Behaviour Policy

Learning, growing and achieving together

An Active Learning Trust Academy

Behaviour Policy (inc Exclusion & Bullying)

Chesterton Primary School Behaviour Policy Including Exclusion and Bullying Purpose This policy outlines guidance on behaviour, bullying and exclusions.

AIMS FOR BEHAVIOUR AT CHESTERTON PRIMARY SCHOOL      

To teach respect for individuals and the understanding that we are all different To ensure a consistent, positive approach to behaviour management through the school, to include and before and/or after school clubs To provide children and staff with an environment that is suitable for learning To ensure the emotional, social and learning needs of individuals are addressed appropriately To establish clear procedures for dealing with and managing unacceptable behaviour To praise and reward good work, behaviour and attitudes

SCHOOL ETHOS In consultation with children, staff, parents and governors at Chesterton Primary School, we have developed a policy which aims to encourage children to work and play together to maintain this ethos.      

We promote an awareness of everybody’s individual needs and aim for everybody to be valued in the community.

We expect good behaviour to be modeled by all adults and we expect everyone to take pride in their school, their class, their work, their environment and their relationships.

We expect all staff to treat children fairly, consistently and sensitively. We ask them to listen, to hear both sides of a story and to help children find solutions to challenges in a supportive manner.

We celebrate and praise children’s achievement and success.

We value parental support in working collaboratively to find solutions to behaviour management issues.

Positive behaviour strategies and sanctions are practiced in a systematic way by all adults in school.

THE PRINCIPLES FOR BEHAVIOUR IN THE SCHOOL AND THE SCHOOL RULES The principles for behaviour in the school have been agreed by the whole school community. They are:  

We take turns to speak and always listen to others We follow instructions 2

   

We care about ourselves, each other and the school We are honest We work hard and learn We enjoy ourselves and we are safe

WHAT CHILDREN CAN EXPECT OF ADULTS We believe that excellent teaching and learning promotes positive behaviour, all teaching is underpinned by the school’s Teaching and Learning Policy.

Adults promise to:    

Listen to you Help you learn Keep you safe Help you to Enjoy Yourself

Rewards for good work or good behaviour Chesterton Primary School actively seeks to encourage positive behaviour within the school environment.

Stickers for good work: Children will receive stickers for good work or trying hard throughout the year. Once they receive 25 stickers, the children will receive a bronze certificate, 50 stickers = silver certificate, 75 stickers = Gold certificate and 100 stickers = Platinum certificate.

Celebration Assembly: Children will receive their good work certificates during the assembly. Class teachers will also nominate and celebrate the social and emotional achievement of members of the classes and they will receive Headteacher’s awards.

Golden Time: Golden Time is a time for relaxation and fun as a reward for good behaviour during the week. All children at Chesterton Primary school are entitled to 20 minutes of Golden Time on a Friday.

Star tickets: All adults in school will carry these tickets, and can give them to children who are seen to be behaving well, working hard, trying hard or just being kind. These are completed with their name and why they received them. Their positive contributions to school life are celebrated and praised.

House Points: The children will be split horizontally into houses and the children will work together to achieve house points and to be awarded the house cup each half term and to earn extra playtime. House points can be given by all adults within the school for a academic, social or emotional achievements.

CONSEQUENCES: The school rules have been established with the children and apply throughout the school.

When children do not follow these rules they understand that there are consequences and they need to take responsibility for their actions. The consequences are: 3

        

The pupil will be given a warning Classes 1/2 – Name on the board – lose 1 minute of playtime Name on the board (again)– lose 2 minutes of Golden Time Name ticked – lose another 2 minutes of Golden Time 2 ticks – lose a further 2 minutes of Golden Time (Children can lose up to a maximum of 10 minutes) Sent to Mrs Surtees Parents informed Strategies put in place, e.g. friendship charter, behaviour chart etc If individual children, or the whole class, are too noisy in school, they will be given a warning prior to losing 30 seconds (or multiples of) from their playtime

Any violent or aggressive behaviour, bullying, swearing or damaging property, the child/ren is sent immediately to Mrs Surtees.

THE PLAYGROUND: If a child breaks the school rules in the playground a member of staff will give them a warning and the child will need to take 5 minutes ‘time out’, by the side of the teacher on duty, to calm down and think about their actions. This is often all that a child will need to help them modify their behaviour and enjoy the rest of their playtime.

However, if they ignore the warning and continue to break the school rules, they will be written in a book and their teacher will be informed. The child will then lose Golden Time and continue down the consequences.

If the situation continues the children involved go to Mrs Surtees BULLYING Statement of Intent We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our pupils so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all pupils should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. We are a TELLING school. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the staff.

What is Bullying?

Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person. Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim.

Bullying can be:  Emotional being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures)  Physicalpushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence  Racist racial taunts, graffiti, gestures  Sexual unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments  Homophobic because of, or focusing on the issue of sexuality  Verbal name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing  Cyber all areas of internet, such as email & internet chat room misuse, mobile threats by texting messaging & calls, misuse of associated technology, e.g.

4

camera, video facilities

Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect. Pupils who are bullying need to learn different ways of behaving.

We at Chesterton Primary School have a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to issues of bullying.

Objectives of the Policy  All governors, teaching and non-teaching staff, pupils and parents should have an understanding of what bullying is.  All governors and teaching and non-teaching staff should know what the school policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is reported.  All pupils and parents should know what the school policy is on bullying and what they should do if bullying arises.  As a school we take bullying seriously. Pupils and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported.  Bullying will not be tolerated.

Signs and Symptons A child may indicate by signs or behaviour that he or she is being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and that they should investigate if a child:                         

Is frightened of walking to or from school Doesn’t want to go to school/public bus Begs to be driven to school Changes their usual routine Is unwilling to go to school (school phobic) Begins to truant Becomes withdrawn, anxious or lacking in confidence Starts stammering Attempts or threatens suicide or runs away Cries themselves to sleep Feels ill in the morning Begins to do poorly in school work Comes home with clothes torn or books damaged Has possessions which are damaged or ‘go missing’ Asks for money or starts stealing money (to pay bully) Has dinner or other monies continually ‘lost’ Has unexplained cuts or bruises Comes home starving (money/lunch has been stolen) Becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable Is bullying other children or siblings Stops eating Is frightened to say what’s wrong Gives improbable excuses for any of the above Is afraid to use the internet or mobile phone Is nervous & jumpy when a cyber message is received

These signs and behaviours could indicate other problems, bullying should be considered a 5

possibility and should be investigated.

Procedure for Dealing with Incidents If bullying is reported or observed: 1/ A member of staff will interview all the parties concerned separately and keep a written record of the incident as seen from the different viewpoints.

2/ Parents of the children involved will be alerted.

3/ The friendship group/s of both the child accused of being a bully and the child who has reported being bullied will be involved in discussions and circle time activities to support those involved and help to improve the situation.

4/ Whole school involvement through assemblies to reinforce the anti-bullying message, policy and procedure.

5/ The victim of bullying will be given strategies to help deal with the situation.

6/ The child who is ‘bullying’ will be helped to deal with their situation.

7/ The whole staff will be alerted to the problem so that the situation can be monitored.

8/ Regular follow-up meetings with the child who is being bullied and the child who is bullying will be held.

9/ Half-termly feedback will be given to parents.

Outcomes:  The bully (bullies) may be asked to genuinely apologise. Other consequences may take place.  In serious cases, suspension or even exclusion will be considered.  If possible, the pupils will be reconciled.  After the incident/incidents have been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place.

Prevention:  Positive input from all supervisory staff and close supervision at play and lunchtimes.  A centralised record of significant incidents in order to detect patterns and identify bullies/victims. (This record is currently kept in the Office and is a blue hard-backed book).  Reinforce school philosophy regarding the treatment of others after an incident has occurred, in class P.S.H.E activities and school assemblies.  Through P.S.H.E, SEAL and role-play activities, teach children how to be assertive and counter intimidation.  Teach children the importance of talking about problems and how to deal with them.  Through R.E and P.S.H.E encourage and teach children to respect others and value their personal space.  Reinforce/praise, positive behaviour patterns.  Reinforce positive behaviour through the Kindness Box.  Annual questionnaires to pupils, which includes feedback on bullying and how we deal with it.  The School Council and class P.S.H.E lessons to generate posters and information for other pupils on what to do if they are bullied as appropriate.  Follow up meetings with parents and pupils.

6

HELP ORGANISATIONS: Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) Children’s Legal Centre KIDSCAP Parents Helpline (Mon-Fri, 10-4) Parentline Plus Youth Access Bullying online

0808 800 5793 0845 345 4345 0845 1 205 204 0808 800 2222 020 8772 9900 www.bullying.co.uk

Visit the Kidscape website www.kidscape.org.uk for further support, links and advice.

Responsibility The Head has overall responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of the Behaviour Policy and will liaise regularly with MDSAs and staff to monitor behaviour and make suggestions for improvements.

Teachers and MDSAs have responsibility for behaviour on their duty days and should liaise with the Head over any problems or suggestions.

Teachers have responsibility for ensuring good classroom behaviour.

7

Exclusion Principles      

Exclusion should only be used in School as a last resort and in response to serious breaches of school policy on behaviour or of the criminal law.

It should be clear that to allow a child to remain in School would be seriously detrimental to the education or welfare of that pupil, or to that of others at the school.

All reasonable steps should have been taken to avoid the exclusion of a child and the steps set out in the Behaviour Policy should, in normal circumstances have been implemented.

A Headteacher can permanently exclude a child for a first offence, for example involving violence, but only after taking time to consider the incident in question not in the heat of the moment.

Exclusion should not be used for minor incidents.

Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs and children looked after by the Local Authority should not be excluded except in exceptional circumstances.

Use of reasonable force to restrain pupils.

Under the Education Act 1997, teachers and other approved staff (ie those authorised by the Headteacher to have control or charge of pupils) will have a legal right to use reasonable force to prevent a pupil from:  Committing an offence  Injuring themselves or others  Damaging property  Disrupting good order and discipline.

Since June 2006, there has been a rolling programme of ‘School Safe Training’, where all members of staff have undertaken training on positive handling theory and techniques.

Deciding to Exclude a Pupil The decision to exclude a pupil can only be taken by a Headteacher or, if he/she is absent, by the most senior teacher. Exclusions can either be for a fixed period of up to 45 days in a school year, but are normally less than 5 school days or permanent. (In the Headteacher's absence, fixed period exclusion should be applied rather than permanent exclusion.)

In coming to a decision to exclude a pupil, the Headteacher may consult with others but must be careful not to consult with anyone who might be involved in a statutory review of their decision e.g. member of the School's Discipline Committee.

The Headteacher should:   

Consider all the facts and firm evidence to support the allegations made Check whether the incident appeared to be provoked, by, for example, racial or sexual harassment Allow the pupil to give his/her version of the events 8

 

Take into account the school's policy of equal opportunities Consider whether other agencies need to be consulted.

Once a decision has been made to exclude a pupil   

An exclusion should normally begin on the next school day There is no requirement for the Headteacher to consult the pupil's parents/carers before making the exclusion but once the decision has been made they must be notified immediately, ideally by telephone.

A letter should follow up the telephone call on the next school day, or the same day if possible.

The letter about fixed period and permanent exclusions should contain the following elements:          



An explanation of why the Headteacher has decided to exclude the pupil A description of the steps that the School has taken to avoid exclusion The arrangements for enabling the pupil to continue their education including setting and marking the pupil's work The parent/carer's right to state their case to the Governing Body Discipline Committee The name of the person that the parent/carer should contact if they wish to state their case (normally the Clerk to the Discipline Committee) The latest date on which the parent/carer can submit a written statement to the Discipline Committee Notification that the parent/carer has a right to see their child's school record The name and telephone number of the LEA's Special Needs Officer, who can give advice about the exclusions process. The telephone number of the Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) help line is 02077049822 If the exclusion is for a fixed period, the letter should also notify the parents/carer of the length of the exclusion and the date and time the pupil should return to school.

If the exclusion is for lunchtimes only, the letter must indicate the length of the exclusion (normally no more than five days) and the arrangements for providing a meal for the pupil entitled to free school meals. It should be noted that lunchtime counts as one session.

If the exclusion is permanent, the letter must indicate the date that the exclusion takes effect from, details of any previous warnings, fixed period exclusions or other disciplinary measures taken before the current incident.

Who must be informed?

The Headteacher must inform the Governing Body Pupil Discipline Committee and the LEA immediately of: All permanent exclusions All exclusions which result, separately or in total, in the pupil missing more than fifteen school days in any one term and Any exclusion that denies the pupil the opportunity to take a public examination For every exclusion, the school is requested to complete the relevant exclusion form online, which is available on the Schools Portal.

9

The responsibilities of the Governing Body The Governing Body has appointed three of its members to form the Pupil Discipline Committee.

The role of the Discipline Committee is:  To review the use of exclusion in the school  To consider the views of the parent/carer of the excluded pupil  To decide whether or not to confirm exclusions of more than fifteen days in any one term  To decide whether or not to confirm exclusions that will deny the pupil the opportunity to take a public examination N.B The School buy into County Services and a clerk to the Discipline Committee will be provided. He/she is able to give advice on the exclusion process and handle the administrative arrangements for considering exclusions.

No governor serving on the panel should have any connection with a pupil or the incident that could affect the impartiality of the hearing.

Time Scales Once the Clerk to the Discipline Committee has received notification from the Headteacher of exclusion, he/she should adhere to the following time-scales: For an exclusion of between 6 and 15 school days in a term- set up a meeting between the 6th and 15th school days to consider the exclusion.

For an exclusion of more than 15 school days - set up a meeting between the 6th and 15th school days to consider the exclusion For further information on the duties of the Discipline Committee and Clerk see procedures kept centrally in school Evaluation The policy should be reviewed every year by teachers, pupils, parents and governors.

Reviewed and amended June 2013 To be next reviewed June 2014

10