HALLAM FIELDSJUNIORSCHOOL

BEHAVIOUR AND DISCIPLINE POLICY

We aim to be:

“A happy, caring school, providing opportunities so that each child can feel valued and achieve their academic and personal potential in a positive and secure working environment.”

At Hallam Fields our approach to promoting good behaviour is through positive behaviour management.

We aim to develop in our children a sense of self-discipline and an acceptance of responsibility for their own actions.

It is important that:

  1. Each member of staff follows this agreed behaviour and discipline policy.
  1. There is consistency of expectation and approach throughout the school.
  1. Good behaviour is reinforced by reward such as praise, to create a positive climate.
  1. Children, Parents and all Staff are aware of the expectations within the school and are involved as necessary.

SCHOOL CODE OF CONDUCT

The Governors and staff of the school have agreed the following code of conduct.

EACH CHILD WITHIN THE SCHOOL IS EXPECTED TO SHOW CARE AND CONSIDERATION FOR THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND ALL THE PEOPLE IN IT.

This means that children should:

  1. Always try to appreciate the views of others.
  1. In class, make it as easy as possible for everyone to learn and for the teacher to teach.
  1. Move calmly and quietly about the school.
  1. Speak politely to EVERYONE.
  1. Be silent whenever required to be.
  1. Care for the school by keeping it clean and tidy, so that it is a welcoming place we can all be proud of, and respecting property.
  1. Behave well out of school either walking locally or with a school group. Remember the school’s reputation depends upon the way each child behaves.

Each child has a copy of the “Behaviour at School” booklet. This outlines the types of behaviour that are expected during the various times of the school day.

We discuss with our classes the code of conduct for the classroom based on the values held by the school. Our rules are expressed in a clear, concise way which will be displayed in classrooms, understood and applied.

All children are issued with a Behaviour at School Booklet when they join the school. This is discussed with them so that they know what is acceptable and expected of them. (See Appendix 1)

We aim to use rewards and sanctions consistently throughout the school in order to reinforce or modify behaviour.

REWARDS

Rewards should be used to promote and encourage positive behaviour. Rewards should be given regularly for good work, manners, attitude etc, and all staff should use this in and around school.

Merits

The whole school reward system is based on merits. Children collect merits towards certificates. ALL members of staff are responsible for giving merits to children as good behaviour and attitude should be promoted around school as well as in the classroom. All staff have merit cards which they can issue to children whilst on playground duty, or when walking around school. It is important that children know what they are receiving the merit for. Children should take the card to their class teacher who will ask them what they have received it for and add the merit to their card.

Children will collect their merits towards the following certificates which will be presented in assembly. It is the expectation that most children will all receive gold by the end of the year.

  • 50 merits - Bronze Certificate
  • 100 merits - Silver Certificate
  • 150 merits - Gold Certificate
  • 200 merits - Super Gold Certificate

Once children receive above this they will receive a letter home and other certificates as appropriate.

Headteacher’s Awards

Children who have produced a ‘good’ piece of work should be sent to the headteacher to share their work. The level of work will differ due to the child’s ability, and children could be sent for trying hard with a particular element of their work even if it is not a polished piece. It is important that the child is clear why they are being sent, or are sent with a note or a friend. Children will receive a sticker, and also have a certificate given out in assembly with a shield to display on the board.

There is an expectation that ALL children should receive a headteacher’s award in a year, and as such teachers should keep a record of those sent.

Star of the Week

Each week in Friday’s achievement assembly all staff will reveal their star of the week. This could be for anything from in the classroom or around school that week. Staff will explain why they have picked that child. Star of the Week certificates should be completed and sent to the office in the register on Friday morning so that they can have a photocopy taken for the hall display and be ready for the assembly.

Behaviour Awards

Behaviour awards are given regularly throughout the year voted for by the mini leaders for good behaviour during lunchtimes with games played and also from the mid-day supervisors.

In addition to these whole school systems the following are used in classes and around school;

  • Verbal praise.
  • Smiley stamps / stickers etc.
  • Marking – within class the marking will be used to build on success.
  • Special Jobs and Responsibilities such as helping the class teacher or being appointed as a monitor. The expectation for the children’s behaviour will be extremely high.
  • Whole class reward.
  • Good work shown to other teachers.
  • Text message sent by the class teacher or member of SLT to parents.

SANCTIONS

If a child breaks the school or classroom code of conduct, there will be a sanction.

It is the school’s belief that sanctions consistently and firmly applied will result in boundaries being clearly drawn and therefore good behaviour being promoted.

Stage 1

Praising others

Praise those children sitting nearby showing appropriate behaviour in class.

Non verbal

A glare, shake of the head, wave of the finger etc.

Verbal

A reminder of classroom rules.

Verbal warning

A clear message. “X”, if you carry on with “Y” behaviour then “Z” will happen to you.

Stage 2

Time-out

Child asked to move from their seat to another where they will have a clear explanation of the behaviour required for them to return to their original seat.

Break or lunchtime detention with class teacher

The child will miss some or all of their breaktime or lunchtime to complete work or reflect on their behaviour. (It is important that the child still has adequate time to eat and for a toilet break).

Parents involved

Class teacher to contact parents to discuss issues with behaviour and try to work together on what the cause of the behaviour might be.

Individual behaviour card set up

Child, class teacher and parent set up behaviour card. There should be a clear and achievable target set per day / week and a reward determined of merits, time allocation to do something or a favourite activity (either at school or home as agreed with parent)

Stage 3

Referral to Mr O’Connell, Mrs Campbell or Miss Sutton

Appropriate sanctions from:

  • Child to work in another class for an agreed period.
  • Loss of free time eg. Playtime (it may be appropriate for the child to take break with other year groups instead of their own)
  • Written apology.

Stage 4

Referral to Mr Brown / Mr O’Connell

For certain behaviours that are serious or persistent a child will be referred directly to Mr Brown / Mr O’Connell. (This can include behaviour outside of school which involves other pupils or where a complaint has been made about a child in school reflecting badly on the school). This will be done when one or more of the following have been displayed.

  • Serious fighting.
  • Bullying behaviour including racism.
  • Bad language directed at an adult.
  • Defiance.
  • Damaging school’s or other’s property.

If is felt that due to the seriousness of these behaviours, the parents will be contacted at this stage.

Appropriate sanctions;

An internal exclusion - where a child will be working away from the class for a day.

Detention during or after school

Letter of apology

Longer term removal of playtimes / dinnertimes

Detentions outside school hours

29. School staff should not issue a detention where they know that doing so would compromise a child's safety. When ensuring that a detention outside school hours is reasonable, staff issuing the detention should consider the following points:

  • Whether the detention is likely to put the pupil at risk.
  • Whether the pupil has known caring responsibilities which mean that the detention is unreasonable.
  • Whether the parents ought to be informed of the detention. In many cases it will be necessary to do so, but this will depend on the circumstances. For instance, notice may not be necessary for a short after school detention where the pupil can get home safely.
  • Whether suitable travel arrangements can be made by the parent for the pupil. It does not matter if making these arrangements is inconvenient for the parent.

(Extract from DFE ‘Behaviour and discipline in schools – A guide for head teachers and school staff’ 2012)

Stage 5

Exclusion (Fixed Term or Permanent)

On some rare occasions the Headteacher may feel that the formal process should be activated to remove the child from the school.

Exclusion may be fixed period or even permanent. For any exclusion information will be sought from the extranet (DCC) to ensure current guidelines and policies are followed.

In the case of any exclusions parents will be informed of the exclusion, usually via a phone call or meeting, but also in writing (see attached model letters). The chair of governors will be also informed of any exclusions, and all will be reported via the headteacher’s report to all governors.

The serious step of permanent exclusion is taken very rarely when all other strategies to modify behaviour have failed. Normally a parent would be made aware of their child’s behaviour before exclusion was considered. If a child is heading for exclusion then a strategy with agreed targets will have been agreed to try to avoid such action, and outside agencies will have been consulted and used where available.

PHYSICAL RESTRAINT

In exceptional circumstances staff may need to physically restrain a pupil in order to prevent him / her:

i)Injuring themselves or others.

ii)Causing damage to property.

iii)Committing what would be a criminal offence.

In such circumstances only the minimum “reasonable force” would be used.

It is school policy to follow Derbyshire County Council guidelines.

Any incident of this nature would be reported to the Headteacher, recorded in writing and the parent would be informed.

Power to use reasonable force

33. The legal provisions on school discipline also provide members of staff with the power to use reasonable force to prevent pupils committing an offence, injuring themselves or others or damaging property, and to maintain good order and discipline in the classroom.

34. Head teachers and authorised school staff may also use such force as is reasonable given the circumstances when conducting a search without consent for knives or weapons, alcohol, illegal drugs, stolen items, tobacco and cigarette papers, fireworks, pornographic images or articles that have been or could be used to commit an offence or cause harm. Force cannot be used to search for items banned under the school rules.

(Extract from DFE ‘Behaviour and discipline in schools – A guide for head teachers and school staff’ 2012)

SEARCHING PUPILS

If a pupil is believed to have an item which could be classed as dangerous or harming (either physically or for their well-being) a search is permitted. This should be carried out by at least two members of staff including ideally the headteacher or deputy headteacher (or member of SLT) and a member of staff known to the child such as class teacher or teaching assistant. All searches should be recorded and parents informed afterwards. Any item found such as weapons, illegal drugs, stolen items, or pornographic images involving children should be referred immediately to the police.

If there is suspicion that a pupil has any of the following items a search is permitted without consent.

Power to search without consent for “prohibited items”6 including:

  • knives and weapons
  • alcohol
  • illegal drugs
  • stolen items
  • tobacco and cigarette papers
  • fireworks
  • pornographic images
  • any article that has been or is likely to be used to commit an offence, cause personal injury or damage to property
  • any item banned by the school rules which has been identified in the rules as an item which may be searched for.

(Extract from DFE ‘Behaviour and discipline in schools – A guide for head teachers and school staff’ 2012)

RECORDING OF INCIDENTS

The school records any particular incidents of bad behaviour which are over and above the day to day norm. These will either be held by the class teacher, deputy headteacher or headteacher.

BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT

The LA has set up Behaviour Support Units. The Pupil Referral Units offer advice or strategies for dealing with certain children, or may accommodate for short periods.

CHILDREN ‘BEYOND’

Very occasionally some children may be ‘beyond’ normal incentives and sanctions.

They can often be confused with emotional or physical needs that have not been or are not being met. Sometimes home fails to provide any limits.

Consequently these children might be unable to recognise any of the normal boundaries of behaviour proposed by the school and they are too unhappy, angry or suffering from low self-esteem.

It is important to identify small achievable targets so they can experience some success. In the case of such a child, a special plan needs to be agreed which concentrates on one target of achievable behaviour which should be regularly monitored. In cases like this the child will be placed on School Action stage of the SEN procedures and the SENCO will be informed.

REVIEW

This policy will be reviewed annually.

Signed (Chair of RMC):______Date: ______

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