BEHAVIOUR
POLICY
This policy was updated: September 2016
This policy will be reviewed: September 2017
Statutory policy: Yes
Source: School
Our School Vision
Together, the best that we can be.
Our School Mission
Reflecting Christian Values expressed in all aspects of the school’s life displaying acceptance and mutual respect.
Caring and Nurturing with children and adults having high expectations, celebrating success and making their contribution to a safe, fun, positive and stimulating environment.
Exceptional Children who are encouraged to make exceptional progress in academic, creative, moral, social and spiritual development and to become lifelong learners.
Partnerships with strong relationships between children, families, staff, governors, the church and the community as a whole.
1 Aims and expectations
1.1 It is a primary aim of our school that every member of the school community feels valued and respected, and that each person is treated fairly and well. We are a caring community, whose values are built on mutual trust and respect for all. The school behaviour policy is therefore designed to encourage the way in which all members of the school can live and work together in a supportive way. It aims to promote an environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure.
1.2 Ravenshead C of E Primary has a set of ‘Ravenshead Rules’ (see Appendix 1), but the primary aim of the behaviour policy is not a system to enforce them. It is a means of promoting good relationships, so that children and staff can work together with the common purpose of helping everyone to learn. This policy supports the school community in aiming to allow everyone to work together in an effective and considerate way.
1.3 The school expects every member of the school community to behave in a considerate way towards others.
1.4 We aim to treat all children fairly and apply this behaviour policy in a consistent way.
1.5 This policy aims to help children to grow in a safe and secure environment, and to become positive, responsible and increasingly independent members of the school community.
1.6 The school rewards good behaviour, as it believes that this will develop an ethos of kindness and co-operation. This policy is designed to promote good behaviour, rather than merely deter anti-social behaviour.
1.7 The school has adopted a ‘Growth Mindset’ approach which encourages children to always try their best and to not be afraid of failure (as it is only by failing that we learn). Children are awarded Gerald the Giraffe to sit on their desk if they have persevered and demonstrated a growth mindset.
2 Rewards and punishments
2.1 We praise and reward children for good behaviour in a variety of ways:
· teachers congratulate children;
· teachers give children class points;
· each week we nominate a child from each class to receive an Achievement certificate, based on a specific area;
· each week in the Achievement assembly, a class in each key stage will receive a ‘Class of the Week’ certificate (for the highest number of class points earnt e.g. for going into assembly well, lining up well at playtime) as well as a trophy and school mascot to keep in their classroom for the week;
· each term the class point winner (one in each key stage) will receive £5 per pupil for a ‘treat’;
· Each week we nominate a child from each class to receive a reward in Achievement Assembly for either reading, writing or maths (they receive a bookmark, pencil or ruler respectively);
· we distribute green cards to children either for consistent good work or behaviour, or to acknowledge outstanding effort or acts of kindness in school;
· ten green cards is awarded with a sticker in a chart in their personal organiser;
· green cards from 20 upwards can be exchanged at the ‘Green Card Shop’;
· each week in Achievement Assembly, the person with the most green cards in their class that week receives either a badge or a pencil;
· children are awarded Gerald the Giraffe for demonstrating a growth mindset and persevering;
· in Years 1 and 2, children are given ‘Golden Time’ as a reward for following the school rules and working hard.
2.2 The school acknowledges all the efforts and achievements of children, both in and out of school by the Roll of Honour which is read out in Achievement assembly each week and the names of the children are included in the weekly newsletter. Nominations for the Roll of Honour can be made by parents/carers by completing the Roll of Honour form at the main school office.
2.3 The school employs a number of sanctions to enforce the school rules, and to ensure a safe and positive learning environment. We employ each sanction appropriately in each individual situation.
Dealing with inappropriate behaviour
1. Staff will usually give a child a verbal warning first dependant on the seriousness of the event.
In Years 1 and 2, a child will lose 5 minutes of their Golden Time if they have not taken heed of the verbal warning they have been given. This is for less serious incidences of inappropriate behaviour, for example not getting on with their work in class, or not doing the right thing at the right time. All children begin the week with 30 minutes of Golden Time (the children begin on the sunshine) and lose 5 minutes of their time each time they break a school rule (they move down onto the clouds). On a Friday, children can then select from a range of activities during Golden Time. It may be the case, in some instances, that children lose all of their Golden Time.
2. The Yellow Card (or loss of Golden Time in Years 1 and 2)
A yellow card will be issued if a child breaks the ‘Ravenshead Rules’ (see Appendix 1). However physical violence, abusive language, lying would result in a red card (or depending on the seriousness of the incident, a more severe sanction such as being put onto report, removal of privileges, removal from school events or an exclusion for a fixed period). A yellow card will stay up for a week in both Key Stages. If a child in Year 1 or 2 receives a yellow card, they will automatically lose 10 minutes of their Golden Time.
3. The Red card
A red card will be issued if a child has already received a yellow card and commits another offence which breaks ‘Ravenshead Rules’.
Red cards will also be issued immediately for the reasons mentioned above.
For Keystage 2 children, a red card results in the child missing Friday morning playtime. They will stay inside with the Head of Pupils and Personnel/Strategic Headteacher or Head of Teaching and Learning and complete a piece of work. In Key Stage 2, if a child receives a second red card within the same week, they will miss their next playtime and will still attend the Friday detention (for their original red card).
For Keystage 1 children, a red card results in the child missing the next break time and they sit outside the Strategic Headteacher’s Office. In Years 1 and 2, if they receive a red card after last break time on Friday, they lose 15 minutes of their Golden Time instead of missing a break time so that they can start afresh on Monday.
Detentions are recorded and monitored termly per child each half term.
Each teacher will keep a record of red/yellow cards.
4. Removal from Class
If children persistently hinder the learning of others, the child will be sent to an alternative year group class to continue with their work.
At times, to ensure the safety of the rest of the class, the role of the teacher may be to remove a pupil from a lesson. This may include the use of reasonable force by staff. Designated staff are trained in the manual handling of children through Nottinghamshire County Council run courses when necessary.
Lunchtimes
A midday supervisor will discuss with the class teacher whether yellow and red cards should be issued when inappropriate behaviour occurs during the lunchtime session. The class teacher will then issue a red or yellow card if this is deemed appropriate. If lunchtime behaviour continues to be an issue, children may be kept inside at lunchtime for a specified period of time. If after this lunchtime behavior remains an issue, parents/carers may be contacted and asked to collect their children for lunch each day. This would be for a fixed period of time and would be logged as a half-day exclusion. In this instance, the formal process for exclusion will be followed (in line with the school Exclusion Policy – ask at the main office for a copy of this). After 10 lunchtime exclusions, governors and the Local Authority would be informed.
The Involvement of Parents/Carers
* 1 red card in a term Note in child’s organiser
* 2 red cards in a term Phone call home
* 3 red cards in a term Meeting with class teacher
* 4 red cards in a term Meeting with the Head of Pupils and Personnel
If, after a meeting with the Head of Pupils and Personnel, the measures put into place do not address the inappropriate behaviour, parents/carers may be invited to attend a further meeting with the Strategic Headteacher.
Parent/carers will also be informed if one incident is deemed to be of a serious nature. They will also be contacted should children receive yellow cards on a regular basis.
Further sanctions may take place depending on the nature of the incident. These may include withdrawal of privileges, for example not attending after school clubs, school discos, representing the school in matches, especially if other children’s well-being would be affected. In these cases, parents/carers may lose any deposit that they have paid for clubs (this is to cover costs incurred by the school as a result of booking fees, coach places).
For school trips, reasonable adjustments may have to be made in order to ensure that a child’s behaviour will not prevent others from having a good time. In these instances, a child’s parents/carers will be informed of the measures being put into place.
A child may be put on report after five red cards (after careful consideration of all of the circumstances).
Exclusion
If a child’s behaviour shows no improvement after all available options to the school have been used and all other procedures followed, then a child may be excluded for a fixed term.
A child will also receive fixed term exclusion if the incident in the opinion of the Strategic Headteacher is serious enough for the child to be immediately excluded without prior strategies being employed. Examples of this include physical violence to a member of staff or pupil or extensive vandalism to school property.
Recording, Monitoring and Evaluating Behaviour
Incidents of disruptive behaviour are recorded using the procedures outlined. These records can be used to inform the child or children involved in such incidents, other colleagues, parents/ carers and other interested parties of an individual’s poor behaviour when necessary.
The guidelines will be reviewed regularly by all staff. The closer monitoring of the behaviour process will be recorded by the Head of Pupils and Personnel and reported to staff and governors. The policy will be reviewed annually.
2.4 The class teacher discusses the Ravenshead Rules with each class at the beginning of the Autumn term during the first week. These will be in the child’s organiser and on every classroom wall. In this way, every child in the school knows the standard of behaviour that we expect in our school. If there are incidents of anti-social behaviour, the class teacher discusses these with the whole class during ‘circle time’ or PSHE lessons.
2.5 The school does not tolerate bullying of any kind. If we discover that an act of bullying or intimidation has taken place, we act immediately to stop any further occurrences of such behaviour. While it is very difficult to eradicate bullying, we do everything in our power to ensure that all children attend school free from fear. The school covers issues of bullying through assemblies and PSHE lessons. The school also takes part in Anti-bullying week. For further details on how the school will deal with bullying incidents, please refer to the Anti-bullying policy which is available on the school website www.ravensheadcofe.co.uk or from the main school office.
2.6 All members of staff are aware of the regulations regarding the use of force by teachers, as set out in DfE Circular 10/98, relating to section 550A of the Education Act 1996: The Use of Force to Control or Restrain Pupils. Teachers in our school do not hit, push or slap children. Staff only intervene physically to restrain children or to prevent injury to a child, or if a child is in danger of hurting him/herself. The actions that we take are in line with government guidelines on the restraint of children.
2.7 There is a nominated governor for behaviour and they will be informed of children whose ongoing behaviour is causing concern. A behaviour summary providing an overview and analysis of the number of red cards issued and what they were issued for will be given termly to the governors. Discussions as to how the number of red cards can be reduced or what the school is doing to support individual children regularly obtaining red cards then takes place. The school continually reviews the strategies in place and tailor makes programs when necessary (in conjunction with parents), for example individual behaviour plans or reward charts in order to best support pupils’ good behaviour and to reduce the number of red cards being received.