Revised in 2014 and Thereafter on a Regular Basis in Response To

ST. DALLAN’S PRIMARY

SCHOOL

Reviewed December 2014

Revised in 2014 and thereafter on a regular basis in response to:

-  incidents which occur in school

-  whole staff training

-  training for senior staff provided by Behaviour Support Team (BST)

-  training provided for individual teachers

-  training provided for teachers and classroom assistants, eg, Lough Road Learning Centre

‘Each person has a special dignity and value which is grounded in one’s relationship with Christ. Catholic schools are called to recognise and respect the uniqueness of all individuals, to enable them to realise their full potential and help create the world

as God intends it to be’.

(John Paul II, Redemptor Hominus, 1979)

Contents

Rationale

Aims

Parental Role

Behaviour Code

Strategies for promoting positive behaviour

Strategies for dealing with inappropriate behaviour

Conclusion

RATIONALE

Discipline in this school is seen within the framework of how the school seeks to moderate and improve the behaviour of its pupils.

It includes the positive approach of praise, encouragement and incentives as well as the more negative aspect of sanctions appropriate to primary school pupils. It is totally devoid of any element of pupil humiliation.

The staff in St Dallan’s believe that the successful implementation of the school’s policy is primarily dependent upon the following beliefs:-

·  It is the staff of the school who determine the environment in which good staff / pupil relationships can develop.

·  It is the staff who set the right example to pupils in matters of dress, punctuality and commitment.

·  It is the staff who are responsible at all times for the behaviour of pupils within sight or sound of them.

·  Discipline is the responsibility of every member of staff, bad behaviour cannot be ignored by any member of staff at anytime.

·  Positive relationships with pupils require, empathy, sensitivity and tact.

·  Poor behaviour often stems from problems or difficulties beyond the school environment. To punish the bad behaviour and ignore the reasons for it will not provide a lasting solution.

·  The importance of planning work to match the pupils’ level of learning as well as deploying a wide range of teaching strategies often pre-empts the potential recurrence of poor behaviour.

·  Good school discipline begins with good class discipline which is underpinned by effective classroom management.

AIMS OF OUR DISCIPLINE POLICY:-

·  To develop in pupils a sense of self discipline and acceptance of responsibility for their actions

·  To create the conditions for a school environment in which effective learning can take place

·  To create an environment in which there is mutual respect between all members

·  To create and nurture a proper concern/respect for the school environment and school property

·  To develop in pupils a sense of being safe and an awareness of the safety of others

The staff of St Dallan’s believe that the school’s discipline policy should be positive, underpinned by encouraging good attitudes, reward, praise and by setting good example.

PARENTS AND DISCIPLINE

Standards of behaviour are well established in children before they come to school. The accepted standards of behaviour will vary from home to home and from family to family, but conflict arises when the expectations of school are different from those of home. Often in a smaller community such as the home, individual needs can largely be accommodated without undue disturbance, but a school is a much larger community where the interests of each individual have to be subsumed to the greater good for the greater number.

It is quite clear that a pupil’s acceptance of any system of rules for behaviour is determined by the attitude of the home and local society e.g. there is little point in striving to train children not to throw litter, if sweet papers are regularly thrown from the family car. Therefore parental acceptance of the school’s expectations and active co-operation with the staff is absolutely essential if an acceptable standard of discipline is to be achieved. Although parents are not in the school with the children their influence is still greater than that of a class teacher.

Parents have a duty to ensure that their children do not cause injury or damage to others or to any property and they, therefore have an obligation to promote the general policy and rules of discipline as agreed by the school.

Parents of current pupils have been informed of this policy and a summary of the Discipline Policy was put on to the school website in May 2011. Hereafter, the parents of each incoming Primary 1 pupil and new pupils to the school, are given a copy of our policy and are asked to work in partnership with St Dallan’s to develop the school’s approach to discipline. Parental co-operation is sought in relation to maintaining and promoting the school’s behaviour code and including:

·  high standards of pupil attendance

·  punctuality

·  personal appearance

·  the care of learning materials and school uniform

·  the supervision of homework

·  making parents aware of the importance of ensuring that the pupil would not have any item with them to school which may cause danger to themselves or others (reviewed 2012/13)

(In the event of a child being found to be in possession of an offensive weapon, eg, a knife or anything which may be used as a weapon which may cause harm to themselves or others, the parents will be contacted as a matter of urgency, the offending ‘weapon’ removed the pupil and others made safe. The CCMS suspension guidelines implemented).

ST DALLAN’S BEHAVIOUR CODE

St Dallan’s behaviour code was formulated with the collaborative input of teaching, non-teaching staff and pupils 2004/05. It has been disseminated to and accepted by parents and governors.

Our Behaviour Code

In St Dallan’s we always:

1.  Do our best

2.  Treat others kindly

3.  Show good manners

4.  Act safely

5.  Look after our school

Our behaviour code is displayed in key areas of the school to provide:-

·  A constant visual reminder.

·  A point of reference for contextualising instances of appropriate/inappropriate behaviour.

·  A consistent approach for the implementation of the code.

The behaviour code permeates all the pastoral work undertaken by the community of St Dallan’s.

STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR

We believe that good behaviour is best encouraged by a system of rewards. We praise our pupils in many informal ways without attempting to put them into a value order. These include:

·  A quiet word or encouraging smile

·  A ‘thumbs up’ sign

·  Verbal affirmation with a wider audience

We use the following formal approaches at individual class level:-

·  A written comment/stamps/stickers on pupils work to reflect the school’s approach to marking. (Marking for Improvement Policy)

·  Class teacher’s incentives, e.g. Star charts/Special person/Golden Time

·  A visit to Principal or Vice-Principal for commendation.

·  A written or verbal comment to parents informing them specifically of some action or achievement deserving praise.

We use the following whole school incentives:

·  Line up for a star competition

·  Pupil of the Week

·  Lunchtime Golden Table

·  Behaviour mentioned in annual report to parents

·  P7 monitors and buddies

Monitoring Systems

·  Monitors and adult supervision in toilet area over lunch time.

(introduction of additional toilets to the rear of the building allowing older pupils access over lunchtime – 2009)

·  Throughout the school day only one child at any one time may use the toilet facilities

·  Deployment of classroom assistants, lunchtime supervisors during play time

·  Principal/Vice-Principal/SMT’s monitoring

·  Principal sharing with SMT, sharing with teachers, on a need-to-know basis, information relating to some pupils who may require additional support/monitoring

·  Teachers sharing with other relevant staff the need to monitor certain pupils in playground

·  Alternative provision to be made for pupils who may present as being difficult over lunch or break times

·  Safe exiting at dismissal time (updated timetable Sept 2011, Sept 2012 and Sept 2014) involving all teachers and available classroom assistants

·  Effective deployment of teachers to relevant play areas, i.e. their own year group, during playtime

·  Effective deployment of teachers to spend 10 minutes of lunch time supporting the supervision of pupils. The extension of lunchtime provision by 10 minutes to allow a high level of enhanced supervision by senior teachers and to avoid overlap of KS1 and KS2 sittings. (Reviewed 2012/13)

We recognise that the school has an abundance of contexts to enable teachers to develop the implementation of the discipline policy and promote in a very real way, positive behaviour among all our pupils. These include:

·  Quality Circle time (reviewed term 3 2013) following whole staff training provided by Pupil Personal Development Services (PPDS)

·  Class prayer

·  RE lessons (Alive-O-series)

·  Anti-bullying week

·  Assemblies

·  PD&MU lessons following the introduction of the revised

curriculum

·  TS&PC lessons

·  Outside agencies :

-  Love for Life

-  Helping Hands

-  CASE (PSNI)

-  SELB Transition Programme for P7 Pupils

-  Marking for Improvement

TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR

We are continuing our work on ensuring that school is a place where children can learn and be happy; a place where positive behaviour is promoted. In all classes teachers reward good manners, good behaviour, hard work and respect with their own star boards etc.

Although we endeavour that all children use their best behaviour at all times, this is not always the case and there will be times when we need to have sanctions in place because of inappropriate behaviour.

We the staff of St Dallan’s have collaboratively agreed with our parents (letter 18 November 2014) upon the following staged approach to dealing with inappropriate behaviour in the classroom. In most circumstances these stages will be followed.

Sanctions for Inappropriate Behaviour

1.  The child will be spoken to by their teacher and a warning given

2.  The child will have minutes deducted from ‘Golden Time’ and 2nd warning given

3.  On 3rd warning, the child will receive a note explaining their behaviour to parents/guardians. The note must be signed and returned to the class teacher

4.  When on detention, a child will receive a note informing parents/guardians of this, the note must be signed and returned to the class teacher

5.  When a child is on detention 3 times then parents/guardians will be asked to attend a meeting with the class teacher to discuss behaviour and the way forward

6.  Any child on 5 or more detentions , then parents/guardians will be asked to attend a meeting with Mrs McDonald.

7.  If inappropriate behaviour persists then parents/guardians will be asked to attend a meeting with Mrs Farrell.

* This may be adapted for some children as is appropriate to their needs and with prior communication to their parents/guardians.

*Depending on the severity of the issue, the steps may be skipped at any stage and a straight detention given, with a note informing parents/guardians of this.

*Any child whose behaviour is deemed as being ‘unsafe’ to themselves or other children may be excluded for a time from the canteen, PE, swimming, afterschool activities, school trips, school teams etc.

In exceptional/extreme circumstances when the school has exhausted all available avenues within their resources, the following procedures will be implemented:

1.  With the parents’ consent, the school may seek professional advice, eg, Behaviour Support Team (BST), Pupil Personal Development Services, Social Services etc.

2.  The school will use CCMS guidelines relating to the use of Reasonable Force and the CCMS ‘Scheme for the Suspension and Expulsion of Pupils’ to manage these extreme situations.

NON-TEACHING STAFF

At the start of each school year every effort will be made to update non-teaching staff on school policy.

·  The staff member will speak quietly to the child

·  A referral will be made to the class teacher, (this will be done quietly to avoid the pupil being humiliated)

·  The teacher will follow the staged approach where necessary

NB* In all disciplinary actions we believe that it is essential that the pupil understands fully that it is the behaviour which is not acceptable and not the pupil as a person.

Dealing with inappropriate behaviour with those pupils who are on the Code of Practice

Within the context of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (N.I) Order 2005, all staff recognise that pupils with SEN especially those related to SEBD may need our procedures to be adapted to avoid discrimination/less favourable treatment being shown to those pupils. These adaptations will be made as appropriate in individual situations.

In the event of a pupil being on the Code of Practice for behaviour management, eg, SEBD, the school will use reasonable adjustments in keeping with the SENDO legislation to deal with such pupils. These pupils will have an Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP) and risk assessment.

USE OF REASONABLE FORCE

Teachers have been made aware of:

·  CCMS policy on the use of Reasonable Force

·  Guidelines in the use of reasonable force provided by BST

·  ‘Tackling Violence Against Staff in School’ (teachers’ unions)

·  Regional Policy Framework on the use of Reasonable Force/Safe Handling (Joint ELB policy framework)

·  Support which is available from external agencies

CONCLUSION

We believe that by working together all stakeholders, SMT/teachers/CRAs/ lunchtime supervisors/parents/governors and pupils are consistently following the strategies outlined in our policy, we can meet the aspirations outlined in the Department of Education document “Pastoral Care in Schools Promoting Positive Behaviour”:

‘…all can work towards establishing an ethos and a learning environment which help promote and maintain affirmative relationships and positive behaviour, while at the same time learning to cope more effectively with the incidents of difficult and challenging behaviour which every teacher encounters from time to time’. June 2001