Behaviour and Discipline Policy
Date Updated / 1/9/16Policy Written By / S Magill (Headteacher) and Staff
Draft Circulated to Parents for consultation / 15/09/16
Date Approved by Governors / TBC
Date of Next Review / September 2017 or subject to DFE changes
Responsible Committee / Children, Curriculum and Community
Signed by Chair of Governors
Introduction
St. John’s Church of England Primary School wishes to provide a school environment that is safe and stimulating for the children in our care. In order to ensure that this is so, we have introduced a policy with set procedures to create a calm, secure and happy working environment for all. We are aware that we share responsibility for the children in our care and make every effort to provide the care that any responsible parent would be expected to give. The school believes that parents and teachers are partners in the process of education. This partnership is crucial to developing and maintaining a climate of trust and commitment where everyone feels that they have a part to play in helping our children make a positive contribution to the school, to the community and ultimately society.
Aims of the policy
· To promote and maintain high expectations of behaviour and personal conduct that enables all children to achieve their full potential
· To communicate these high standards to the whole school community so that everyone within it knows their roles, rights and responsibilities
· To create and promote a caring, family atmosphere, in which teaching and learning takes place in a safe and happy environment rooted in mutual respect
· To give pupils the skills to build and sustain positive relationships
· To encourage pupils to take continued responsibility for their actions
· To promote self-management of behaviour and enable children to reflect and improve on their choices
· To provide the framework that supports our teaching of moral values and attitudes rooted in the Christian ethos of the school
These aims reflect the schools mission statement:
At St John’s we all work together to live by our inclusive Christian values. Everyone in our school family is encouraged to reach their full potential.
Our Core Values (chosen by the pupils)
Love
Equality
Respect
Kindness
Encouragement
Forgiveness
Golden Rules
It is the responsibility of pupils to make good choices at all times and with all adults and pupils in school. This will lead to pupils behaving well and building up and maintaining good relationships. Our Golden Rules are displayed in every classroom, teaching and communal area and regularly discussed.
ü We are gentle
ü We are kind and helpful
ü We are honest
ü We work hard
ü We look after property
ü We listen
A description of roles and responsibilities for all the members of the school community
ALL Staff and Governors / Pupils / Parentsü To lead by example by demonstrating positive relationships with everyone in school
ü Treat each child fairly and with respect and understanding
ü To communicate the aims and values of the school
ü Give specific praise to children on an individual or group basis
ü To always follow the school systems
ü Apply these principles, roles and responsibilities with their own class and around school
ü Report to parents about a child’s social and emotional aspects of school life, including behaviour and relationships
ü Support pupils in meeting their pastoral targets
ü To evaluate, review and improve on their skills and management of behaviour including regularly analysing their class’s behaviour file / ü To support and care for each other
ü To uphold the Golden Rules
ü To take responsibility for their
own words, actions and behaviour
ü To make sure they are smartly
dressed, have all the equipment
they need and are ready to learn
ü To be aware of and accept the consequences of poor choices
ü To do as instructed by all members
ü of staff (teaching and non-teaching)
ü To reflect on their behaviour in order
to make positive choices in the
future
ü To work towards achieving their pastoral targets each term / ü To be aware of and support the school’s values, expectations and rules
ü To sign and discuss the Home/School Agreement to demonstrate commitment to its ethos and aims
ü To ensure that children arrive on time each day ready and equipped to learn
ü To support the school’s decision when applying consequences to deal with any specific incident/issue
ü Contact the class teacher if they have any concerns about the way their child has been treated
ü Work with the school and other agencies as necessary
In addition to the above, it is the responsibility of the Headteacher to:
§ Work with the Governing Body to set and monitor the general standard of behaviour
§ Ensure the policy is applied consistently throughout the school, and to report to governors, when requested, on its effectiveness (under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998)
§ Ensure the health, safety and welfare of all members of the school community
§ Work alongside parents and families in a positive and constructive way
§ Maintain records of all reported serious behavioural incidents
§ Issue fixed-term exclusions to individual children for serious or repeated breaches of the Behaviour Policy
§ Make the decision to permanently exclude a pupil
N.B. once the head teacher has made the decision to permanently exclude, he or she must, without delay, notify the governing body and the local authority
Positive Strategies and Rewards
At St John’s, we believe that all adults should be proactive in catching pupils behaving well and to ensure pupils understand that positive choices lead to positive recognitions and rewards. As professionals we regularly use positive body language, verbal approval/acknowledgement, stickers and praise for pupils who are making good choices.
Individual Rewards
ü Pupils who have produced exceptional work will receive a ‘Super Learner’ certificate in Friday’s Celebration Assembly
ü Pupils are awarded ‘raffle tickets’ by the Lunchtime Supervisors, Teaching Assistants and Support Staff for their conduct around school at all times. These are entered into a draw in Friday’s Celebration Assembly and they have a VIP top table place and treats at lunchtime
ü Pupils earn golden privilege cards in lessons for their outstanding attitude in lessons and these are recorded in the Class behaviour file every day
ü Pupils earn gold privilege cards for outstanding effort and achievement in books
ü Each weekly gold card champion is celebrated each week and has their photo up on our display board
ü Pupils are sent to the Headteacher to share good work and achievement
ü The Head Teacher gives out certificates at the end of term Celebration Assembly for attendance/behaviour/learning
ü We believe that home reading and learning are big factors in pupils’ achieving their potential, so we arrange termly treat activities for those who regularly complete home learning activities
ü Pupils who have shown outstanding behaviour, attitude and learning go in the daily “Golden Book” and parents receive a positive text home
ü Golden Time is earned and pupils exchange their credits for enrichment sessions each half term
Class/School awards
ü Each Friday the Class with the best attendance will take the attendance trophy to their class to keep for the week and they earn an extra ten minutes playtime/free time
ü The top attending class will earn a special reward at the end of the year
ü When pupils receive a gold card in lessons (marbles put in at the end of the day), in their books (DIRT) or via raffle ticket at break and lunchtimes, they also put a marble in the ‘class jar of good choices’ – this means individuals contribute to the team
ü When the jar is full, the teacher will decide on a short fun activity
ü We also have a ‘House’ system and pupils are put into teams – with siblings if present - within the 5 Houses (St George, St Andrew, St David, St Patrick, St John) for lots of competitive and group activities
ü Pupils earn house points for good team efforts and achievements in these activities. The Y6 Team Captains collect the scores each half term and announce/display these in Celebration Assembly
ü The Challenge Cup and individual medals/trophies are awarded at the end of the year for the most team points and the winning team earns a ‘big’ treat such as a cinema/bowling trip
*Family members are invited to our weekly and termly Celebration Assemblies. We send out texts to the parents of award winners and they are warmly welcome to come and share their child’s achievements.
N.B We are a Healthy School and therefore will only occasionally give out sweets as a reward
Promoting Positive behaviour at St John’s through the curriculum
We have a comprehensive programme of lessons and activities to promote good relationships and develop caring, responsible behaviour via our PHSCE curriculum and bi-weekly Circle Time. In all areas of the curriculum we use:
· Role play/drama activities that encourage listening and cooperation skills
· Team building activities and group work
· Class and area monitors to give pupils a sense of responsibility
· Termly pastoral targets and conferences for all pupils – shared with parents and carers
· Conflict resolution skills led by our Peer Mediators
· Reading Buddies (older pupils reading with younger pupils)
· Play Leaders (older pupils playing games with younger pupils)
· School Council to teach pupils about democracy and give them a voice when leading improvements and change in school
· Sports Crew who plan and help run all the activities for our House competitions
· Ethos Team – they monitor all aspects of the schools’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural provision and ensure we are upholding our values
· Pupil Voice - regular questionnaires and meetings so that pupils can tell us what is going well and what we can do to improve behaviour and relationships at St John’s
Unacceptable behaviour at St John’s School
We believe that all pupils have the right to learn and the right to be happy when in school. Behaviour that does not meet our expectations not only disrupts learning and the emotional well-being of the child concerned, but also for their peers and adults working with them.
We divide unacceptable behaviour into three broad bands:
· Level One: misbehaviour that can be effectively managed within a classroom environment by the teaching staff
· Level Two: more serious misbehaviour that is not easily managed within a classroom environment. Informal involvement of Behaviour Mentor/senior staff and parents may be contacted
· Level Three: very serious misbehaviour or persistent Level Two misbehaviour. Formal involvement of the Behaviour Mentor, Headteacher and parents. Other outside agencies may also become involved
Level One (verbal or Yellow Card) / Level Two (Red Card) / Level Three (stronger sanctions)Not on task
Disrupting another child, chatting in class
Distraction, interruption
Answering back
Not following instructions
Telling lies/getting others into trouble
Unkind words
Unsafe movement around the classroom/school
Not respecting school property
Chewing gum or sweets / Damage to school property
Stealing/intent to steal (R)
Isolated acts of violence - kicking, hitting, thumping, threatening behaviour etc. (R)
Swearing and aggressive language at pupils or adults (R)
Discriminatory-based choice of language/actions (R)
Leaving classroom without permission/without a band (R) / Vandalism of school buildings/property
Major disruption of the class
Repeated incidences of bullying
Direct/continued discriminatory language/actions
Violent behaviour causing deliberate injury
Dangerous refusal to obey instruction
Leaving school premises without consent
Endangering the health and safety of self/others
Pupil behaviour at St John’s is good and the vast majority of our pupils need nothing more than a gentle reminder of the Golden Rules. However we believe it’s essential that all pupils understand the consequence of their actions and we have a whole school system to address behaviour that falls short of our standards. Once a teacher has used some of all the ‘low level behaviour management strategies (such as visual cues, Refocusing/diversions, ‘Word in the child’s ear’ and parallel praise of classmates), but a child remain non-compliant, the following strategies will be used:
Sanctions for unacceptable behaviour
Step 1. Verbal Warning with reminder of the Golden Rule they are not following and our expectations of behaviour we are looking for
Step 2. Yellow card (visual warning in the Class wall chart) which is moved back to green when the child is compliant (take-up time may vary)
Step 3. If pupils are unable to turn their behaviour round and comply with our Golden Rules despite being given take up time over the course of a session, they have to stay behind in own class or at the end of a break, for a few minutes at break/lunch/home time* with an adult who will talk to them about their behaviour choices)
Step 4. Red card (see Level 2 behaviours) = Lunchtime Detention. Pupils have to work under the supervision of a senior teacher (Y2 classroom) and complete a Thinking Sheet that helps the pupil reflect on their choices
* The law states that schools don’t have to give parents notice of after-school detentions or tell them why a detention has been given. We will keep them no longer than a few minutes at the end of the day so that a ‘yellow card’ sanction (Step 3) is the same and thus fair in all parts of the day.
For persistently unacceptable behaviour that has escalated or for a serious breach of the Golden Rules, the following sanctions will apply:
§ Class Report = Parents contacted by the Teacher. Pupils have to get their report signed positively after each lesson and break time by teaching and support staff and returned to school the next day having been signed by a parent/guardian. A report must be completed successfully or the pupil will have to complete a further report the next day (3 maximum before the Head becomes involved)
§ Headteacher Report = this is for a single serious incident such as a refusal to follow the instructions of the Head/Deputy or for any action that endangers the health and safety of the pupils or other members of the school. Parents will be contacted by the Head Teacher and pupil will be on Headteacher Report for the day (pupils have to get their report signed positively all day, countersigned by the Headteacher/Deputy and returned to school the next day having been signed by a parent/guardian).