rules are important in a classroom and therefore think about rules which may affect the effective working atmosphere in their class. Pupils are asked to make rules which positively encourage good behaviour and support the ‘Can Do’ philosophy of the school. Rather than say ’’Don’t talk when the teacher is talking’ this may be re-worded as ‘’Always listen when anyone is talking’’.
Common rules in most classrooms include;
Always listen when someone else is talking.
Always ask permission before you leave the classroom
Look after school equipment and other people’s possessions
Remember that this is a ‘Can Do’ room. So always try your best.
Remember to ‘Look Smart, Think Smart, Eat Smart, Be Smart’
These are only guidelines to classroom rules as ,each year, the setting of class rules is very much led by the pupils.
Mediation
Mediation is an exciting and valued method of behaviour management and conflict resolution. Mediation is a key method of empowering pupils to seek solutions to disputes themselves and to develop strategies for solving common problems.
If pupils need mediation they should first approach a member of staff who will arrange with the behaviour management team who will provide mediation service.
In class Behaviour Management Systems
It is important that ,whilst in class, pupils are given every opportunity possible to learn. It is therefore necessary to create an atmosphere in which clear boundaries and expectations are shared and pupils are secure in their role within the class. It is essential that pupils learn that they can make a choice to choose positive behaviour.
Classes where a positive and encouraging atmosphere is created help support pupils in the development of good behaviour and effective learnering. It is therefore necessary to emphasise the strengths of individual pupils and allow them to evaluate their own performances both academically and behaviourally . Encouraging them to consider the effects of their actions enables them to evaluate the appropriateness of their behaviour choices.
Behaviour Management System
Vivos behaviour and Learning Rewards system
Pupils throughout the school will use the following system which is for use by teachers and teaching assistants and pupils as a behaviour strategy
Sheet
The sheet is representative of the lesson’s behaviour and learning. Each period can gain a score between 0 and 3, 3 being above the expected learning/behaviour target, 2 being the expected behaviour/ learning target, 1 being below the expected behaviour/learning target, and 0 being far below the expected behaviour/learning target, that requires a sanction. The sanctions are outlined below. The purpose of the sheet is to build a score that will represent the behaviour for the day. This will then be rewarded in Vivos points for the pupils. Gaining scores between 1-3 will gradually build Vivos, however the lower the score, the less Vivos will be awarded. Gaining zeros will result in sanctions and no points earned. At the end of each term, there will be a special reward trip for the top 10 individual scores throughout the term. This is an added incentive for the pupils to earn good scores, as this trip will not be deducted from their Vivos scores. This sheet will be accessed at the end of every lesson by the teacher, who will input the identified score for the individual.
Sanctions
Within our sanction system there is a wide range of sanctions the teacher and pupil can choose from, for example:
1. Community Jobs
2. Apology letter
3. Mediation
4. Reflection time
5. Catchup
6. Restorative justice
7. After school detention
8. Internal exclusion
9. Fixed term exclusion
10. Permanent Exclusion
If a pupil receives a 0 in the behaviour or learning box when a session ends they automatically receive a sanction. When this occurs the teacher and pupil discuss which is the most appropriate sanction and decide on a time scale.
Examples of behaviours unacceptable in school and likely to attract one or more of the above sanctions include:
1. Rudeness/swearing towards staff
2. Lack of learning
3. Refusal to follow instructions
4. Striking a member of staff
5. Physical aggression
6. Fighting
7. Bullying
8. Racism
9. Vandalism/Damage to property
10. Theft
11. Truancy from lessons or from school
12. Use of or possession of any illegal substance or material
13. Smoking on school property or during off site activities
14. Inappropriate use of mobile electronic devices
15. Going on to the school roof
16. Hats and coats on during lessons
17. Inappropriate sexual behaviour