Behaviour Policy

Policy details

• Date created - 01/07/2024
• Date approved - 13/06/2024
• Next review date - 01/09/2025
• Policy owner - Shirley Carrigan and Paul Atkins

Overview

At Co-op Academy Grove, we are committed to creating an environment where everyone is expected to maintain the highest standards of personal conduct, to accept responsibility for their behaviour and encourage others to do the same. Our academy rules are…

Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe

●           We understand that not all pupils arrive to our academy knowing how to behave and what our high expectations are, these must be taught.

●      We ensure that all pupils are taught the rules, relentless routines and all staff must follow visible consistencies so that our children are proud of belonging to Co-op Academy Grove and wear their badge with pride.

We agree with Paul Dix;

‘Good behaviour is recognised sincerely rather than just rewarded. Children are praised publicly and reminded in private’.

All staff have the highest expectations, modelling the behaviour we expect from the children.  Positive and productive relationships are central to effective behaviour management.  Adults manage and influence behaviour and children are responsible for the choices that they make. Adults take the lead with pupils who struggle to maintain positive relationships. Our Personal Social and Health Education Policy, Circle Time lessons and assemblies teach children about how to treat others well, be polite, kind, have personal discipline and how to seek help for themselves and/or others to keep safe.

Our motto is Every Child Really does Matter’

 Our MAGIC learning behaviours are promoted and expected at all times.

Aims

●           To ensure every child and adult lives our core values every day.

●           To keep everybody safe and comfortable in a caring environment where optimum learning takes place.

●           To create an ethos of excellent behaviour which reflects ‘The Grove way’.

●           To promote a positive attitude to learning in line with our MAGIC ethos.

●           To provide clear guidance for everybody in our MAT community in sustaining high expectations of the conduct and behaviour of all children and adults

●           To apply a consistent and calm approach which establishes and maintains the same clear boundaries

●           To ensure everybody in our community takes responsibility for managing behaviour and follow-up incidents personally

●           To ensure all adults use consistent language to promote positive behaviour

●           To ensure that restorative approaches are used as an alternative to punishments

●           To create a culture of self-discipline-where children know that good behaviour is expected as the norm.

●           To help children take control over their behaviour and be responsible for the consequences of it.

●           To build an academy community, which values kindness, care, good humour, good temper, obedience and empathy for others.

Our Promise

At Co-op Academy Grove all staff will:

●           Welcome all children warmly at the start of each day, on entry to academy grounds and to classrooms.

●           Always identify when pupils/staff struggle to meet expectations and follow up each incident personally.

●           Maintain consistent practice with adults establishing the same boundaries, always redirecting or encouraging children by referring to ‘Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe.’

●           Deliberately and persistently catch children doing the right thing and praise them in front of others moving the attention from those who make poor choices

●           Know their classes/ groups well and relentlessly develop positive relationships and mutual respect with all children.

●           Carry out class coaching/mentoring to teach positive behaviours daily, this may be tailored for some individual needs.

●           Communicate effectively on the individual needs of pupils, with regard to their difficulties and the strategies which work best to gain a deeper understanding of individuals.

●           Remain calm and keep their emotion for when it is most appreciated by children.

●           Demonstrate unconditional care and compassion.

●           Give the children a voice.

●           Give children a ‘fresh start’ after mistakes have been made.

●           Remind children when they make mistakes, quietly and not in public

●           Directly teach and celebrate good behaviour routines, for example, moving inside and outside the Academy, moving from the tables to carpet.

The Academy Headteacher, The Senior Leadership and The Middle Leadership Teams will:

●           Relentlessly follow the above.

●           Be a visible presence around the academy.

●           Regularly celebrate staff and children whose efforts go above and beyond expectations.

●           Encourage use of positive praise, phone calls/texts/ stickers/certificates.

●           Ensure staff training needs are identified and met.

●           Use behaviour records to target and assess interventions.

●           Support teachers in managing children with more complex or challenging behaviours.

●           Celebrate in specific ways with children who display ‘above and beyond’ behaviours.

Positive Reinforcement, Responsibility and Reward

Our Academy has 3 simple rules Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe, these encompass ‘The Grove way’, which can be applied to a variety of situations and are taught and modelled explicitly.  We ensure that our children’s excellent conduct is acknowledged, valued, appreciated and recognised.

We want all adults to recognise the positive behaviour of our children whenever they see it. Visitors are asked to find examples of positive behaviour and feedback to the reception staff at the end of the visit, staff are overheard in the corridors thanking children for their Ready, Respectful and Safe behaviour, Academy Leaders walk into classrooms excited to discover the very best behaviour. Our recognition culture should be at the forefront of our behaviour and relationship management. It should delight the children who do the right thing every day but rarely get noticed; it should surprise visitors with its visibility and slowly gain a reputation in the community for its relentlessness.

Delivering Consequences with Dignity

Behaviour management begins at classroom level with systematic consistency and a kind, positive and proactive approach. This could include any and all below:

We encourage all staff to look for natural consequences in the first instance. For example, academy-based community service such as clearing up a mess, encouraging a sincere apology, catching up with work. We also recognise that not every incident of poor behaviour should result in a Restorative Conversation. Adults will use a range of appropriate consequences that seek to teach better behaviour. 

Midday Supervisors will give out recognition rewards during each lunchtime.

Systematic consistency - Our BEHAVIOUR PATHWAY is very clear: Reminder- Warning - Time Out - Follow up/Restorative Conversation and must be followed.

Where further consequences may be used:

There are some behaviours that have no place within our academy and the community and some behaviours may lead to immediate removal from the classroom and others may be investigated further.

The list below of ‘serious breaches’ is not exhaustive:

●           Physical assault on any member of the academy community

●           Demonstrating inappropriate or sexualised behaviour

●           Stealing from another person or academy

●           Leaving the academy grounds without permission

●           Child-on-child abuse including, but not limited to: cyber bullying, prejudice based and discriminatory bullying, abuse in intimate personal relationships between peers, physical abuse, sexual violence, sexual harassment, causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent, consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes or semi-nude images or videos, up skirting and hazing type violence and rituals.

●           Throwing objects with the intention to harm or hurt someone

●           The use of homophobic or racist language

●           Spitting at another person

●           Persistent disruptive/ unsafe behaviour

●           Intentionally damaging property

Our systems ensure that ALL children are aware that making positive choices about behaviour results in positive consequences and acknowledgements.

For the very small minority of pupils who do not respond to our behaviour policy or where poor behaviour is persistent or extreme then we will consider;

●           360 review meeting with a personalised behaviour plan

●           Access to individual/ group intervention for additional support

●    Coaching, mentoring and targeted behaviour support

●    Family support

●    CAHMS referral and therapeutic work

●    SEND review and possible assessment

●    Protective consequences, including internal reflection and fixed term  exclusion from academy

Recording Keeping

●       Time out of class or poor behaviour incidents are recorded and monitored termly.

●       All extreme consequences, following discussion with SLT are logged on our internal communication systems.  This is monitored by SLT and ELT.

●       Registers are also kept for those children who have personalised behaviour plans.

Working with Parent/ Carers/ Other Agencies

Teachers and parents will need to work in partnership to ensure that children who struggle with their personal discipline benefit from a consistent approach at the academy and in the home. Parents will be informed at an early stage where a child is experiencing problems and if their child has been required to take time out for their poor behaviour choices.

Co-op Academy Grove will actively support parents in managing their child’s behaviour in a consistent manner.  Where appropriate, parents will be given the opportunity to engage in support through the Early Help process.

The academy’s special educational needs coordinator will provide support for pupils who exhibit challenging behaviour to determine whether they have any underlying needs that are not currently being met.

Where necessary, support and advice will also be sought from specialist teachers, an educational psychologist, medical practitioners and/or others, to identify or support specific needs.

When acute needs are identified in a pupil, we will liaise with external agencies and plan support programmes for that child. We will work with parents to create the plan and review it on a regular basis.

Academy Behaviour Support Meeting

If a child’s poor behaviour persists and a child does not respond to our policy then the child and their parents will be invited to a Behaviour Support Meeting to agree on next steps and actions. Parents must accept responsibility for and actively support us with their child’s behaviour.  

Whilst this behaviour policy refers mainly to the behaviours of pupils within academy premises, the academy reserves the right to discipline beyond the academy gate; this may include where our children are:

●       taking part in any academy organised or academy related activity

●       travelling to or from academy

●       wearing academy uniform

●       in some way identifiable as a pupil from our academy

●       poses a threat to another pupil or member of the public

●       could adversely affect the reputation of the academy

For serious incidents such as those detailed in the sections above, a senior member of staff needs to be part of the investigation.

The Headteacher may notify the police and or the local PCSO of any actions taken against a pupil.

If an incident occurs where a child or others are at risk, a child is causing serious damage, staff may need to use physical intervention.  No teacher or adult working with children ever wants to use physical intervention.

Physical restraint will be viewed as a last resort and staff will exhaust other strategies before intervening. This is closely monitored. In all matters of physical intervention staff will seek the least intrusive intervention with the least possible force. All physical interventions must be proportionate. Our staff are provided with training on managing behaviour.  Any incidents will be recorded using CPOMS and reported to parents and Governors.

Anti-bullying

The DfE (Department for Education) defines bullying as: 

‘Bullying is behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally.’

This definition includes the key characteristics of bullying, i.e.: it is deliberately hurtful (including, but not solely, aggression) and is repeated often over a period of time.

Co-op Academy Grove does not tolerate bullying of any kind and all staff act immediately to stop any further occurrences of such behaviour. We do our utmost to ensure that all children attend our academies free from fear where they can learn best.

At Co-op Academy Grove the following persistent behaviours are classed as bullying:

1.          Name calling

2.          Using verbal insults or personal remarks to upset another child

3.          Racist remarks

4.          Physical assault – such as hitting, kicking, shaking, biting, hair pulling or otherwise causing physical harm

5.          Deliberate damage to another’s belongings

6.          Intimidating or threatening another child

7.          Blackmail

8.          Spreading unkind rumours about others

9.          Excluding other children from groups

10.   Cyber bullying

11.   Prejudice based

12.   Discriminatory bullying

13.   Abuse in intimate personal relationships between peers

14.   Sexual violence – such as rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault

15.   Sexual harassment – such as sexual comments, remarks, joke and online sexual harassment which maybe stand alone or part of a boarder pattern of abuse

16.   Causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent – such as forcing someone to strip

17.  Consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes or semi-nude images or   videos

18.  Up skirting- which typically involves taking a picture under a persons’ clothing without their permission

19.  Hazing type violence and rituals – this could include activities involving harassment, abuse and humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group

Please refer to the Academy’s Anti-Bullying Policy for further information.

Screening and Searching

Where the need for searching or screening is identified within the academy, full regard will be held for the guidance outlined in “Searching, screening and confiscation - Advice for headteachers, academy staff and governing bodies” (July 2022).

Academy staff can search a pupil for any item if the pupil agrees.   The Headteacher and staff authorised by them, have a statutory power to search pupils or their possessions, without consent, where they have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the pupil may have a prohibited item:

● knives or weapons

● alcohol

● illegal drugs

● stolen items

● tobacco and cigarette papers

● fireworks  

● pornographic images

● any article that the member of staff reasonably suspects has been, or is likely to be used to commit an offence, or to cause personal injury to, or damage to the property of, any person (including the pupil).

Exclusions and suspensions

In extreme circumstances the Headteacher or member of the Senior Leadership Team may decide to carry out an exclusion.

A permanent exclusion or suspension from the academy will only be considered in the most extreme circumstances and the DfE  (Department for Education) document  ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion for maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England including pupil movement’ (September 2022) will be followed, ensuring that all contributing factors have been considered and alternative educational provision will always be sought where possible from the 5th day of exclusion.

CPD

Professional development is a high priority for our academy and it is essential that staff attend and access ongoing positive behaviour training both in academy and through external agency providers.  

Staff training is provided to give a wider understanding of the contributing factors to some behaviours that are displayed by some children in academy (Adverse Childhood Experiences).

Staff are supported through coaching systems on an ongoing basis to ensure that staff well- being is always considered and protected.

Outcomes

This Behaviour Policy is for our academy. If it is to be effective, everyone must use it with confidence and consistency. It will promote the excellent ethos of the academy and underpin excellent teaching, learning and progress.  It will promote the high standards and high expectations of the academy.  There may be occasions when adaptations may need to be applied e.g. swimming pool, science or technology lessons, but the same principles of promoting good behaviour through the policy will always apply

This Behaviour Policy is linked to the following policies and documents:

●       Anti-bullying policy

●       Health and safety policy

●       Equality, Diversity & Cohesion Policy & Scheme

●       Special educational needs (SEN) information report

●            First Aid Policy

●            Supporting pupils with medical needs policy

Other documents considered in the writing of this policy from the Department for Education (DfE):

·        Behaviour and discipline in schools

·         Behaviour and discipline in academies: Guidance for governing bodies

·         Searching, screening and confiscation at academy

The Equality Act 2010

·Use of reasonable force in schools

·Supporting pupils with medical conditions at academy

Special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice

Suspension and Permanent Exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England including pupil movement guidance

·Keeping Children safe in Education