Behaviour

Introduction

Our behaviour policy is available to read or download in the key information area of our website in the policies and statutory documents section.

Safeguarding Statement

At Elson Junior School we value the development of all children. We recognise that children have a right to an education and are committed to providing a safe, caring and friendly learning environment for all our pupils. We believe that every pupil should be able to participate in all school activities in a safe and enjoyable environment and be protected from harm. This is the responsibility of every adult employed by, or invited to deliver services at Elson Junior School. We recognise our responsibility to safeguard all who access school and promote the welfare of all our pupils by protecting them from physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and bullying. Safeguarding at Elson Junior School is carried out in line with the statutory guidance in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ published by the Department for Education. Our behaviour policy should be read in conjunction with the school’s Safeguarding, Child Protection and Staff Code of Conduct Policies.

Introduction

Our core values drive the actions that we take at Elson Junior School to prepare everyone in our community for the future. We want everyone in our school community to be equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to participate as successful members of our community both today and in the future. When we refer to learners, we are using that term to include both adults and children. Elson Junior School is a learning community.

At Elson Junior School, we believe that all children have the right to learn and adults have the right to teach. Our Behaviour Policy is a system in our school that aims to be fair, consistent and clear in order to support learning in our classrooms. It is underpinned by the principles of British Values outlined in the National Curriculum.

At Elson Junior School we aim to:

      Ensure our school values of aspiration, compassion, adaptability, integrity and creativity are underpinned by high standards of behaviour from all stakeholders;

      Ensure our school rules are followed by all ‘Ready, Respectful, Safe’

      Develop learners’ understanding of personal responsibility;

      Have a clear and shared understanding of what good behaviour looks like;

      Have a clear and shared understanding of what unacceptable behaviour is and that there are consequences for our choices;

      Fully involve parents and carers;

      Ensure that rewards and sanctions are clear, understood and applied consistently and fairly by all stakeholders;

      Regularly monitor, review and act upon patterns and trends in the school to support individuals and improve outcomes for all.

Principles

We believe in the power of education to broaden all learners’ horizons and raise expectations. At Elson Junior School, we work with all learners in order to develop positive learning behaviours that will enable them to have the skills, knowledge and understanding to plot a safe and hopeful map to the future.

Learners are encouraged to be responsible for their learning and choices in and out of school, by recognition of their good behaviour and attitude, through positive acknowledgement, praise and a system of rewards. Pupil voice and responsibility is encouraged through School Ambassadors, School Council, School Monitors such as Librarians and Eco-Monitors, Team Captains, Head Girl and Head Boy and the Eco Council.

We recognise the importance of positive partnership with parents and caregivers. Parents and carers are encouraged to take an interest in their child’s progress. Children will be recognised for their hard work, effort and positive attitude in a variety of ways: post card home, Headteacher and Assistant Headteacher Awards, team points and special assemblies. Teachers and parents will work together at an early stage to support the child when behaviour is at odds with our school expectations. Our Home School Link Worker is available to offer support to families in our Elson Community.

Adults in school will model good behaviour themselves and remind children of the behaviour that is expected from them. They will endeavour to investigate and evaluate any incidents in line with this policy.   In the first instance, the class teacher will manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment in line with this policy. Therefore, any questions parents have regarding their child’s behaviour should be directed to the class teacher. The Senior Leadership Team is available should parents wish to discuss their child further.

We have high expectations at Elson Junior School, including the behaviour of all our stakeholders. Our policy and expected learning behaviours are developed around the Elson Junior School core values: aspiration, integrity, compassion, adaptability and creativity. These values provide a framework and guide for desired learning behaviours and characteristics. These are resilience, focus, independence, self-regulation, respect and boundaries.

Expected Outcomes of our Behaviour Policy

      A purposeful and calm atmosphere in school

      Clarity of purpose and understanding from everyone to uphold our school values

      Clear boundaries and expectations for acceptable behaviour to ensure physical and emotional safety for all.

      Increasing evidence of the development of ‘growth mindsets’ amongst staff and pupils

      Children who are growing in personal responsibility and independence.

      Caring, positive attitudes towards each other where achievements at all levels are valued and celebrated.

      A collectively shared responsibility amongst the school community for addressing barriers to pupils positively engaging with school and their learning.

Parental and Carer Engagement

We believe that outcomes for our pupils are most successful when we are able to work in partnership with parents and carers. We will listen to the views of parents and carers and respect their views. In turn, parents and carers should support the aims of the school and seek to support the key elements of our behaviour policy. Staff will keep parents informed about expectations and procedures surrounding behaviour and part of routine procedure will inform parents of any further support required to guide behaviour. If a child’s behaviour has been unsafe, violent or disruptive to learning, parents or carers will be asked to come in to school and support their child in the classroom or as part of an inclusion.Our expectations of all members of our community are detailed within our Home School Agreement.

High Quality Teaching

It is vital that teaching and planning for learning is of the highest quality. When the learning opportunities and teaching are strong then pupil engagement is highest. It is the class teacher’s responsibility to ensure that lessons are well planned and resourced. At Elson we provide continuing professional development to our staff to ensure they are able to reflect on their practice and pursue improvement.

Learning Environment

We recognise the importance of a well organised and calm learning environment to support productive learning behaviours and aim to provide a safe, well organised space for children to learn in. It is the responsibility of school staff to ensure that the school is well organised, tidy and safe to enable children to learn and access resources. Pupils are expected to contribute to this by keeping their learning areas tidy.

In order to keep our school community safe, dangerous items (weapons, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, solvent based products, cigarette lighters, matches and aerosols) should not be brought on to the school site by pupils. Offensive weapons, or items used as offensive weapons, will be immediately confiscated and their origin investigated. Unless the parents are thought to have condoned the child bringing the weapon into school, they will be immediately informed. The weapon will be retained and the police informed. In all circumstances, the first priority will be to ensure the safety and well-being of the children. Any such incident will be dealt with directly by the Headteacher.

Special Educational Needs

We recognise the importance of acknowledging the causes of poor behaviour, especially where these are linked to special educational needs and/or emotional difficulties. In these cases, strong home/school links and partnership with other agencies are vital. Our aim is to ensure that pupils in difficulty are enabled to control their behaviour through appropriate support and education. For some of our pupils this will be reflected in their individual behaviour management plan and sometimes a personal risk assessment. However, where the health and safety of pupils and/or staff is compromised, or wider school discipline undermined, pupils with SEND are not considered exempt from exclusion due to their special needs or emotional difficulties.

Bullying (see separate policy)

Everyone at Elson Junior School has the right to feel welcome, safe and happy. This will mean that all members of our community are able to achieve to their maximum potential. We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our pupils so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, the victims should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. We are a TELLING school. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell some-one in line with our procedures.

Bullying is behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, which intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally. It can often involve the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more people. Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim.

Bullying can be:

Emotional – being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures, ‘looks’ talking about someone to others)

Physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence

Racist – racial taunts, graffiti, gestures

Sexual – unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments

Homophobic – because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality

Verbal – name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing

Cyber – All areas of internet ,such as email & internet chat room misuse, mobile threats by text messaging & calls, misuse of associated technology , i.e. camera & video facilities

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