Rationale

This behaviour policy is designed to support the way in which all members of the school can live and work together in an environment in which everyone feels happy, safe and secure.

Aims

  • To maintain a positive ethos in school.
  • To maintain a safe, happy and productive working environment.
  • To help pupils to feel good about themselves and others.
  • To encourage pupils to co-operate with one another and with adults in school.
  • To minimise or prevent the occurrence of unacceptable behaviour and confrontations.
  • To help give pupils, staff, parents, guardians and governors a sense of direction and a feeling of common purpose.
  • To ensure that pupils show respect for the staff, each other, and people’s property, the staff and the school environment.

Desired Behaviour

In order to achieve these aims some basic rules have been drawn up. These form our Code of Conduct and apply throughout the school.

  • We respect ourselves and show respect to everyone in school.
  • We are responsible for ourselves and for our actions.
  • We always try to do our best in everything we do.
  • We are polite and well mannered to everyone in school.
  • We care for our environment.
  • We play where it is safe.
  • We walk in classrooms and moving around school.

Rewards System

Positive behaviour will be rewarded in the following way:

Smiles and praise for individuals doing the right thing. Staff will state what they are pleased with. Excellent work for a particular child will be recognised and celebrated by the class teacher and the rest of the class, when appropriate. Children may also be sent to show their work to other members of staff.

Tokens – children may be given tokens by any member of staff. These tokens will be collected within the class and once the accumulated total reaches 50 the whole class will be rewarded.

Merits - in the form of stamps which may be put on work or in planners for KS2 and stickers on a sticker chart in KS1 for KS1 to signify real effort. Merits will add up towards certificates which will be awarded in achievements assembly.

20 merits = bronze certificate

50 merits = silver certificate

100 merits = gold certificate

Staff support. A child may be sent to another member of staff in the triangle to reinforce praise – stars/stickers/tokens may be given at the discretion of the receiving teacher.

Letter home – at any time during the school year the Headteacher may send a letter to an individual child’s parents praising the child for a particular example of work or behaviour or for continuous excellent attitude to school.

Unacceptable Behaviour

We recognise that despite all our efforts to maintain a positive atmosphere some pupils will exhibit displays of unacceptable behaviour.

  • Showing disrespect to an adult in school.
  • Verbal intimidation of peers.
  • Misuse of property either school’s or another person’s.
  • The use of swear words or gestures.
  • Physical attacks on other children or adults in school.
  • Disrupting the education of other pupils.
  • Endangering the health and safety of themselves or others by failing to comply with guidelines about how to move around school and moving into “out of bound” areas.

Sanctions

The following sanctions will be used at the discretion of members of staff.

  • Persistent failure to complete work in a specified time frame – work will be sent home with a standard slip to parents specifying work to be done, the date it is due back and the expectation that the slip will be signed and returned by the parents.

Incidents outside the class setting

Will be notified to the class teacher who will record the incident in a class incident book. Sanctions may be

  • Missing a playtime
  • Writing a letter of apology
  • A note in the planner

Serious Incidents

Any incident considered by any member of staff to be serious enough will be referred immediately to a senior member of staff. This will be recorded in the school incident book. A note will be written in the child’s planner. This will be sent home to be signed and returned by parents. A senior member of staff will decide what further action to take.

If behaviour reaches a level that is unacceptable, either in frequency or magnitude, parents will be invited to meet with the class teacher to discuss their child’s behaviour.

Any further incidents of unacceptable behaviour will trigger a standard letter to parents – a copy of which will be held in the child’s file.

Parents will then be invited to discuss their child’s behaviour with the Headteacher at which further action will be agreed.

The action may take the form of:

  • An individual behaviour agreement, which is signed by parent and child if that child is in Year 3 or above.
  • Referral to behaviour support agency.

Extreme Behaviour

Any behaviour which falls into the following categories may trigger exclusion either temporary or permanent:

  • Verbal assault.
  • Physical assault.
  • Damage to property.
  • Theft.

Once the Headteacher is confident that the child’s behaviour has improved records of incidents may be removed from the child’s records.

Use of reasonable force

Pannal School follows DfE guidelines (2011) regarding the use of reasonable force.

What is reasonable force?

(i) The term ‘reasonable force’ covers the broad range of actions usedby most teachers at some point in their career that involve a degreeof physical contact with pupils.

(ii) Force is usually used either to control or restrain. This can rangefrom guiding a pupil to safety by the arm through to more extremecircumstances such as breaking up a fight or where a studentneeds to be restrained to prevent violence or injury.

(iii) ‘Reasonable in the circumstances’ means using no more force thanis needed.

(iv) As mentioned above, schools generally use force to control pupilsand to restrain them. Control means either passive physicalcontact, such as standing between pupils or blocking a pupil's path,or active physical contact such as leading a pupil by the arm out of

a classroom.

(v) Restraint means to hold back physically or to bring a pupil undercontrol. It is typically used in more extreme circumstances, forexample when two pupils are fighting and refuse to separatewithout physical intervention.

(vi) School staff should always try to avoid acting in a way that mightcause injury, but in extreme cases it may not always be possible toavoid injuring the pupil.

2 Who can use reasonable force?

(i) All members of school staff have a legal power to use reasonableforce.

(ii) This power applies to any member of staff at the school. It can alsoapply to people whom the head teacher has temporarily put incharge of pupils such as unpaid volunteers or parentsaccompanying students on a school organised visit.

3 When can reasonable force be used?

(i) Reasonable force can be used to prevent pupils from hurtingthemselves or others, from damaging property, or from causingdisorder.

(ii) In a school, force is used for two main purposes – to control pupilsor to restrain them.

(iii) The decision on whether or not to physically intervene is down tothe professional judgement of the staff member concerned andshould always depend on the individual circumstances.

What about other physical contact with pupils?

(i) It is not illegal to touch a pupil. There are occasions when physicalcontact, other than reasonable force, with a pupil is proper andnecessary.

(ii) Examples of where touching a pupil might be proper or necessary:

a. Holding the hand of the child at the front/back of the line whengoing to assembly or when walking together around the school;

b. When comforting a distressed pupil;

c. When a pupil is being congratulated or praised;

d. To demonstrate how to use a musical instrument;

e. To demonstrate exercises or techniques during PE lessons orsports coaching; and

f. To give first aid.

The staff, Headteacher and governors will expect the support of parents in implementing the behaviour policy.

On all matters of behaviour the Headteacher will, after due investigation, make the final decision which is non negotiable. Only in the case of exclusion is there a right to appeal, of which parents will be notified should be need arise.

Signed Dated

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