Climatefor Learning (Sanctions) at Avanti House School

A Guide for Students, Staff and Parents

The OfSTED Framework September 2014

(To be updated September 2015)

Grade descriptors – The behaviour and safety of pupils at the school Outstanding (1)
Pupils consistently display a thirst for knowledge and understanding and a love of learning, including when being taught as a whole class or working on their own or in small groups. This has a very strong impact on their progress in lessons.
Pupils’ attitudes to learning are of an equally high standard across subjects, years and classes and with different staff. Incidences of low-level disruption in lessons are extremely rare.
Parents, staff and pupils are unreservedly positive about both behaviour and safety. Pupils are keenly aware how good attitudes and behaviour contribute to school life, adult life and work.
Pupils’ behaviour outside lessons is impeccable. Pupils’ pride in the school is shown by their excellent conduct, manners and punctuality.
Pupils are fully aware of different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying, and actively try to prevent it from occurring. Bullying and derogatory or aggressive language in all their forms are very rare and dealt with highly effectively.
Pupils’ excellent conduct and behaviour reflects the school’s effective strategies to promote high standards; this makes a strong contribution to an exceptionally positive climate for learning. There are excellent improvements in behaviour over time for individuals or groups with particular behaviour needs.
All groups of pupils are safe and feel safe in school and at alternative provision placements at all times. They understand very clearly what constitutes unsafe situations and are highly aware of how to keep themselves and others safe in different situations, including in relation to e-safety.

Climatefor Learningat Avanti House School

A Guide for Students, Staff and Parents

Introduction

At Avanti House School we have a strong ethos rooted in the Hindu faith. We focus on three areas; excellence, virtue and devotion.

To achieve educational excellence learners and teachers must be happy and fulfilled and experience a broad and challenging curriculum focused on core skills and subjects. Staff have high expectations, and recognise that each child is both uniquely gifted and has identifiable areas for improvement.

All staff at Avanti House strive to provide opportunities for our students to form a strong character by challenging them to reflect, think for themselves, explore the links between character and conduct, develop moral literacy and make their own well-informed, lifestyle choices. This reflective part of a young person’s education is a core part of how we believe we should present ourselves and behave within both the school and wider community.

In providing a clean, uncluttered and sustainable learning environment that supports the school’s emphasis on mindfulness we also ensure the school is a caring, nurturing place to be where learners thrive and learning is the key focus.Kindness, courtesy and respect as well as opportunities for self-discovery and spiritual exploration exist at Avanti House because these enable every member of our community to feel valued and thus make a positive contribution.

Our expectations are high because this is crucial for success and we know our students can meet them. The B4L system is one that has been tried and tested in numerous schools. This system and the boundaries, rules and consequences within it are clear thus enabling all students to make the right choices every day so that distraction and disruption free learning is the norm.

At school, in every situation where there are rules, students either choose to follow them or they make a choice to break them and face the consequences. The rules have to be clear and the consequences need to be consistent for this to work and that is our aim in implementing this system.

The Behaviour Working Group

May 2015

The Consequences in our Behaviour for Learning (Sanctions)system:

C1:

A warning, firmly given. This is a signal that a student’s behaviour is unacceptable and needs to be changed.
For a C1, the student’s name will be listed on the whiteboard but with no further problems, no further action is taken.
The teacher makes a record of any student receiving a C1 in their lesson and shares this with their Head of Department / Faculty.

C1 consequences are only used in lessons to refocus students on learning as firmly and as quickly as possible.No further action is taken provided that they return to behaviour that is consistently within the rules.

C2C:

A 20minute detention taken the same day.
If a student has already received a C2C for the same day the detention must be served the following day.
Teaching & support staff in lessons can issue a C2C.
The C2C is recorded in the student’s planner.
C2C detentions are sat in the department / faculty area.

/ C2P:

A 20 minute detention taken the same day.
If a student has already received a C2P for the same day the detention must be served the following day.
Any member of staff can issue a C2P.
The C2P is recorded in the student’s planner.
C2P detentions are sat in the designated detention room.

C2 consequences and detentions are logged in the central school system, which is monitored by Form Tutors and Heads of Year.

C3:

If a student receives more than one C2C / C2Ps in a week or if 1R is called they will receive a C3.
A 1 hour school detention taken on a Friday after school in total silence, supervised by senior members of staff.
This will be logged in our central system.
Parents will be sent a text message or email to inform them that a C3 detention has been given.
We will assume that parents have received the message we send and we expect students to attend detention instead of any other activity without negotiation.

C4:

If a student receives more than two C3s in a half term they will receive a C4.
Supervised break and lunchtime equal in number with the number of C3’s already received.
A letter / email home from the Deputy Principal and the student’s Head of Year.

C5:

Persistent C4s will resultin a C5. Students may receive a C5 for serious incidents where behaviour is non-negotiable.
Seclusion from lessons under strict supervision.
Parents will be notified of a C5 by letter /email home on the same day.
Students will be required to reflect on their actions, set behaviour target(s), work in silence and complete set work.
This is a very serious sanction. It signifies that the student has made choices that are unacceptable.
Misbehaviour whilst secluded may lead to a fixed term exclusion.
A discussion will be held with the student at the end of their seclusion to discuss their target(s) and determine they are ready to return to circulation and respect the privilege of wearing the Avanti House uniform.

C3, C4, C5 and 1R consequences and detentions are logged in the central school system, which is monitored by SLT.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1st Response will be called to attend to any student who disrupts learning persistently or significantly.
If 1R is called the student will likely receive a C3.
The student may be removed from the classroom and secluded for a period of time to reflect on their actions.
If removed from the classroom they will only return to lessons that day if they are deemed ready to follow all instructions without further disruption.
Any student for whom 1R is called more than once on a given day will not return to lessons on that day.

In the Classroom

Students are expected to follow these rules in every lesson:

Be on time, organised and ready for learning
Respond promptly to the signal for attention
Follow instructions from staff when given
Remain on task as directed and avoid distraction
Be respectful and listen when others are speaking

Teaching staff will explain their signal for attention to their students and will make it clear what each task is as the lesson progresses.

Teaching staff will use the C1 and C2 sanctions if students do not follow these rules.

If students break the following rules, they will be given an automatic C2C Detention without warning:

Arrive on time:

This means exactly on time for morning registration, collective worship, tutor time (Reflection), and all lessons. Should a class be dismissed late the teacher will inform the teacher of the subsequent lesson in order that incorrect detentions are not set.

Be equipped:

This includes a pen, a pencil, a green pen, the exercise book and subject specialist equipment for the lesson and student planner.

Students can borrow a standard pencil case and temporary planner at student reception before school without a consequence on a one-off occasion. Repeated borrowing within a week or failure to return the pencil case will lead to a C3 detention.

Additional rules to note:

No toilet breaks are allowed during lessons unless a student has been issued with a Toilet Card by prior agreement between home and school.

Water is allowed to be drunk during lessons(except in laboratories / DT workshops for H&S reasons) but no students are allowed to leave the lesson to fill their bottles, except as directed in PE / Dance. Water is freely available during break and lunchtime and students should have an appropriately sized bottle to fill at these times.

No use of electronic devices in lessons without explicit permission from teaching staffalthough from next year this will be permitted, but strictly following the 2015-16 ‘BYOD’ policy. The consequence for using phones and other devices without permission is a C3 and confiscation of the item. We will only return the items to parents. If students choose to break this rule, they have made a choice to cause their parents the inconvenience of attending school to collect the item. Refusal to cooperate with a confiscation will result in a C4 Isolation.

Tipp-Ex (or other similar correction fluids or tapes) are not allowed as any errors in work should be neatly crossed through.Staff will issue an automatic C2C and inform the HOD and student’s Form Tutor via email.

Around school:

Around school, any member of staff has the authority to enforce the rules by giving students an automatic C2P detention.

These are the rules:

Wear full uniform correctly including ties, top buttons, shirts and shoes.
Walk purposefully without running.
Use private voices, without shouting.
No eating or drinking except outside or in the dining hall.
No chewing gum.
No physical contact or games.
No electronic devices or headphones visible during school hours on school premises. (Except as permitted within the prevailing BYOD Policy)
No disturbance to lessons through windows or doors.

In the Dining Room, Playground and Outside the School:

Again, the consequence for breaking these rules is a C2P detention.

These are the rules:

No littering.
Clear away all debris, plates and cutlery after using the dining room.
No pushing-in, in the lunch queues.
Follow all instructions from members of staff without argument.
No electronic devices or headphones visible during school hours on school premises. (Except as permitted within the prevailing BYOD Policy)
Use private voices, without shouting, in residential areas.
Cross roads in a safe, disciplined manner.
No spitting in the street.

Serious incidents or failure to cooperate will be dealt with via a C3, C4 or C5.

Serious Offences:

In line with the existing school Code of Conduct, there are a number of behaviours that are non-negotiable and will likely be dealt with by issuing a C5or a Fixed Term Exclusion.

These include but are not limited to:

Blatant defiance, including walking away when being spoken to by any member of staff.
Violence or threatening behaviour of any kind.
Abusive language to any staff member.
Racist, sexist or homophobic language.
Harassment or bullying including cyber-bullying (initiated in or out of school).
Anti-social behaviour in or out of the school grounds including in the community and on public transport systems. This includes but is not limited to spitting, graffiti, vandalism.
Damage to property or theft.
Possession of prohibited / illegal items.

Any act in public that brings the school into disrepute, any crime relating to violence, drugs or carrying weapons, is likely to result in permanent exclusion.

AHS Consequences flowchart:

Avanti House BWP May 2015 Page 1 of 7