At St Paul’s Walden we have high expectations of all members of our school community. We believe that the school has an important role to play, in partnership with the home, by nurturing positive attitudes towards good behaviour in all our children. We believe that an effective school is one in which the learning environment is underpinned by an ethos shared by governors, teachers, teaching assistants, support staff, children and parents. We aim to support all members of our community to reach their full potential and pupils to develop into young people of increasing independence. We aim to equip all pupils with the necessary skills for a future in which they can make safe, respectful and responsible choices in life.
There are three core values at the heart of our school Behaviour Policy:
Be Safe.
Be Respectful.
Be Responsible.
The principle of this policy aims to:
The aims of this Behaviour Policy will be achieved by the whole community (governors, staff, parents, children, external providers, volunteers and the wider community) working together. We all have our own responsibilities, which are listed below.
Responsibilities of Governors
Responsibilities of Staff
policies and procedures.
Responsibilities of Parents
Responsibilities of the children
Behaviour Strategies
The ‘Good to be Green’ reward system is in place across the school – this differs operationally from class to class depending on the age of the pupils and the agreed classroom rules. The underlying principles of the reward system are however the same.
Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments to the rewards, sanctions and teaching strategies are contained within the strategies in order not to disadvantage pupils with learning difficulties, disabilities and pupils who personal circumstances warrant an adjustment. This may mean that there is the appearance of the policy not being adhered to at times, as rewards and sanctions are applied “differently” but pupils, staff and parents should be reassured that the adjustments are only made when necessary in order to meet a pupil’s individual need.
Our school recognises that each child’s individual situation and circumstances should be taken into account when observing their behaviour and response to our Behaviour Policy. Some children may need an Individual Behaviour Plan, to be drafted by their class teacher with the input of the SENCO, senior staff, family and external agencies as appropriate.
Good to be Green Behaviour Scheme
The ‘Good to be Green’ scheme is an effective way of promoting positive behaviour, as it rewards those pupils who consistently behave appropriately. It also enables staff to track those pupils who find it harder to meet the school’s expected behaviour code. The scheme can be very visual, which allow our pupils to easily see how they are doing in class. We believe that it is important to promote a positive message regarding behaviour management at all times - ‘Good to be Green’ is a means of promoting our high expectations of positive behaviour. However, if a child has had a bad day, they always start afresh on Green the following day or after lunch depending on the age and needs of the children.
Every child starts their day on a positive note with a green card displayed in their pocket of the class chart. The card says: ‘It’s Good to be Green!’ and the children soon associate being on Green with a feeling of having done the right thing. Those children who remain on Green all day will be awarded a House Point.
Against the background of ‘Good to be Green’, throughout the day the children will receive instant feedback from staff and volunteers in the form of rewards and sanctions. It is important that the children know that these consequences will be fairly and consistently applied (while acknowledging some children’s necessary adjustments).
Rewards
Consequences
We believe that children feel more secure if they know where the boundaries of acceptable behaviour lie and which consequence will be used if they overstep these boundaries. Consequences should be applied as soon as possible after the behaviour has occurred. They must be applied consistently, firmly, fairly and without confrontation, with the smallest possible sanction that is effective always being used. Children need to know why they are receiving a consequence and are to be given the opportunity to make amends. This could be simply picking up the pens they threw to the floor, after which the incident is over. Whole group consequences should be avoided where possible.
When pupils behave inappropriately, staff may use these strategies:
As part of the ‘Good to be Green’ scheme, if the pupil does not respond then the teacher will go through the following steps, as necessary:
Monitoring ofBehaviour
Monitoring provides the opportunity to reflect as a school on our practices and whether we need to adjust or adapt our strategies to encourage the highest standards ofbehaviourfor learning. It also provides evidence of actual incidents to discuss with parents and other agencies, if appropriate and necessary. Dates and times are useful to see if there are reasons or patterns to the behaviour of individuals or groups of children.
As a school we monitor and record:
Serious Unacceptable Behaviour
The Head will record serious unacceptable behaviour, such as that listed below using CPOMS. The use of consequences and any incidents or issues leading to the unacceptable behaviour should be recorded.
Parents will be informed immediately and a copy of the letter kept on the child’s file. Serious unacceptable behaviour may be an accumulation of minor incidents over a period of time.
If it is deemed appropriate, internal exclusions can happen, but these can only be sanctioned by the Head. Every avenue will be explored before a Pastoral Support Plan (PSP) and/or exclusions are considered, working closely with parents and outside agencies.
Under very exceptional circumstances physical intervention will be required to restrain a child’s physical behaviour or aggression where their behaviour is physically endangering themselves, other children, adults or causing serious damage to property. Physical intervention should not be considered in isolation. Staff will take steps to avoid the need to physically intervene through discussion or diversion.
Consultation:
All staff, children, parents and governing body via the Standards Committee have been consulted in the production of this policy.
Policy revised in line with guidance from Behaviour for Learning workshops run by Herts for Learning (Autumn 2014), Charlie Taylor, Getting the simple things right: Charlie Taylor’s Behaviour checklists (former government behaviour adviser, 2011), DFE Behaviour and discipline in schools (Feb 2016).
Hertfordshire Steps is a therapeutic approach to positive behaviour management. The Steps approach is based on the following principles:
It emphasises the importance of consistency and teaching internal, rather than imposing external, discipline. It focuses on care and control, not punishment. It uses 4 techniques to de-escalate a situation before a crisis occurs and, where a crisis does occur, it adopts techniques to reduce the risk of harm.
This policy links to:
Anti-Bullying, Exclusion, Equality and Diversity, SEN, Child Protection, Sex and Relationships, Health and Safety, Restrictive Physical intervention, Race Equality, Teaching and Learning, Visits and volunteers, Esafety and data security, Drugs Education, Home/school agreement, Capability, Disciplinary, Complaints, Learning Outside the classroom/offsite visits.
DFE: Keeping Children Safe in Education, Use of reasonable force and Searching, screening and confiscation.
As a school community promoting and ensuring good behaviour is a responsibility shared by children, staff, parents and governors. The purpose of this policy it to ensure everybody understands their role and together we can ensure an environment where good behaviour is the expectation and the responsibility of all.
Date of policy: Summer 2023
Date of review: Summer 2026