Academies Enterprise Trust

Percy Shurmer Academy Behaviour Policy

Statement of Intent

Our approach to behaviour is founded on an understanding that all children have a right to be safe, be happy and learn, and that they will take responsibility for their own behaviour and learning, alongside that of others.

Aims and Objectives

• The children should feel secure, through fair and consistent boundaries;
• The children should feel valued, through praise and celebration of success;
• To ensure that rules, sanctions and rewards are implemented fairly and consistently.
• To work in partnership with parents to promote the behaviour policy, inviting parents to celebration assemblies. Making time, in private if necessary, to discuss any issues their child may be having at school. Share children’s achievements with parents.

School Values

We have five core values that underpin the expectations we have of the children:

• Be Big-Hearted
• Discover What’s Possible
• Push The Limits
• Be Unusually Brave
• Be Part of a Remarkable Community

We also have a Golden Rule:

 Respect and care for all people and things in our school and world

These values are promoted through the use of Percy Passports in Years 1 - 6  Pupils, with guidance and monitoring from class teachers will record their success against these values each week. The following expectations relate directly to the school values:

• Be big-hearted
• Discover what’s possible
• Push the limits
• Be unusually brave
• Be part of a remarkable community

Rewards

We recognise that rewards should outweigh sanctions given in school. Below are examples of rewards given in school:

• ClassDojo is the main platform for rewarding positive behaviours and work. Children are able to earn individual points .
• Non-verbal (e.g. smiles, stickers, certificates)
• Verbal praise

Classroom approaches to discipline 

In addition to the whole school reward system, class teachers are responsible for creating a positive ethos through praise and rewards for good work and desirable behaviour.

• Teachers establish their own methods of rewarding positive behaviour with a consistent approach across classes in each year group and to suit the response of their pupils.
• Teaching Assistants work with the class teachers to support this positive ethos.

As always many factors have a part to play including:

• Ensuring that poor behaviour is not arising from an inappropriate level of work.
• Good classroom organisation and structures help support children who have difficulty managing their own work time
• Clearly defined guidelines and boundaries
• Quick response to acceptable behaviour
• Make positive comments to a class/individual before making a negative comment.

Sanctions

There is a whole school system in place that is implemented if the school rules are broken. It is the responsibility of all staff to model and reinforce good behaviour.

Meeting the Needs of Individuals

Prevention: Creating a safe and calm environment where mental health problems are less likely, improving the mental health and well-being of the whole school population, and equipping pupils to be resilient to manage the everyday stress of life effectively. This will include teaching pupils about mental well-being through the curriculum and reinforcing this teaching through school activities and ethos.

• Identification: Recognising emerging issues as early and accurately as possible.
• Early support: Helping pupils to access evidence-based early support and interventions.
• Access: Working effectively with external agencies to provide swift access or referrals to specialist support and treatment.

A whole school approach extends into all aspects of school life, including:

• Culture, ethos and environment: the health and well-being of pupils and staff is promoted through the ‘hidden’ or ‘informal’ curriculum, including leadership practice, the school’s policies, values and attitudes, and the social and physical environment.

• Teaching: using the curriculum to develop pupils’ knowledge about health and well-being.

• Partnerships with families and the community: proactive engagement with families, outside agencies, and the wider community to promote consistent support for children’s health and well-being.

Percy Shurmer Academy has a comprehensive programme of support for social, emotional and mental health in school, including a range of targeted intervention programmes. As a school, we have staff trained in specific interventions.

Some pupils may also have an Individual Behaviour Plan to support emotional regulation and independence.

Percy Shurmer Academy has a comprehensive programme of support for social, emotional and mental health in school, including a range of targeted intervention programmes. As a school, we have staff trained in specific interventions.

Some pupils may also have an Individual Behaviour Plan to support emotional regulation and independence.

Some children and young people may exhibit and display behaviours that act as barriers to learning and inclusion. An integral part of our holistic strategies is to overcome these barriers. We aim to provide a consistent, supportive, well-supervised environment where children and young people feel safe and secure and reach their potential through positive relationships.

Percy Shurmer Academy adopts the following general approaches to reduce the likelihood of such behaviours occurring or developing:

• Teaching and learning that at least is consistently good.
• Teaching and learning that is relevant, and differentiated to meet the needs, aptitudes and abilities of the children and young people.
• Communication of daily timetables and changes to the routines.
• The opportunity to make meaningful choices.
• Careful attention to physical and emotional needs.
• Experiences and activities which are appropriately stimulating.
• Careful management of the environment, including the setting conditions and triggers for behaviours.  
• Warm and caring relationships with adults and their influence and impact.
• Structure, predictability and consistency in daily routines;
• Clear and explicit boundaries and rules within the learning environment.
• Regular explanation of the rules and expectations.
• Clear warnings to pupils that their behaviour is a cause of concern.
•  Rewards and sanctions are consistently and fairly applied in line with the policy.

De-Escalation

Staff are encouraged to adopt a range of de-escalation techniques. These can include:

• Use of space
• Changes to the environment or change of face
• Planned positive distraction
• Verbal and/or visual advice/support
• Tactical Ignoring

As part of other de-escalation strategies, we have several ‘safe spaces’ in school to support young people in regulating their behaviour. These spaces are designed explicitly to create an environment where young people can go in a time of heightened anxiety or distress. They provide a safe place with low distraction/low stimulus to support regulation. When a young person uses a space, they are always monitored and supported by a staff member. If a young person wishes to have time alone to help them regulate or self-reflect, the staff will keep a discreet distance so that supervision can be maintained at all times.

In incidents of bullying we will follow procedures set out in the Anti Bullying Policy  

Keeping Records

Poor behaviour will be recorded, tracked and analysed electronically through Arbor (unless the child has an ABC chart and Behaviour Plan) regular patterns of poor behaviour from individual children or in certain areas; records will be used in discussions with parents and carers and outside agencies; ensure that children are made aware that all staff know of their transgressions and are motivated to modify their behaviour; give children a clear indication of how they are failing to keep to the rules.

The following types of poor behaviour should be recorded on Arbor:

• Non-compliance (after 3 verbal warnings)
• Bullying
• Racist, sexist or homophobic comments
• Verbal Abuse including swearing
• Fighting
• Stealing
• Damage to property (inline with the golden rule)

Children with Special Educational Needs (SEND)

We strongly believe that responding to the SEMH needs of children is  the responsibility of all staff in school; it is everyone’s responsibility. We recognise that Behaviour is a form of communication. As a school we take a non-judgmental, curious and empathic attitude towards behaviour that focuses on feeling and emotions rather than the behaviour itself.

We use Emotion Coaching Approaches  (See appendix 3)  in their everyday practice, with a  particular focus on the central principles of empathy, connection, attunement, trust and co-regulation alongside other strategies to help the child regulate their emotions. These strategies are added into the child’s behaviour plan so that a consistent approach is used to support the child.

As a school we work in partnership with a range of organisations to support and develop behaviour plans for our children with complex needs. We adopt the approaches suggested by organisations such as The Down’s Syndrome Society and Autism Outreach so that the interventions suit the needs of the child.

Physical Intervention (Team Teach)

Please refer to guidance from the DfE on this issue Use of reasonable force in schools.   To summarise, restraint is a last resort but should be used when there is risk of harm to themselves or others, and other approaches are not working.  To engage in physical handling is the practitioner’s choice, however to not do so in some instances may compromise their duty of care over the children.   When restraint has been used, this will be recorded on CPOMs and parents informed. 

Being put on Report

It is essential that a regular written record of behaviour is kept in case further action is required. This will be the responsibility of the Class Teacher and the designated member of the SLT together with contributions from any staff who are involved.

Exclusion

The school follows the AET guidance.

Exclusion should not be decided in the heat of the moment although rapid response can be made if there is an immediate risk to the safety of others in the school or the pupil concerned. A decision to exclude a child will be taken if:

● The pupil seriously breaches the school discipline policy in a violent way;

● A range of alternative strategies have been tried and failed;

● If allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the welfare of the pupil, other pupils, or staff;

● Exclusion can be a response to a single very exceptional incident or more usually as a result of a number of incidents growing in seriousness over a period of time.

Before reaching a decision the Principal will:

● Consider the written evidence. If there is doubt that the pupil actually did what is alleged, the pupil will not be excluded.

● Allow the pupil to give their version of events.

● Check whether racial, sexual or other forms of harassment provoked the incident and take these into consideration.

● If necessary consult the Regional Education Director.  

The class teacher of an excluded pupil is required to set and mark for the duration of the exclusion period in line with the AET recommendations. Fixed term exclusions cannot exceed 15 days in a single block and 45 days in a school year. In any event after 6 days of exclusion the child is required to follow an education programme at school.

Pupils’ behaviour outside school gates

Teachers have a statutory power to discipline pupils for misbehaving outside of the school premises. Section 89(5) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 gives head teachers a specific statutory power to regulate pupils’ behaviour in these circumstances ‘to such extent as is reasonable’.

Subject to the school’s behaviour policy, the teacher may discipline a pupil for any misbehaviour when the child is:

▪ taking part in any school-organised or school-related activity or

▪ travelling to or from school or

▪ wearing school uniform or in some other way identifiable as a pupil at the school.

Misbehaviour at any time, whether or not the conditions above apply, that:
▪ could have repercussions for the orderly running of the school or
▪ poses a threat to another pupil or member of the public or
▪ could adversely affect the reputation of the school.

Appendix 1

EMOTION COACHING TIPS

Step 1: empathise, validate and label

• Recognise all emotions as being natural and normal, and not a matter of choice
• Look for physical and verbal signs of the emotion being felt
• Take on the student’s perspective. Build on attunement with the young person
• Use words to reflect back the student’s emotion and help them to label the emotion
• Affirm and empathise, allowing the student to calm down through co-regulation
• Provide a narrative for the emotional experience, creating cognitive links through co-learning
• co-regulation: the adult sets the emotional tone – not the adult reflecting back the angry or distressed face of the child, but the child being able to reflect the calm and empathic face of the adult

Step 2: set limits

• State the boundary limits of acceptable behaviour
• Make it clear that some behaviours cannot be accepted

Step 3: problem-solve with the child

When the child is calm and in a relaxed and rational state:

• Explore the feelings that gave rise to the behaviour, problem, or incident
• Remember that all feelings are acceptable
• We manage our feelings by making choices about how we respond
• Scaffold alternative ideas and actions that could lead to more appropriate and productive outcomes
• Empower the child or young person to believe they can overcome difficulties and manage their own feelings and behaviour