Behaviour

BEHAVIOUR POLICY

Aims:

At Andreas we are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our pupils so they can learn in a secure atmosphere.

Objectives:

• To provide clear guidelines for the expectations for positive behaviour and to ensure it is encouraged and sustained within our school. It reflects the school vision, which recognises the importance of developing learning in an environment where everyone is encouraged, empowered and inspired to feel safe, happy and successful.
• To provide clear guidelines for addressing unacceptable behaviour by any pupil at Andreas School, whilst operating within the Policies of the IOM Department of Education, Sport and Culture.

This policy will also ensure that Parents, Pupils and the Staff working at Andreas School recognise and address behaviours which are potentially damaging to our children. The purpose of this is to support the children within our school with the management of their own behaviour, in order to ensure they have positive experiences both within school and in the wider community. It is important to recognise that nearly all children will make poor choices at some point, school is there to support and guide them as they learn how to function in a large social group.

Our expectations:

At Andreas School it is everyone’s responsibility to :

Aim for the highest standards in their learning, work and behaviour. We expect everyone to:

BE RESPECTFUL. BE READY. BE SAFE.

Staff are responsible for:

• Ensuring children are happy and therefore able to behave appropriately
• Explaining and role-modelling the behaviour we wish to see
• Encouraging children to take responsibility for their own behaviour
• Recognising and highlighting good behaviour
• Discussing and reviewing poor behaviour and the reasons behind the poor choices if there are any
• Ensuring that criticism/feedback is constructive
• Informing parents about children's behaviour where appropriate
• Ensuring a positive and consistently fair approach
• Creating a friendly and supportive atmosphere
• Helping children become risk aware to ensure they are safe around the school and playground
• Investigating and documenting any causes for concern
• Informing senior staff of repeated behavioural issues

Parents are responsible for:

• Ensuring children are happy and therefore able to behave appropriately
• Letting school know of any behaviour difficulties they may be experiencing at home
• Informing school of any change which may affect their child at school
• Reinforcing the school’s ethos of good behaviour by ensuring children understand they are responsible for their choices and actions
• Encouraging their child(ren) to tell a teacher if they are upset, on the same day as any incident, so that the teacher can sort it out immediately

Guidelines for parents who are concerned about their child’s behaviour:

At Andreas School, we recognise the importance of Pupils, Parents and Staff working collaboratively in order to support and encourage our pupil’s behaviour. If any parents/carers are concerned about the behaviour of their child, they should adhere to the following procedure.

• Contact their child’s class teacher first. This can be an informal chat or a phone call after school. A more formal meeting may be required, depending on the needs of the pupil concerned, in order to ensure the most appropriate support can be given.
• Should concerns still be evident, the Headteacher may then become involved. A formal meeting will be arranged where appropriate, in order to support the pupil, parents and staff involved.

Acknowledging Positive Behaviour in School:

At Andreas School, we believe that behaviour management hinges on good relationships between staff and pupils and between pupils themselves. These relationships are built on mutual trust and respect and take time to foster. We also recognise the crucial role feeling happy and safe plays in all our behaviour choices and so we aim to have a school ethos that actively promotes and celebrates fun, joy and laughter.

Although staff have their own methods of acknowledging and encouraging good behaviour, behaving in a socially acceptable way is an expectation, not a bonus, and so a specific reward is not offered. Ultimately the intrinsic desire to do well, the ‘feel good factor’, should be the motivating drive for children with all aspects of learning including behaviour. It is crucial that children ultimately choose to behave well because they are developing an awareness of how to become a successful part of a social group. This ensures long term impact as opposed to the short term gratification extrinsic rewards bring. Children who feel happy and safe tend to make good behaviour choices in an age appropriate way.

Staff acknowledge good behaviour in a variety of ways such as exemplifying good choices in front of the class/ school or a variety of verbal and non verbal cues. Whilst each member of staff has their own personal way of promoting good behaviour, expectations are consistent between adults across the school. This results in children having a clear understand of the behaviour policy.

The management of behaviour which falls below our high expectations.

Whilst Andreas School encourages and supports children in order to help them behave positively and appropriately throughout school, it is important that Parents, Pupils and Staff recognise and address behaviours which fall below these expected standards. The reason for this is to ensure that all our pupil’s have the opportunity to learn and develop in a positive environment. Therefore, when behaviour is deemed to be below the expected standard, the following guidelines should be followed:

• Incidents of poor behaviour may be formally recorded by teachers in a class record book (incident book).
• In the first instance, a calm oral warning will be given along with a clear explanation of the appropriate behaviour which we would expect immediately. However, it may become obvious in time that additional support from outside agencies such as EHaS or an Educational Psychologist is required.
• If there is a repeat of the undesirable behaviour, the pupil may be asked to leave the classroom/playground etc. to be be placed closer to another teacher/ adult in charge until the class teacher has time to deal with them. A reason for the move will be given along with an explanation of the positive behaviour being sought. The child will be reintroduced to the class as soon as their behaviour is acceptable.
• If the undesirable behaviour persists, the pupil will be given extra time in which to reflect with support from an adult. The pupil will be given the opportunity to look back on their behaviour and will be given strategies to help them make correct choices in future. Whilst we do not advocate missing play time, if a child is putting themselves or others at risk, or is demonstrating any unacceptable behaviours, we may limit the space in which they play so they can be more closely supervised. The impact of this will be reviewed daily with the intention of reintroducing the child to normal play times as soon as possible. However, the length of time for limited play is up to the HT/DHT discretion in consultation with class teachers and / or dinner staff and may be extended.
• Where there is a consistent trend towards unacceptable behaviour, the child’s class teacher will contact the pupil’s parents or carers in order to discuss their concerns. At this point external agencies may also be contacted in order to support school and family further. The purpose of this contact is to work together, in order to support the pupil with the management of their behaviour. It is at this point that a behaviour contract may be introduced. This will vary according to an individual’s needs but will always take into account the possible reasons for the child’s unacceptable behaviours. The contract will detail expectations and strategies the child will be taught and will involve input from the Head teacher. It is expected that parents will support this process. This contract will be implemented for no longer than 3 weeks.
• If the poor behaviour continues beyond the 3 week contract period, the pupil will be placed on ‘report’ and will have to meet with the Head teacher at agreed times within each school day for a set amount of time until the behaviour improves. These meetings will give the child an opportunity to develop additional strategies which will help them adjust their behaviour. The strategies will build on the ones the class teacher is implementing and the extra one to one time will help reinforce expectations. The frequency and duration of being on ‘report’ is at the discretion of the Head teacher but will be no longer than a further 3 weeks from the end of the initial contract.
• If, after the 3 weeks with an informal contract and 3 weeks on report, the poor behaviour persists, school will involve outside agencies such as the Education Support Centre, Educational Psychologists’s or Early Help and Support.
• It is important to recognise that some unacceptable behaviours are a result of change or upset in a child’s life. In these cases, different approaches will be used and school may seek support from external agencies such as Early Help and Support and Educational Psychologists. This may result in the implementation of additional behaviour strategies in order to support long term changes in behaviour.

This policy should be read alongside the anti-bullying and safeguarding and child protection policies.

In all cases, open dialogue between teachers and parents is crucial so please contact school directly if you have any questions or concerns.

September 2019, Review September 2021

Reviewed June 2021, review date June 2022

Review December 2023