ST EDWARD’S CE ACADEMY CHEDDLETON (SEAC)

BEHAVIOUR PROCEDURES

These procedures have been drawn up after consultation with staff, governors and with the involvement of the children in the academy council and in classes.

Ethos of the school

At SEAC we aim to create a caring environment underpinned by strong Christian Values in which each person is valued as an individual and is encouraged to develop his/her full potential in all aspects of their life. We aim to encourage people to be everything they can be.

Our school motto supports this…

“Learning and caring together”

SEAC is a family of people who care for and respect one another. Everyone is valued and encouraged to develop their gifts and talents fully.

Together, we learn to love and we love to learn

It is our belief that all children are of equal value and that every child in school has the right to be taught without being interrupted or disturbed, and that all adults/teachers have the right to teach and work with children without having their authority or role undermined. In the school community, all children have a right to feel safe, secure, accepted and valued. The academy will ensure that right wherever possible.

Aims

The academy’s aims are based on our Christian values and are as follows:

  • We will nurture and encourage the development of a Christian ethos of life, community and society and will foster the British values of respect, honesty, truth and kindness, cooperation and tolerance
  • We will provide a stimulating, happy, safe and secure environmentwhere children are encouraged, not discouraged, where mistakes are acknowledged, and seen as opportunities for learning; where differences are respected not ridiculed; where individuals take responsibility for their own actions
  • We will foster a child’s intellectual, physical, cultural, social, moral and spiritual development
  • We will support the development of a child’s self-esteem and growth mind-set
  • We will strive to develop a meaningful partnership between pupils, parents, staff, governors and the community
  • We will teach a rich, broad and balanced curriculum
  • We will encourage the development of mutual respect and trust
  • We will enable and empower everybody to achieve his or her God given potential and enjoy learning
  • We will maintain consistent, high standards for behaviour management throughout the academy; ensuring that every member of the academy behaves with consideration and care for others

Objectives

Our children will:

  • respect everyone
  • observe, value and follow high standards of behaviour
  • move around the academy safely and quietly
  • be considerate of the needs of other people
  • develop responsibility for and management of their own behaviour
  • be given opportunities to contribute towards the drawing up of rules/codes of conduct for their own classes
  • show an understanding of how to fix their problems

Rationale and School Rules

We aim to make our academy a happy, caring community where children are valued and are encouraged to be the best they can be. In order to function as a caring community, we encourage children to consider the health, safety and feelings of others.

Good discipline and standards of behaviour are key features of a successful academy. They encourage children’s sense of security and well-being as well as facilitating effective teaching and learning. We believe that a clear, shared understanding of the academy aims is a necessity for the effectiveness of these behaviour procedures.

We emphasise the positive aspects of behaviour management and keep “rules” to a few. These are:

Do your best

Use your manners

Caring and kind

Keep safe

The children remember the rules using the acronym DUCK, and each rule is explored with the children further as they move through the school to ensure that they understand their breadth and practical application and the core Christian values that underpin each one.

Rewards

It is our firm belief that children naturally respond to praise and encouragement and want to please their parents/carers/teachers. Praise creates a positive self-image in a child, not only helping them to feel good about themselves, but also empowering them with self-belief and confidence and encouraging them to treat others in a similar fashion.

We base our approach to behaviour management upon a range of positive rewards, which are given regularly, publicly, are specific and understood and follow the desired positive behaviour.

Sanctions are used where necessary and are appropriate to the child and the behaviour that has taken place.

General Classroom Awards for Behaviour

  • regular verbal praise
  • stickers, smiley faces and written praise
  • Principal stickers
  • kind hearts, helping hands and good manners certificates
  • from Reception onwards, achievement stamps are earned for smiley faces within work when extra effort/outstanding achievement is shown
  • pupil of the day/week with the class mascot/certificate sent home
  • move up on behaviour chart is linked to House points – see below

Class Behaviour Chart

Within each class there is a chart displaying the names of all the children. The chart has different coloured boxes – red, amber, yellow, green and gold. There are slight adaptations for children in Nursery and Reception. All children start their day on yellow. The children are rewarded for good displays of behaviour or work by a “move up” on the chart and a house point. If they are at gold at the end of the day a certificate/gold sticker will be sent home. They can however be moved down on the chart if their behaviour impedes their own or others’ learning. If the child moves down to amber this acts as a visual and verbal warning. If the child moves down to red, their name is noted and an amount of time is taken off their ‘golden time’ within the class. The amount of time depends on the age and Key Stage and the severity of the behaviour. This will be discussed with the child. The chart is reset every morning giving each child a fresh start.

Classes also have “WOW Walls” where excellent examples of work are displayed and celebrated.

Celebration Awards

Children receive Gold Certificates for a piece of work or behaviour which is of a high standard or shows significant improvement. This is awarded in front of the school and parents are invited to the weekly Celebration Worship. The recipient also receives a special treat from the Principal’s treat box. It is ensured that all children get at least one opportunity to shine in this way over the year. The certificates are displayed for a week on a celebration board in the hall and then sent home for parents to see.

DUCK Awards are given in Celebration Worship each week by the Principal for good behaviour and comprise of a certificate and a toy duck to keep. These are also displayed for the week on a special DUCK Award Board in the hall.

Children’s achievement outside of school are also celebrated in this assembly to boost self-esteem and emphasise that valuable talents and abilities can be developed in all sorts of ways.

Lunchtime Awards

At lunchtime, supervisors encourage good relationships and behaviour and award housepoints which are added to scores on a weekly basis.Each day they can give 1 disc (representing a house point) to a child in each class.

House points

Children are split into four groups and put into houses Wedgewood, Bridgewater, Morris and Cliffe based on artists from the local area. Siblings will be put into the same house. Each class will have a display that shows photos of each child in their house. In the centre will be the points accrued colour coordinated to match the house shield.

Winning teams at the end of each term will be rewarded!

House Points

Wedgewood / Bridgewater
Morris / Cliffe

Behaviour Support and Development

At SEAC it is our priority to help and support children in learning to manage their behaviour appropriately to the benefit of themselves, their community and beyond. To that end we build opportunities into the curriculum to teach the children about feelings, values, rules, responsibility and care for themselves and others. This is often through subjects such as PHSCE (Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Studies) and RE; through collective worship and Circle Time sessions.

In Circle Time children are encouraged to develop class relationships, consider real life, relevant problems and discuss appropriate strategies of solving the in an age appropriate manner. Where there are particular needs within a class, teachers use specific learning materials with individuals, groups or the whole class to develop desired understanding and behaviours, e.g. “SEAL” (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) and “Tempersaurus”.

We are a “Dyslexia Friendly” School and understand that sometimes a child’s special educational need can directly lead to behavioural difficulties. Our learning environment is both fully inclusive and Dyslexia Friendly and we respond to each event with this in mind.

Sanctions

We expect all children to follow instructions in order to keep everyone safe and secure within the academy. We also expect children to respect that the academy is a place in which they are educated; that everyone is entitled to learn and make the best progress possible. When children choose not to follow the academy rules then a system of sanctions is applied.

We make every effort to ensure that sanctions are applied calmly, fairly and consistently. Quiet, private reprimands are often more effective than public ones, although we recognise the need toensure that the child in question does not find the individual attention rewarding.

Careful consideration is also given to those children on the SEND register as there may be particular difficulties causing issues such as language and processing issues or Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Autism etc.).

To ensure consistency of response to misbehaviour at SEAC, all staff adhere to the guidelines for behaviour management – that can be found in Appendix 1.

Exclusions

If poor behaviour escalates or is deemed to pose a riskto children or staff the Principal or Vice Principals (with permission)may exclude the child for a number of days. The length of the exclusion will depend upon the severity of the behaviour or risk.In this event, the Principal or VP’s will inform the parent as soon as possible and relevant legal paperwork is completedand delivered to the parent, outlining the dates of and reason for the exclusion, plus sources of further support and information. Before the child returns to school, a meeting is held with the parent to agree re-integration procedures and any resulting changes in behaviour management of the child to comply with safeguarding. The academy notifies the local authority Inclusion Officer and the Chair of Governors and this exclusion is placed upon the child’s records.

For extreme behaviours the Principal has the power to permanently exclude a pupil from the academy with the approval of the governors.

Individual behaviour Plans/Special Arrangements

In cases where individual children experience difficulty in regularly behaving as we would wish them to, the child will need to be considered for more tailored support through an Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP).

Step1

The SENDCo, class teacher and TA encourage the parent to participate, saying what they have noticed at home, or any patterns that they have observed. The child is reassured that sometimes people can struggle with behaviours just as some children struggle with maths or spellings but there are “strategies” that can be learned to help. They are also reassured that they are not the only ones to struggle with things.

From this meeting, up to 3 specific behavioural targets are created with the child, strategies to support the development of the desired behaviour are agreed, landmark achievements are set with appropriate home and school rewards; an appropriate way of measuring and communicating the achievement is also agreed such as a behavioural diary, a daily chart, as sticker chart etc.

The programme and IBP are then drawn up and shared with the parent. This outlines thespecific targets, the behavioural supports and procedures, including key peoplewho the child can refer to and any other programmes of behavioural intervention that may be accessed e.g. “Tempersaurus” or “SEAL”.

All stakeholders should sign it and the SEND team is issued with a copy in order to ensure that it is regularly monitored.

Step 2

If the behaviour still causes problems then the SENDCo will observe the child in the class and in the yard and make further recommendations.

Step 3

The teacher/TA monitors the effectiveness of the IBP and behaviour of the child is fed back to the SENDCo and parents weekly. IBPs are reviewed by the SEND team each half term and adjusted as required, ensuring that all stakeholders are kept fully informed/involved.

Step4

If the behaviour does not improve then outside agencies will be approached for support.

Step 5

If the behaviour still does not improve, the Principal, Vice principals, SENDCo, parents and child (if possible) will discuss further necessary actions. Appropriate guidelines will be followed and advice from Staffordshire Inclusion officer may be sought.

Restrictive Physical Intervention with Pupils

In specific , limited circumstances (guidance from the DfE), a child may need to be moved to an area of safety or held to prevent further harm. These circumstances are as follows:

  • where a pupil’s behaviour is at risk of causing injury to him/herself
  • where a pupil’s behaviour is likely to cause injury to other (adults or children)
  • where a pupil’s behaviour is likely to cause serious risk of damage to property

This academy used the Staffordshire Policy and Guidance for Restrictive Physical Intervention. All staff have received training in the correct use of this supportive strategy. All paperwork must be completed, given to the Principal and logged on SIMS.

All adults will be made aware of these procedures so that they can ensure that the child is handled in a consistent way across the academy.

Parents will be informed when a restrictive physical intervention has been necessary.

Monitoring and Review

This policy will be regularly monitored and reviewed.

The effectiveness of the policy will be evaluated annually by the members of staff responsible for Behaviour and the governing body.

Members of staff responsible for Behaviour: Mrs E. Clifford, Mrs A.Hordern, Mrs A.Johnson, Miss D Rawle, Mrs T.Ward

Date of policy: December 2017

Date for review of policy: Autumn term 2018

Appendix 1 - Managing Misbehaviour

Dealing with episodes of Anger / Misbehaviour in school – Teachers / TA’s / Other adults in school

If a child becomes angry

  • speak calmly without touching
  • remind them of the need to calm down , follow rules and meet targets
  • instruct other children to ignore the behaviour and continue as normal, whilst avoiding contact with the child
  • remove other children from the area by an adult if they are perceived to be in danger of any harm or distress
  • supervise and reassure children that this is to allow the child to calm down without distraction and that everything is ok
  • if the child is hitting or throwing any objects such as pencils or tables, any moveable objects are safely removed to minimise harm
  • if needed you may restrict the child in compliance with the Staffordshire Restrictive Physical Intervention Policy and the Guidance on Restrictive Physical Intervention ensuring that only the minimum necessary contact/restraint is used and only if you have received training.
  • if the child will not comply with calm down procedures, home will be contacted to collect them
  • If you need significant support, send a sensible child to fetch another adult!