Ysgol Ger y LlanBehaviour Policy

Our mission in Ysgol Ger y Llan VC School is;-

Happy and secure as we learn together in a Christian Community

The school’s Behaviour Policy is designed to support this ethos. It is based on the principle that every child has the right to learn and no child has the right to disrupt the learning of others.

The primary aim of the policy is that every member of the school community feels valued and respected and that each person is treated fairly. We are a caring community whose values and ethos are built on mutual trust and respect for all. The school’s Behaviour Policy supports the way all members of the school can live and work together in an effective, considerate and supportive way.

The school has high expectations of behaviour and every member of the school community is expected to behave in a considerate way towards others, creating a culture of fairness and respect. This policy aims to help children grow up in a safe and secure environment and to become positive, responsible and increasingly independent members of the school community.

The school actively promotes good behaviour, as it believes that this will develop an ethos of kindness and co-operation. This policy is designed to promote good behaviour rather than deter anti- social behaviour. The school does not tolerate bullying of any kind and we act immediately to stop any further occurrences of such behaviour. Further information is provided in our Respecting Others: Anti Bullying Policy)

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Strategies for Encouraging Positive Behaviour

Class Dojo

The school makes use of the “Class Dojo”, an online tool for awarding points for positive behaviour to each pupil individually. Points are allocated for:

staying on task good listening, good work, helping others speaking Welsh

Pupils are awarded a treat on a Friday afternoon, of their own choosing, if they have achieved the designated number of points for their class. The aim is to reward the positive behaviour rather than issue sanctions. In the event of a child causing physical harm to a pupil 5 points may be deducted from the child’s total.

Restorative Practice and Check inEach pupil ‘checks-in’ during morning registration on a score of 1-10 depending on how they are feeling that morning. Staff use of this system to make a note of any pupils with low check-ins. Pupils who are noted to have low check-ins (1-4) or consistently low check ins over a period of days will be spoken to by the teacher or by the ELSA trained member of staff to get to the bottom of the issue causing the low check in score. This is to ensure any issues the child has are resolved and behavioural related incidents are avoided. The school hold a strict no shouting policy for all staff. Staff use Restorative Practice to deal with behavioural related incidents that occur in class and during break times between pupils. Pupils use Restorative Practice sessions to restore friendships and discuss how their behaviour and actions have affected others. The pupils are then required to choose the type of sanction they receive for their punishment.

Circle Time and ELSA SupportCircle time is used widely to discuss issues relating to behaviour and school Assemblies promote Christian values and the school’s ethos, which is part and parcel of developing positive behaviour. The school’s Personal, Social and Emotional Health Education plays an integral part in encouraging positive behaviour and is a vehicle for more formal work on expected and acceptable behaviour.

The school has an ELSA (emotional literacy support assistant) trained member of staff who deals with the emotional well being of pupils. The designated member of staff is on hand to deal, not only with issues that have arisen from quarrels and fallings-out at break times and in class, but to also support class teachers with challenging behaviour in class. The member of staff is on hand to offer:

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in class support for the individual whose behaviour is causing disruption; with the aim of de-escalating the situation and returning the pupil to their work

Offering the pupil a ‘cooling down’ period away from class in which they are able to discuss that which has caused the situation to escalate, and how to resolve and prevent it in the future.

Pupils who regularly show challenging behaviour, are given regular time slots with the ELSA support in which strategies are offered to the individual to help them cope with the situations that regularly cause their behavioural issues to escalate.

Merit AssembliesDuring Friday merit assemblies, there is an opportunity for the teachers to recognise and reward good behaviour, as well as effort in work and in Welsh. Pupils who earn certificates receive a VIP badge, which they wear for the next week. This entitles them to many VIP benefits such as early dinner, choosing a treat from a lucky dip box and having a choice of joining other classes’ treats on a Friday.

The school’s mission statement and ethos are included in the school prospectus, and we expect parents to support the school so that the children receive consistent messages of how they are expected to behave in school. When we feel that it is necessary or appropriate we inform parents of any behaviour incidents as part of our close working partnership with parents.

Procedures for Dealing with Inappropriate Behaviour

With minor incidents the member of staff who witnesses it or whose attention is drawn to it will have a quiet word with the child/ren. Points will not be awarded to the child if they have not been displaying signs of positive behaviour. If the incidents are repeated or are of a more serious nature then a sanction may be applied which will reflect the seriousness of the incident and taking account of individual circumstances. The school uses a ‘Consequence System’ where consequences on a scale of 1 – 5 are awarded. Each Consequence has a different punishment.

C1 = 10 min at breaktime C2 = 20 mins at LunchtimeC3 = 2 x days of 20 mins at lunchtimeC4 = 20 mins at lunchtime supervised in the headteacher’s officeC5 = Whole day remove from class and supervised by a member of staff

If a member of staff feels that it is appropriate he/she will speak to the Headteacher who will then become involved. The aim of this is for the behaviour that is causing an issue to stop.

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If there is no improvement then the school will contact the child’s parents and invite them in to school to discuss the issue casing concern. For serious incidents, for example physical attacks towards staff/pupils or persistent aggressive, rude or disruptive behaviour, fixed term or permanent exclusions can be applied. The Headteacher may exclude a child for one or more fixed periods, for up to 45 days in one school year. The Headteacher may exclude a child permanently. It is also possible for the Headteacher to convert a fixed term exclusion into a permanent exclusion, if the circumstances warrant this. If the Headteacher excludes a child, s/he will inform the parents immediately, giving reasons for the exclusion in the form of a letter and also a phonecall. At the same time, the Headteacher makes it clear to parents that they can, if they wish, appeal against the decision to the Governing Body. The school will inform the parents how to make any such appeal in the letter provided on the day of exclusion.

The Headteacher will inform the Local Education Authority and the Governing Body about any permanent exclusions, and about any fixed-term exclusions beyond five days in any one term. The Governing Body itself cannot either exclude a child or extend the exclusion period made by the Headteacher.The Governing Body has a discipline committee, which is made up of between three and five members. This committee considers any exclusion appeals on behalf of the Governors.

When this committee meets to consider an exclusion, they consider the circumstances under which the child was excluded, consider any representation by parents and the LEA, and consider whether the pupil should be reinstated. If the committee decides that the pupil should be reinstated, the Headteacher must comply with this ruling.

Positive Holding of Pupils

The focus is to create a calm, orderly and supportive school environment using the strategies of diversion, diffusion and de-escalation in the first instance. The use of physical intervention is a dynamic and /or comprehensive risk assessment and is always used as a last resort. Staff are aware of sensitivities associated with any form of physical contact with pupils by referring to positive holding plans. Prompts, guides, escorts and use of restraints using the Team Teach techniques as the preferred package of training will be used to safeguard the welfare and wellbeing of staff and pupils. The need of each pupil are outlined following their individual risk assessment and included in their individual plan.

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What the law saysSection 93 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, replaced Section 550A of the Education Act 1996 and enables school staff to use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances to prevent a pupil from doing or continuing to do any of the following:

Committing any offence Causing personal injury to or damage to the property of any person

(including the pupil himself); or Prejudicing the maintenance of good order and discipline at the school or

among pupils receiving education at the school, whether during a teaching session or otherwise.

Four members of staff including the Headteacher have been trained in Positive Holding techniques. These four members of staff are trained to make a dynamic risk assessment when supporting pupils with challenging behaviour, and in such circumstances they will initially:

1. Request a pupil to stop and de-escalate the situation2. Remove the audience.3. Request help.

Should the incident continue staff should refer to and use the strategies their training has indicated, to ensure duty of care to all concerned, in line with best practice.

For procedure and practice information documents are kept in the Headteacher’s office.

Team teach DisclaimersIn an effort to safeguard everyone involved in a violent incident where physical interventions are necessary. The skills and techniques taught have been included as a result of an on-going risk assessed review. Whilst some physical injury potential can be reduced, there always remains some risk when two or more people engage and force is used to protect, release or restrain.

Working realitiesTeam Teach advocates that services should include in their policy a statement that reflects the working realities and likely consequences when individuals are involved in an incident involving use of force. The following statement should be made both in local and corporate policy.

‘Team Teach techniques seek to avoid injury to the service user, but it is possible that bruising or scratching may occur accidentally, and these are not to be seen necessarily as a failure of professional techniques, but a regrettable and infrequent side effect of ensuring that the service user remains safe.’ (George Matthews-Team Teach Director)

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Complaints

The school has a complaints procedure. Copies are available from the Headteacher.

Monitoring

The Headteacher, with the staff, monitors the effectiveness of this policy on a daily basis. The policy will be adapted and any changes made will be in response to particular circumstances, or if the government introduces new regulations.

The success of this Behaviour and Discipline Policy is dependant on all the staff having consistent expectations of good behaviour and using consistent approaches to deal with misbehaviour.

Signed …………………………………………. (Headteacher)

Signed …………………………………………. (Chair of Governors)

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