SOUTH WONSTON PRIMARY SCHOOL

GOOD BEHAVIOUR POLICY

‘Together, we nurture, inspire, challenge and achieve’

The Behaviour policy is currently under ongoing review to ensure that it continues to be reflective of the culture and processes within the school and to provide a clear and robust message around behaviour at South Wonston Primary School. The new updated policy will be available for Governors to review during the Autumn 2023 term and will be uploaded once approved. 

Rationale

At South Wonston Primary School we believe that all children have the right to succeed and enjoy their time at school. Everyone has the responsibility of looking after the values of the school and the day-to-day procedures. The promotion of good behaviour, the development of self-respect and respect for others is a vital part of a child’s education. We encourage positive behaviour through praise and reward. We seek to provide a clear and consistent framework for managing behaviour that enables children to know and understand the boundaries of acceptable behaviour so that they conduct themselves in a responsible manner, showing self-control, consideration, courtesy and respect for others.  It helps children to understand that they have responsibility to manage their own behaviour and accept the consequences of poor choices. `

We aim to promote good behaviour:

• By respecting the views, rights, beliefs and values of the individual
• By fostering and promoting good relationships and a sense of belonging to the class/school community
• By encouraging responsibility for the care of our school environment
• By offering equal opportunities and recognising the importance of different values, traditions and cultures
• By encouraging good behaviour through positive reinforcement.
• By matching curriculum and teaching methods to children’s needs and having high expectations of their work.

• Providing support mechanisms for those children who find consistent good behaviour difficult to achieve, as well as for any child who may be made unhappy by another child’s unacceptable behaviour.

These aims are embodied in The South Wonston School Charter which clearly sets out what we expect from all of the South Wonston community at all times.

South Wonston School Charter

• Always try your best
• Be kind caring and helpful to others
• Look after everything at school
• Show good manners
• Stay safe
• Tell an adult if you are unhappy.

The School Charter will be displayed in every class   (See Appendix 1)

The class teacher will review the School Charter with their class at the beginning of each academic year, outlining the schools’ expectations for behaviour at all times during the school day.

Expectations of Behaviour

Always try your best

• Children should work quietly in the classroom and other areas of the school with as little disturbance to others so that they do their best and allow others to do likewise.

• They should take pride in their work and ensure that their presentation and handwriting are of a high standard.

Be kind caring and helpful to others

• They should play sensibly in the playground encouraging friends or newcomers to join in their play or sport.

Look after everything at school

• They should show care for each other by looking after their own and others belongings both in the classroom and around the school eg picking coats and bags off the floor, maintaining an uncluttered work space, putting resources away in their correct place, helping others
• Wear full school uniform smartly and have a full PE kit

Show good manners

• Children should be encouraged to use good manners and suitable language at all times throughout the school including the hall, library, dining hall and playground
• They should address all adults politely and by name
• Be welcoming of visitors and new children
• Show a willingness to share and to wait their turn
• Wait patiently if someone is speaking
• Use ‘please and thank you and hold the door open for each other.

Stay safe

• Children should be encouraged to walk at all times in the school building and when entering and leaving the building.
• They should be reminded how to react when the whistle goes at the end of a play session and how to conduct themselves when they enter the school building  and different areas of the school, particularly during wet play.

Tell an adult if you are unhappy

• Children should be encouraged to speak to an adult or use ‘I need to talk’ box in the library if they are unhappy.

We believe that the best results, in terms of promoting good behaviour, arise from emphasising potential, giving praise both for effort and achievement, rather than focusing on failures or shortcomings and rewarding successes.

We have a core set of rewards which will be used by all staff but these will be supplemented by systems that work for individual classes or children.

We encourage patterns of good behaviour in the following way:

• Consistent use of positive praise recognising the behaviour that is taking place
• Smiles and focused verbal praise – individual or public praise and encouragement
• Involvement of another member of staff in the praise process
• In YR/Y1  - Zones of behaviour system  
• In Y2-6    – Warnings / Reflection time
• House points to recognise achievement and progress in their work
• Whole class rewards eg Marbles in a jar
• Using good behaviour as a positive example
• Weekly Gold Award Certificates
• Headteacher / Deputy Head Teacher stickers/award
• Positive feedback to parents either verbally or through written comments in the home School Planner or on work 

This list is not exhaustive – other ways are available to each teacher depending on the individual situation.

Supporting children in the teaching and learning of positive behaviour choices:

We expect all pupils to adhere to our School Rules to ensure that our school community is safe and welcoming to all. To ensure that this is possible, these general principles include:

• All adults responding to behaviour with a clear and consistent approach at all times leading by example.
• Staff will use appropriate language that supports children to make the right choice.
• Sharing with the school community the ethos of the school, which is clearly modelled by all adults.
• Encouraging pupils to have high standards of their own and others’ behaviour.
• Understanding that everyone has rights and responsibilities and encourage pupils to take responsibility for their actions.
• Helping pupils to make the right choices.
• Ensuring consequences take account of individual needs, age and on understanding of the pupils with due consideration to their specific and individual context.
•  Understanding that everyone has a right to be listened to,  to be valued, to feel and be safe.
• Raising awareness of appropriate behaviour and promoting it through positive reinforcement.

Managing Unacceptable Behaviour

At South Wonston Primary School our management of behaviour focuses on positive behaviour strategies and encouraging children to reach the highest possible standards according to the individual needs of each and every child. There are occasions when children fail to follow our expectations and do not follow the rules correctly. When faced with inappropriate behaviour that needs to change, staff may use the suggested responses below. However, we recognise that behaviour is a form of communication and the responses may vary depending on the type of behaviour being exhibited.

What  does this look like in the classroom

YR/Y1.  Each class will have a board in the classroom displaying coloured zones

Red – Amber – Green – Silver  - Gold  - White

All children begin the day in the green zone and move up or down the zones depending on their behaviour.

Y2-6:

When a child makes a poor ‘behaviour choice’ consequences must be used fairly and consistently. It is important that the child understands that the staff member is disapproving of the action and not the child.

When addressing behaviour concerns we will always:

• seek information from parents/carers and discuss with them behaviour issues, strategies and actions to promote positive behaviour as concerns arise.
• With parental consent, we will seek advice as necessary from other agencies.
• If a child’s behaviour is persistently challenging and presents a significant and consistent risk to themselves or others, we may use short periods of fixed term exclusions

Types of Behaviour Explained.

Severe Misconduct

The school does not tolerate the following types of behaviour:

• Causing physical injury to another person
• Using threatening behaviour
• Discrimination or use of derogatory language eg racial, homophobic, cultural.
• Refusal to follow instructions resulting in putting themselves or someone else in danger
• Theft or damage to property – please note if a child deliberately damages school property, the headteacher may ask the parents to pay for the damage caused.

The child will immediately lose their next playtime and their parents will be telephoned.

Responses to severe misconduct

• The child will be asked to explain reasons for their actions and asked to write a letter of apology (if appropriate)
• Time out supervised by a member of the Senior Leadership Team (where appropriate)
• A child who continues to display inappropriate behaviour over a period of time will be placed on an internal behaviour card for one week and their parents informed.  At the end of a week on a behaviour card the child’s behaviour will be reviewed by the class teacher to decide if further monitoring of their behaviour is required.

Exclusions

Exclusions from the school community, whether fixed term, lunchtime or permanent are potentially damaging to a pupils self-esteem. They diminish the sense of belonging to the community. As such they are used sparingly and only as part of an overall behaviour strategy which seeks to develop a culture of inclusion, ownership of and responsibility for one’s own behaviour.

Whilst inclusion is the overriding aim, a child will be excluded from school if appropriate following procedures established by the DFE and Local Authority.

SEN

Behaviour will be closely monitored by the SENCO so that children who consistently demonstrate poor behaviour are identified and, where appropriate, an ISP (Individual Support Plan) for behaviour will be considered. Where a plan for behaviour is devised, we would expect to see improvements to behaviour within the term. If improvements are not evident, the SENCO will consider referring to other agencies which include the behaviour support team.

Behaviour at lunchtimes

The Good Behaviour policy will be followed consistently by all members of the school community at all times during the day.

At South Wonston we expect high standards of behaviour from all the children at lunchtimes and expect them to treat lunchtime supervisors in the same manner in which they would treat teaching staff.

Lunchtime Supervisory Assistants led by the Senior Lunchtime Supervisor also follow the School Charter. We believe it is important for the children to see teachers and lunchtime staff to be working together to ensure consistency across the whole school day. At lunchtimes, children are given verbal warnings and time out. Lunchtime supervisors will inform the class teacher about behaviour incidents at the end of lunchtime.

The Senior Lunchtime Supervisor may remove a child from the playground and involve a member of the Senior Leadership team if the behaviour involves

• Physical violence towards another person
• Bullying
• Discrimination or use of derogatory language eg racial, homophobic

Opportunities to celebrate

Pupils who demonstrate good learning behaviours may be invited to share their learning with the Headteacher or other member of SLT. These behaviours reflect the expectations of the School Charter. As often as possible classroom teachers will provided parents with feedback on their child’s positive behaviour, via a note in the Home School Diary or a phone call home.

Children are frequently given House Points when they demonstrate good behaviour, upholding the vision and values of the school or complete work to a high standard. This indivual reward also contributes to the overall team outcome and helps highlight the importance of community.

We celebrate individual and group success regularly throughout the year in assembly and in the classrooms. Classrooms may have their own individual rewards based on the needs and interests of the pupils.

Whole School Certificates

Each week two Celebration Certificates will be given out per class.  One of these will be linked to the Celebration theme in our PHSE Curriculum and the other will recognise a specific aspect of a child’s learning.

Children who receive a certificate will be celebrated during our Whole School Assembly the following Monday.

Certificates will be displayed on the Celebrating Success display board in the main entrance outside the Headteacher’s office.

Marbles in a jar

The children in each class work towards collecting marbles for their class jar. The marbles are awarded by the class teacher for whole class achievements. When 15 marbles are collected the class are awarded an afternoon of Celebration Time. The children in the class decide the focus for the celebration time eg watching a film, a sports afternoon etc.

Strategies to support the development of good behaviour

Circle Time, assemblies, role-play and other drama techniques can be used to help children understand the impact of unacceptable behaviours.  Regular use of these strategies is an effective way of sharing information and provides a forum for discussing important issues such as equal rights, relationships, justice and acceptable behaviour.

Parental Involvement

As part of the ethos of the school, parents are kept fully informed of the life of their child at South Wonston.  This is achieved through regular meetings and the child’s annual end of year report.  Where particular incidents of concern occur, involving unacceptable behaviour parents of all the children concerned will be informed. 

Appendix 1 – South Wonston School Charter

Appendix 2 – Reflection sheet (KS2)

Reflecting on my behaviour

Name: _________________            Date: _________________

Which part of the School Charter did you not follow?  

Copy out the School Charter below:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________