Behaviour and Discipline Policy
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’I pray that you……may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ’ Ephesians 3:18 |
Countess Anne School
A Church of England Academy
Our school is a place that will be known for….
- Academic provision that recognises the need for excellence in teaching and learning.
- Holistic provision that encourages Christian hope; building spirit and soul through faith orientated pastoral care.
- Inspirational provision through a modern curriculum that celebrates diversity and provides new opportunities.
Behaviour and Discipline Policy
We believe that children thrive in a happy, secure and caring environment. It is an essential part of a Christian school ethos that the values of peace, love and caring for others should be core values that we respect and agree.
We will encourage self-discipline, self-reliance, initiative and the development of the individual and see an agreed code of conduct as supporting those aims.
We actively promote the school values of forgiveness, honesty, politeness, consideration, caring, happiness, kindness, patience, respect and encouragement and believe these values will lead to a more fulfilled life.
Therefore the school community has the following expectations:
- all governors, staff, children and parents will be co-operated with and treated respectfully.
- all parties will enter into school life prepared to demonstrate consideration to those around them.
- all parties will work together to produce behaviour that is conducive to a safe learning environment.
Refusal to co-operate with these expectations will not be tolerated. In particular rudeness, physical or verbal abuse towards any of our staff and children, as well as inappropriate behaviour at school events will not be accepted.
The aim of the Discipline and Behaviour Policy:
Is to create a purposeful learning environment in which all have the opportunities to further themselves and others.
The following School Rules will help us in fulfilling our aim:
School Rules:
Be considerate
Be polite
Take care of property
Try our best
Listen to others
The above are to be achieved by all of us following the ‘How to of behaviour’:
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How to behave well in your:
Classroom
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How to behave well in the:
Cloakroom
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How to behave well in the:
Dining Room
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How to behave well in:
Assembly
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How to behave well when:
Lining up
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How to behave well when:
Moving around the school
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Awards
We believe that children respond to praise and we will seek to reinforce good behaviour with a positive approach to the management of the children in the school.
We have a number of awards for children who strive for good standards of work and behaviour. These include:-
- Team Points that are awarded for effort
- Head Teacher’s Awards for effort and hard work during the week
- Golden Awards which are awarded by the children of the class to someone they feel has shown the school values during the week.
- Class Teachers will also have their own stickers, badges etc
- Attendance and Punctuality Awards: these are given to whole classes who work together to have the best attendance and punctuality in the school.
Make Believers
We have representatives of years 2 to 6 who meet regularly to discuss ways of improving our school. They are also responsible for developing the school rules and dealing with issues that arise over poor behaviour.
Discipline
Although we expect children to be self-disciplined and responsible members of the school community there are occasions where rewards are failing and sanctions may be imposed.
For pupils who persistently break the School Rules a range of supportive classroom and whole school strategies will be employed – these include:
- Rewarding those working well.
- Using the tick system to reward under the smiley face and also as a warning when a tick is placed under the unhappy face. This is most effective if carried out with little notice being given to the child mis-behaving. Three ticks will result in the child being sent to the class above with a behaviour card for the rest of the work period. Year 6 children will be sent to an infant class or to the Head teacher’s office. Each child has a behaviour card because it is important to record incidents where children are not able to work with their peers and these records can provide useful evidence for referrals to external agencies or when discussing a child’s behaviour with their parents. When a child has two such incidents on the card parents will be informed and consideration will be given to the possibility of what the underlying causes for the misbehaviour could be.
- Time out place; where a child can place themselves to prepare to get back to work. This will probably be used by those children who are close to being sent from the room but see that they need to change what they are doing (Calm down, move away from friend, etc).
- May use a Special Book which can be used to draw, scribble or write out of the situation they are in (angry, sad, distracted etc).
Working towards improved behaviour:
Listed below are 9 stages which the school will use to help make a child aware of their inappropriate behaviour and to introduce support mechanisms to help the child change their behaviour:
Stage 1:
Incidents are recorded on a child’s behaviour card.
Stage 2:
If two incidents are recorded within 6 weeks, (approx. length of a half-term) a reasonable period of time then the child breaking the school rules will be called to see the Head Teacher and told that if the behaviour carries on then their parents will be informed.
Stage 3:
If the behaviour fails to improve within the following week then the parents of the misbehaving child will be invited in to see the Head Teacher/Class teacher and an agreed strategy is put together in order to help the child improve.
Stage 4:
If the child repeats the misbehaviour then they will be internally excluded from their class. At this point a Home School Contact book which records a child’s behaviour each day against an agreed (child/school) target will be set up.
(From Stages 5 onwards the School Governors will be informed of a child’s progress.)
Stage 5:
If the targets at stage 4 are not met then the child will be temporarily excluded for one day.
Stage 6:
In an effort to prevent further exclusions the school will now put into place a Personal Support Programme, (P.S.P) for the child and in addition seek the advice and help of external agencies in order to provide a programme of planned support for the child.
Some types of external support require the permission from the parents of the child. If however this permission is not forthcoming within two weeks then the school will proceed with what strategies it can – these failing; it will move onto stage 7.
Stage 7:
If improvements in the child’s behaviour have not been seen within an agreed time then the child will be excluded for two days.
Stage 8:
At this point the child’s behaviour targets will be reassessed. However a five day exclusion may be issued as a final warning if improvements in the child’s behaviour have not been seen within the new agreed time.
Stage 9:
Following a five day exclusion if misbehaviour is still evident against the targets set then the child will be permanently excluded from school.
Please note that if a child has made a clear effort to improve their behaviour and has maintained this for at least a term but then find that they revert back to their misbehaviour then they shall enter the stages at stage 3.
Helping parents to understand their child’s behaviour
So that our parents’ best understand the expectations that the school has of their children, the school provides termly attendance & behaviour grades for pupils in years 2 – 6. This is to provide transparency when there is discussion about expectations between the school and its pupils and families.
The grades are there to support parents in rewarding their children’s good behaviour and for encouraging better behaviour where necessary.
The termly grades are collected by the senior management team of the school. The grades are analysed in order to see if appropriate behaviour is being achieved across the school and whether enough support is in place to help any necessary improvement.
If a child’s attendance falls below what is expected then the school will contact the family immediately in order to ascertain the reasons for the absence. The attendance grades will be used to help the family understand what is regarded as appropriate and give them something to aim for.
If a child’s behaviour is graded as C* for two terms in a row then they are placed on report card. This means that they will meet weekly with the Deputy Headteacher about how to best achieve their behaviour targets. The Dep. Hd. will work with the pupil and their family to review progress and to decide on the next steps in order to help the child improve their behaviour. The child will move up and down the 9 stages of improving behaviour – see previous section; pending on how well their behaviour is progressing.
*Please see Appendix 1 for the school’s Attendance and Behaviour Grades.
Bullying and Racism
We are aware that at some point in a person’s life they may find themselves being bullied or having racial abuse directed towards them and that these incidents are not necessarily peculiar to school communities but can be found within the wider community. At Countess Anne we are committed to making every effort to prevent these things from taking place within our school. Children who act in such a way will be helped to see the wrong of their actions, however those children who persistently misbehave in this manner will be permanently excluded.
The school definitions set out below were put together after consultation with DFe guidance, the pupils, staff, governors and parents of the school and form a common ground from which the school can follow a procedure of identifying cases of bullying and racism, and how to deal with such incidents:
School definition of bullying - B:
Bullying is the intentional hurting, intimidating or tormenting of any other person, whether physically or emotionally on more than two occasions. The school however recognises that one occasion of e-bullying could lead to multiple repeat occurrences.
School definition of racism -R:
Any incident perceived to be racist by the victim or anyone else.
Promotion of an Anti-Bullying/Racist ethos:
- It is the duty of all staff, pupils, parents and visitors to promote this policy by reporting incidents of bullying and racism to the school.
- The school will use the opportunities that appropriate curriculum topics, visiting speakers, school trips, assemblies, circle time, school council, one to one mediation meetings and parental contact provide to promote an anti-bullying and anti-racist ethos within the school.
- The school’s playground policy will reflect the school’s approach to bullying and racism by including a pupil map to indicate high risk areas where children might feel vulnerable.
- The school is committed to training supervisors in helping them to deal with such incidents and how to create a positive climate for the children to play in.
- The school is committed to improving the children’s environment and to ensuring that there is appropriate supervision.
Bullying and Racist incidents will be dealt with in the same manner as other incidents of breaking the School Rules – i.e. the school shall follow the 9 stage approach outlined. However Stage 1 should be read as follows:
Stage 1:
Incidents are recorded in the school’s incident folder and marked by the letter B or R according to the agreed definitions.
Exceptional Circumstances:
In addition please note that some incidents of a drug, racial, sexual or violent nature can result in a child being immediately excluded from school.
Reviewing the above policy:
Reviewed annually as part of the governors’ Spring Term focus on Safeguarding.
Appendix 1:
Behaviour and Attendance grades:
Behaviour:
A) The pupil is highly committed to learning, is always well prepared for work, shows enthusiasm and completes work to the best of his/her ability. They demonstrate respect for the learning of others and are prepared to engage with opportunities beyond their classroom.
B) The pupil usually shows commitment to learning by being ready for lessons and completing work to an appropriate standard. They show enthusiasm for most areas of the curriculum and in the main recognise their need to respect the learning experience of others.
C) The pupil can show a commitment to learning but this is inconsistent. For some lessons he/she is unsettled and not ready to engage and try their best. In addition sometimes their behaviour disturbs the learning of others showing a lack of respect towards those that they share their learning with. Occasionally they will show signs of improvement and demonstrate enthusiasm, commitment and respect, all of which need to be developed further.
D) The pupil shows very little interest in their learning and is often disengaged in what is going on in the classroom / school. They frequently show a lack of respect towards their peers disturbing the learning of others.
Attendance:
A) Excellent: 98 – 100% attendance and or punctuality have a positive impact on the pupil’s progress enabling them to benefit fully from what school life has to offer.
B) Good: 95% - 97% attendance and /or punctuality do not have a negative impact on the pupil’s progress.
C) Variable: 90% - 94% attendance and / or punctuality are having a negative effect on the pupil’s progress.
D) Poor: Less than 90 % attendance and / or punctuality seriously affect the pupil’s progress. If persistent the pupil’s lack of attendance will be referred to the local authority.
Reviewed: June 2024, next review date: June 2025
