Achieving our Aims:

At Great Harwood Primary School we are concerned with the development of all young people for a successful and happy adult life. Part of the preparation for this is ensuring that the children know how to live together co-operatively in school. We encourage positive behaviour, with pupils making good choices about their actions, realising and being willing to accept responsibility for the outcomes of those choices.

We aim to do this through:

• Ensuring that all children clearly understand the behaviours expected of them.

• Issuing clear sanctions if the children do not choose to follow those behaviours.

• Ensuring that the sanctions are fair, appropriate and consistent.

• Encouraging pupils to accept responsibility for their actions.

• Relating behaviours to our Core Values, particularly Respect and Honesty.

• Demonstrating Fairness when we make judgements about pupils’ behaviour.

• Encouraging children to respond speak and listen carefully and interact with peers and adults in a positive way.

• Providing a positive role model for children.

• Avoiding confrontation by adopting a calm and rational approach to behaviour problems.

• Helping children to feel safe and secure thus developing a positive ethos and a sense of belonging.

Promoting a Positive Ethos in our School:

Our school will have a more effective behaviour policy if it promotes the positive aspects of desirable behaviour. PSHE, Circle Time, SMSC and British Values activities will take place in all classes and will underpin the ethos of the school. Two ways of promoting this are through ensuring that classrooms and playgrounds are safe, secure environments and by promoting success achievement and self-worth.

Safe and secure classrooms:

Conducting lessons: we demonstrate respect for pupils by preparing lessons which meet individual pupils’ learning needs and by valuing what individuals and groups have done.

When a lesson has pace, challenge and interest pupils are much more likely to engage and inappropriate behaviour is much less likely.

Showing respect when dealing with difficult behaviour: during interactions with pupils when there has been inappropriate behaviour, it should always be clear that it is the behaviour that is being criticised, not the child. It is therefore acceptable to say that the behaviour was bullying, not that the child is a bully.

Promoting success, achievement and self-worth:

Valuing every child: pupils want to feel valued, both as learners and as people. They want to be appreciated for what they are and what they can do. One of the simplest ways of doing this is by recognising and showing appreciation of pupils’ achievements.

Being noticed by an adult: giving rewards is one of the easiest ways to demonstrate this. A personalised reward, from an appreciative comment to a certificate can help to raise a child’s self-esteem. It should be remembered that as some children get older they do not like public recognition, so a quiet word out of earshot of peers may be preferable to a big fuss. Ask the child and see what he prefers. Pupils also need opportunities to acknowledge and appreciate each other and the activities we organise for Circle Time are very powerful in encouraging this.

Setting and maintaining boundaries: all pupils must be aware of the contents of the Behaviour Policy, especially the sections on rewards and sanctions.

School Rules:

We have developed a set of school rules which are aimed at being simple to understand by pupils of any age and easy to remember.

• Be honest in all that we say and do

•       Listen carefully to, and consider others feelings and    

               thoughts

•      Show respect for others and their property

•      Show respect for the school environment 

•     Always try your best

•      Be trustworthy and know who you can trust

Classroom Rules:

Each class develops a set of rules at the beginning of the Autumn Term. There should be no more than five rules and these should be described in positive language i.e. ‘Walk sensibly’ rather than ‘Don’t run’.

The rules may be modified during the year according to the needs of the class.

Behaviour outside of school:

All Great Harwood Primary School pupils are expected to behave in an appropriate manner outside of the school day and outside of the school premises. They are expected to demonstrate our core values at all times. Any member of staff witnessing inappropriate behaviour will report the incident to the headteacher who will ensure the correct and appropriate course of action is followed. The same approach will apply in instances of excellent behaviour in the community.

Classroom Procedures:

• Classroom Dojo. This system is to be used to promote positive behaviour in the classroom and during lunchtime. Children will be given Dojo points using classroom Dojo for showing positive behaviours in line with the Dojo points system. Points will accumulate over the week and the winning team will be announced in Celebration Assembly on Friday, the points will be added up and the winning team over a half term will receive a reward.

Consequences:

Our Dojo points are behaviour prominently displayed in all classrooms and around school as well as detailed rewards and sanctions.

The intention is to discourage unwanted, unacceptable behaviour and encourage children to enjoy making good choices and behaving in an acceptable way and increasing on-task performance.

Dojo points can be deducted for poor behaviour. Our consequences are not designed to humiliate or embarrass a pupil. We want them to progress academically and socially and work together with their peers and staff. The consequences should be calmly and consistently applied in a manner that avoids confrontation or humiliation of the child.

At the heart of our behaviour policy is the belief and understanding that EACH DAY IS A FRESH START and it is vitally important that a child understands this and realises that we will always look forward to seeing them tomorrow, when we know they will have a good day.

Whilst going through the consequential hierarchy, staff must ensure that positive reinforcement must be given as soon as possible after a child starts doing the right thing.

The following consequences, ranked in order of severity, are to be followed through if a child breaks the rules or displays unacceptable behaviour.

1. A reminder of appropriate behaviour (a ‘chance’ to make the right choice regarding their behaviour)

    2.  The child moved within their own classroom (to sit and work alone or on a different table for a 

         maximum of 15 minutes)

      3. A Dojo point will be taken from the child f

    4. The child will be escorted to another class (with work). The class teacher will then decide whether and             when to involve a senior member of staff.

(For incidents of serious behaviour where the welfare and learning of other pupils is being jeopardised please refer to full school policy or involve a Senior Member of staff)

Class Behaviour Triangle

Each class will display a Behaviour Triangle in class.

The Triangle will be split into Green Zone, Yellow Zone (2 sections), Orange Zone and Red Zone.

Each child will start the day in the Green Zone. Children who stay here all day will receive 1 dojo point.

If a child breaks the classroom expectations/core values they will move into 1st section of Yellow Zone and won’t receive a dojo point at the end of the day.

If they continue with the negative behaviour they will move to the 2nd section of Yellow Zone then they will be deducted a point and asked to sit somewhere by themselves to reflect on the behaviour.

If the behaviour continues they will be moved to the Orange Zone, deducted 2 dojo points and be exited from the classroom to the partner classroom.

On their return, if the behaviour continues then they will move to the Red Zone, be deducted 5 dojo points, sent to the Headteacher and a letter will be sent home informing parents of their behaviour.

If a behaviour of a child warrants it then they can move straight to the Red Zone, this will be at the teachers discretion.

Serious Incidents:

Most incidents will be dealt with through the above procedures. It is at the discretion of any adult working in school to over-ride these and report more serious incidents directly to the headteacher.

Such incidents might include fighting of any kind, any physical or verbal abuse directed at an adult or any racially motivated incident.

In these cases, the headteacher will normally contact the parents. Sanctions used will depend on the incident but may include internal or fixed term exclusion. Permanent exclusion will be used in line with National and LEA guidelines.

Racial Incidents:

All racially motivated incidents must be reported to the headteacher.

A record is kept for monitoring purposes.

Promoting Positive Behaviour:

Throughout the school pupils can be awarded ‘Dojo Points’ for effort, good work, good behaviour or any time when positive behaviour is noticed.

As Respect is one of our Core Values, we must ensure that all our dealings with pupils reflect this.

Adults talking to pupils:

As adults we are in the best position to model appropriate language and ways of communicating. As role models we should:

• Speak to pupils rather than shout.

The only occasions when it is acceptable to shout are when the Health and Safety of pupils are at risk and an adult needs to draw attention to the situation without delay. When an adult needs to gain the attention of a large group of pupils, the acceptable way is to raise a hand and wait for the pupils to stop and listen.

• Never prejudge pupils.

Deal with every incident as though it is the first time you have met the child.

• Give the pupils a right of reply.

When sorting out issues it is essential that every pupil has the opportunity to contribute to the process. Set the rules before you start, i.e. every pupil gets the opportunity to speak; no-one interrupts anyone else.

• Do your best to ensure that the judgement is fair. Fairness in another of our Core Values. It is often very useful to ask the pupils if they are happy that the situation has been dealt with fairly.

• Listen to the pupils.

If the children do not consider that their concerns are being taken seriously they will stop reporting incidents and will take the law into their own hands. It is rarely acceptable to tell children to go away and stop making a fuss. Often all that needs to be done is for an adult to have a quiet word with the pupils concerned and get an agreement that it will not happen again.

Rules for Encouraging Good Behaviour:

• Notice.

Often all you need to do is to describe what you see, e.g.

‘Matthew, you are shouting’, ‘Jasmin, you are running’.

• Describe desired behaviour.

If merely noticing is not enough, tell the pupils what you want, e.g. ‘Matthew, I want you to use a quiet voice’, ‘Jasmin, I want you to walk’. Avoid using the negative e.g. ‘Matthew don’t shout’, ‘Jasmin, don’t run’.

• Never ask why.

Children will find this an impossible question to answer politely.

The answer you are most likely to get is one that you won’t want to hear, e.g. ‘Because I felt like it’. If you want them to evaluate their actions, ask them to tell you one good thing that comes out of what they have just done.

• Give ‘take-up time’.

Saying thank you and walking away is much more effective than standing over a child and waiting for compliance.

• Use the least possible intervention.

According to Bill Rogers, it is not the size of the punishment that counts; it is the certainty of it.

• Avoid group punishments.

Punishing the whole class for the actions of a few breeds resentment and could encourage retribution.

• Make the children want to please you.

The most powerful motivator for good behaviour is the desire to please an adult that the child likes and respects.

• Remember that you are the role model.

You set the tone for all the interactions. You should be able to point out to a child who is being rude that you are not being rude to him/her etc.

“This policy functions as a practice guide and is therefore reviewed whenever issues arise which generate new ways to communicate our approach, and otherwise annually”.

Date of Policy Implementation: September 2022 Date of Next Review: September 2023