Behaviour Policy
Behaviour Policy
Behaviour Policy for RowanfieldGeneral aims of policy.
In Rowanfield we ensure that the education we provide is ?directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person to their fullest potential?
The purpose of this behaviour policy is to support the educational and emotional well being of children and staff. It also ensures that all members of the school community uphold the values of the school.
The City of Edinburgh Council Education Department principles are to
· recognize and invest in the potential of every learner,
· value diversity and promote equality,
· realise the potential of and value our staff,
· encourage participation in the development and delivery of our service,
· protect the environment and make creative, responsible use of resources and
· communicate openly and be fair in all our work.
At Rowanfield we value Justice, Trust, Respect, Compassion, Honesty and Learning.
The school aims to work to support these values with integrity, consistency fairness co-operation and clarity. We use teamwork approaches and aim to be non-judgmental.
Rationale for the policy.
All of the children are experiencing some form of social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulty and many have very low self-esteem. Many have experienced elements of failure in previous educational settings. It is very important to maintain a consistently positive approach with minimal punishment and with an emphasis on individual and group responsibility. This does not mean lowering standards of behaviour.
How aims are met.
Golden Rules
Rowanfield?s Golden Rules were developed from Jenny Mosley?s Golden Rules and form the basis for behaviour management. They are also explicitly taught as part of the curriculum to develop emotional literacy and social skills.
The Golden Rules are
1. Be kind
2. Be helpful
3. Be safe
4. Work hard
The school understands that these rules and expectations may differ from those of a child?s home or community. We therefore ask at admission and at the start of each new session that children and parents give written agreement to the rules as acceptable expectations in school. This is kept in the child?s IEP. Awareness of this agreement should be maintained and a copy of the Golden Rules should be in children?s home /school diaries if used.
At all times children are expected to follow the Golden Rules with support from the systems and procedures in this Behaviour Policy.
The Golden Rules* are displayed in every area of the school, are to be followed by all members of the school community and are taught by example by staff. They are reinforced and referred to in all praise and correction of behaviour, in an age appropriate manner.
* Routines/rules for a particular area should be displayed separately from the Golden Rules and there should be no more than necessary (maximum of three).
At the beginning of each term each team has an assembly to remind children of the Golden Rules and has a ?free? Golden Time.
Resources to support the teaching of the Golden Rules are located in the Library and may be signed out as necessary.
Helping children to keep Golden Rules
The aim of the behaviour policy is to encourage children to behave well, to allow them opportunities to make positive choices and to support them when they have difficulty behaving as we would wish.
The Golden Rules can address most negative behaviours and wherever possible behaviour management should be approached through the Golden Rules procedure.
Golden Rules Reminder Procedure
1. Remind child of rule using a quiet verbal warning ? and allow brief take up time.
(if necessary)
2. Remind of rule again and place Time Out card in sight. Offer choice of keeping rule or taking time out. Allow brief take up time.
(if necessary)
3. Instruct to take time out with short reminder if necessary that to do so correctly does not incur consequences. (see Time Out section below)
Positive behaviour management and de-escalation strategies
Practical suggestions for positive behaviour management are listed in Appendix 1
These strategies should always be in use to encourage positive behaviour and any negative behaviour should have as early and light an intervention as possible.
It is important to remember that negative behaviour may need different responses according to the needs of a particular child, but the acceptability of a particular behaviour should remain consistent.
Time Out
Children are expected to be participating in all learning activities, but time out of activities may be necessary if a child is having difficulty in following the Golden Rules. It is important to intervene early and firmly but as positively as possible to prevent escalation of low level behaviours.
Time out is not seen as punitive but as an acceptable way for a child to recover co-operation. Children are actively taught that time out is a way of controlling negative behaviour and avoiding negative consequences.
Time out occurs according to the Golden Rules reminder procedure or at a child?s request. Time out cards are available in every class as a visual sign of instruction/permission to children and to inform staff outwith class. Time out may be as brief as necessary, but must be taken if allocated and is supervised. No child should be left unsupervised although the supervision may be done discreetly.
The amount of time spent out should be the minimum necessary and its effectiveness carefully monitored. Since time out is generally viewed as a positive behaviour, imposing consequences for misuse should be carefully considered, but is at the discretion of staff working with the child and dependent on the individual child?s needs. Refusal to take time out is a Level 2 behaviour. (see below)
The need for time out may arise because a child is not in a sufficiently settled state to be part of the learning activity. In these circumstances it may be helpful to allow the child to have an alternative activity.
At times it may be apparent that a child is choosing to take time out to avoid a learning activity. At these times a child should be allowed to take the time out but aware that the learning activity will have to be done at another time. The unwillingness to participate in the learning activity should be examined, if only to eliminate possible contributing factors.
For children from P4 onwards, time out can be taken in any of the following places and staff should make the judgement of which is most appropriate.
· In class (in an area where eye contact with others is restricted)
· In the activity area
· On the bench
· In the support base
· In the cool off room
For children P1 ? 3 the time out procedure is likely to be replaced by physical proximity of a staff member supporting a child in appropriate behaviour. Where appropriate, children should have time out in the classroom, activity area or bench. The support base should only be used in exceptional circumstances, although Behaviour Assistant support can be sought in the class/team area.
Use of Support Base/Baseroom
If any child needs time out in the support base, support staff from the team should accompany him/her there and stay to work in conjunction with the Behaviour Support Team. Teachers are required to remain with the class/group. Time out in the base is recorded and monitored through the Support Base log.
If a situation escalates quickly, it may be necessary to send for help from the Behaviour Assistants.
The Behaviour Support Team does not have a punitive role. They work to de-escalate the situation to enable the child to return to the team area. As part of the return to team/class they will try to prepare the child to resolve the difficulties, but in order not to undermine class discipline the resolution itself must take place with the member of staff with whom the behaviour occurred. Behaviour Assistants can, if necessary, cover the class briefly to allow this to be done.
Should a child need more time out to settle his/her behaviour a child may be set work in the Baseroom after discussion with Depute Head or Principal Teacher. S/he will return to team/class after a breaktime, having resolved the issue with the appropriate person.
The baseroom is also used for internal exclusions, when a child is not able to work in the team/class. This is time specific and work is given by the class teacher to baseroom staff
Recognition of positive behaviour
Golden Time.
Golden Time /choosing time is the basis of reward and sanction within the school. This time is built in to a child?s school day as often as is necessary to help children maintain positive behaviour. If a child follows the Golden Rules, he/she is rewarded with Golden Time. The rules/reward relationship should be emphasised to the children.
Golden Time consists of activities that are desirable to each child. These activities should be decided upon in consultation with the children to ensure that they are as motivating as possible and should be varied as necessary.
Teams may make arrangements for more high profile Golden Time e.g. on Fridays, or as a ?special? to encourage a particular target in behaviour. This can be managed by teams/classes according to need.
If a child is having persistent difficulty in earning Golden Time then the use of TATTs should be considered. This should be discussed with PT/EL&T. It is the responsibility of the class teacher to monitor the amount of Golden Time earned by each child and to liaise with PT,EL&T if necessary.
Notelets.
If a child or class follows a Golden Rule particularly well or in particularly difficult circumstances this can be recognised by the giving of a yellow notelet. These notelets are available to all members of staff.
Certificates.
Rowanfield has a whole school assembly every Friday where we celebrate success. Children may be presented with a certificate gained by following
the Golden rules. We have 3 levels for this- bronze, silver and gold ? earned consecutively. When a child receives a certificate s/he ?s name is put into a raffle which is drawn at the end of each term (October, December, April and June).
Each child?s name is put on a display board at the front entrance so s/he can see their progress.
Responses to unacceptable behaviour
It is considered necessary, not only for school but for the wider aspects of their lives, to help children to develop a recognition and acknowledgement of unacceptable behaviour. In school, responses to unacceptable behaviour differ according its degree. There is a general guide to levels of behaviour and the response likely to result in Appendix 2. Awareness that a child?s circumstances might be contributing to difficulty in managing in school should wherever possible result in a pro-active increase in support rather than a tolerance of unacceptable behaviour.
Sanctions
Loss of Golden Time is the only sanction. Other responses should not be used as an alternative, but only where the degree of unacceptable behaviour requires a stronger response. Children should not lose any learning activities as a result of unacceptable behaviour unless this is discussed with PT/EL&T
Loss of Golden Time.
If, after the use of the reminder procedure, time out is not taken correctly or unacceptable behaviour continues then loss of Golden Time in small increments results.
Golden Time is also lost as an automatic response to behaviours described as Level 2 in App 2.
Earning back of Golden Time should not be offered routinely although there may be occasionally circumstances where its use would be appropriate.
All children should attend Golden Time sessions. Children who have time lost should sit at a table in the Golden Time area with a sand timer until the time lost is completed. This helps make clear to children both time lost and time remaining available. Tasks relating to the Golden Rule broken may be given at this time if children have difficulty waiting. If children have lost more than 10 minutes of Golden Time, a restorative activity of the teacher?s choice may be given. The Golden Time slot should only be used to catch up on work missed if it is clear that a child has been deliberately avoiding work through misbehaviour.
Class teachers and in-class support have overall responsibility for Golden Time allocation. Red notelets are available to all staff to communicate time lost to the class teacher. They should only be used to help keep track of time lost and are not sent home.
Challenging Behaviour
All children are likely to display challenging behaviour of some sort. Behaviour is classified on three levels: classroom (i.e. dealt with by general classroom management procedures), Level 2 and Beyond Level 2 (Appendix 2)
Very challenging behaviour can occur after a very short build up and without opportunity to use preventative strategies, but ways of intervening in challenging behaviour are given in Appendix 3.
It is important to intervene early, to use the lowest effective response and to employ de-escalation techniques. The principle of acceptance of the child, rejection of the behaviour should always apply.
Staff should be aware of each other and assist in difficult situations. It is not necessary for one staff member to ?see a situation through?, and at times this can be counter productive. Handing over to someone else can sometimes reduce tension and allow calmness to be restored more easily. Resolution of problems can take place more effectively when this has been achieved.
Behaviour profiles are written as a Risk Assessment for every child, which detail de-escalation strategies and safest CALM techniques for the individual. These profiles are kept in the child?s IEP and should be updated as necessary. A copy for every child is also kept in the Support Base.
Children who frequently display challenging behaviour should be put forward for discussion at the multi-disciplinary meeting. These are held on Wednesdays at 3.00 in the library. As teaching and support staff attend these, names for discussion are displayed in the staffroom. At these meetings additional support will be considered. Minutes are taken and shared with appropriate staff.
A specialised programme will be designed for them, and shared with those who will action it. This information will be kept with the Behaviour Profile in the IEP and the Support Base. The programme will be reviewed regularly within the multi agency meeting.
Use of physical intervention.
As part of our duty of care, it may be necessary to hold children. This is only done, after risk assessment, to prevent significant harm to others, self or property. The CALM system is used and CALM training is highly encouraged. This is available to staff through a rolling programme of in-house training, delivered by staff trained as instructors. For legal reasons, other staff should not instruct.
CALM promotes de-escalation at all times and children are actively encouraged to make appropriate choices.
The school discusses physical intervention with parents at admission.
Staff should remember
· De-escalation should be used whenever possible
· You should have good grounds for feeling justified in intervening physically
· You have a duty of care to pupils in your charge, but you should not attempt to intervene if the situation is too dangerous
· If you are not trained in CALM, you are still obliged by your duty of care to intervene as appropriate, although trained staff should lead where possible.
· If you have a pre-existing injury or weakness, school advice at present is not to intervene in situations where there is a high risk of further injury
· If your intervention is likely to make a situation more dangerous (e.g. if a young child might run on to a road) then act with due caution
· If you are on your own and uncertain of containing a situation, send for support before intervening. There is a red card beside each door in every area for this purpose. If the situation is extremely dangerous, use the panic button.
After a serious incident it is important to remember that
· Children are likely to need time to get themselves together away from the group. The Support Base can be used for this purpose with staff from the teams working in conjunction with the Behaviour Support Team.
· Adults involved in incidents may also need time away from the group. Please see PT,EL&T or DHT to arrange this. No member of staff should feel reluctant to ask for time to recover-it is their right.
· The immediate aftermath of an incident is unlikely to be the best time to talk things through, but everything possible will be done to provide the necessary individual support at an appropriate time. However, all staff should feel able to ask for the individual time/counselling for which they feel the need.
Documentation
Three forms may be required for the reporting of incidents, depending on circumstances.
Incident Form. This is the school?s internal recording form. It should be completed for any Level 2 or Beyond Level 2 incident/behaviour.
These forms should be given in to the base for action as appropriate and for filing.
Violent Incident Form. These are for reporting violent incidents towards City of Edinburgh staff to the Education Department. It is at your own discretion whether you complete this form but is valuable as the only evidence for the Department of the number and type of incidents which occur. The school?s incident form can be copied and attached as the description of the event.
The original should be given to the DHT to be forwarded to the Department.
A copy of the first two pages should be given to the base to be attached to the relevant incident form.
HS1Accident Form For any injury to a child or adult there is a legal obligation to fill in an Accident Form. These forms are kept in the office. A form should be completed by the Deputy Head if your Violent Incident Form states that you have been hurt
A minor injuries book is kept in the Support Base for recording accidents that do not need an HS1 form. Teachers should inform parents of any minor injury.
Other Information
The Behaviour Support Team record visits to the base or incidents where they have been called to assist. They record incidents which occur in the base, including use of CALM or cool off rooms. They keep a record of letters sent home by the Behaviour Support Team.
Bus escorts record behaviour on the transport through weekly behaviour sheets which are collected and monitored by the Behaviour Support Team
The PT/EL&T and the Child and Family Team record contacts with parents concerning behaviour and pass on information using a Parental Contact Form.
Contact with parents
Class teachers can make daily reports to parents through a home/school diary. Care should be taken to make this contact as positive as possible without overlooking incidents that have occurred even during a generally good day. . Staff need to take account of Level 2 communications that will be issued from the Support Base when completing their contact information in order to avoid contradictory information being received by parents. A simple symbol system is often advisable as this is easy to administer by staff and interpret by parents.
For Level 2 behaviours an Information letter or Golden Rules Reminder letter is sent by the Behaviour Assistants, depending on severity /frequency of behaviour. They will also inform parents if a CALM hold or the cool off room has been used. It is therefore necessary that incident forms are delivered to the base in time for this to be done. The sending of these letters is logged. If behaviour persists, parents will be contacted by PT,EL&T.
For Beyond Level 2 behaviour parents will be contacted by PT,EL&T. to discuss the difficulties.
Exclusion
In accordance with City of Edinburgh guidelines, children will be temporarily excluded from school when their behaviour requires a response that cannot immediately be formulated or achieved.
Appendices.
1. Practical suggestions for positive behaviour management
2. Behaviour levels.
3. Ways of intervening with challenging behaviour Back to top