Behaviour Policy 2023-2024

Rationale 

At Co-op Academy Broadhurst we believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that the children are able to learn in a supportive, caring environment where they feel secure and safe. It is our aim that the children are given the opportunity to be confident and happy irrespective of race, gender and religion.

As a Rights Respecting School we believe that treating our children with respect and allowing them their rights underpins the way we approach behaviour management. Article 37: No one is allowed to punish you in a cruel or harmful way. Article 28: Discipline in schools must respect your dignity and your rights

We agree that children learn best when they feel safe and we have a duty to enable this to happen through our Rights Respecting Schools ethos and our Trauma Informed approach

Article 28: Every child has the right to education.

Article 29:The right to be the best that you can be.

All staff have been trained in ACES (adverse childhood experiences) and using a Trauma Informed approach when supporting children with behaviour. As a  trauma informed school we support our children who have suffered with trauma or mental health problems and whose troubled behaviour acts as a barrier to learning. 

We are guided by the 4 ways of being Co-op and encourage our children to evaluate their behaviour against the 4 ways:

● Do what matters most

● Be yourself, always

● Show you care

● Succeed together

And these 3 rules:

● Be Ready

● Be Respectful

● Be Safe

Aims 

This policy aims to:

· Provide a consistent approach to behaviour management

· Define what we consider to be unacceptable behaviour, including bullying · Outline how pupils are expected to behave

· Summarise the roles and responsibilities of different people in the school community with regards to behaviour management

· Outline our system of rewards and sanctions

Legislation and statutory requirements 

This policy is based on advice from the Department for Education (DfE) on:

· Behaviour and discipline in schools 

· Searching, screening and confiscation at school 

· The Equality Act 2010 

· Use of reasonable force in schools 

· Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school 

It is also based on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice. In addition, this policy is based on:

● Schedule 1 of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014; paragraph 7 outlines a school’s duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, paragraph 9 requires the school to have a written behaviour policy and paragraph 10 requires the school to have an anti-bullying strategy.

● DfE guidance explaining that academies should publish their behaviour policy and anti-bullying strategy online.

Whole School Approaches 

We tackle behaviour and anti-bullying through assemblies, pupil voice, PSHE lessons and throughout all aspects of our school ethos. Children share their views and opinions on rewards, sanctions and strategies in approaching behaviour in the academy.

Definitions 

Misbehaviour is defined as:

· Disruption in lessons, in corridors between lessons, and at break and lunchtimes · Non-completion of classwork or homework

· Poor attitude

· Being disrespectful to adults in school

Serious misbehaviour is defined as:

· Repeated breaches of the school rules

· Any form of bullying

· Sexual assault, which is any unwanted sexual behaviour that causes humiliation, pain, fear or intimidation

· Vandalism

· Theft

· Fighting

Hurting another person (adult or child)

· Smoking

· Racist, sexist, homophobic or discriminatory behaviour

· Possession of any prohibited items. These are:

o Knives or weapons

o Alcohol

o Illegal drugs

o Stolen items

o Tobacco and cigarette papers

o Fireworks

o Pornographic images

o Any article a staff member 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)

Bullying 

Incidents of bullying, racism or homophobic language

We regard bullying, homophobic language and racist behaviour as extremely serious and take firm action against it. We promote the celebration of diversity and equal opportunities throughout Academy life and support children to stand up against bullying, homophobic language or racist behaviour, for themselves and to help others.

We encourage children and parents to always let teachers know of any incidents so we can take action against it. Any incidents are logged on CPOMs.

Bullying is defined as the repetitive, intentional harming of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power.

Bullying is, therefore:

· Deliberately hurtful

· Repeated, often over a period of time

· Difficult to defend against

 Bullying can include:

Definition:

• Emotional:  Being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting
• Physical: Hitting, kicking, pushing, taking another’s belongings, any use of violence
• Racial: Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
• Direct or indirect sexual: Explicit sexual remarks, display of sexual material, sexual gestures, unwanted physical attention, comments about sexual reputation or performance, or inappropriate touching
• Verbal: Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
• Cyber Bullying: Bullying that takes place online, such as through social networking sites, messaging apps or gaming sites

Details of our school’s approach to preventing and addressing bullying are set out in our Anti-bullying Policy.

Harmful Sexual Behaviour 

At Co-op Academy Broadhurst we are aware of sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviours and the fact children can and sometimes do, abuse their peers in this way and that is can happen both inside and outside of school.

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 defines sexual violence as:

• Rape
• Assault by penetration
• Sexual assault – intentionally touching another person in a sexual way if the person being touched does not consent
• Causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent

Sexual Harassment is likely to: violate a child’s dignity, and/or make them feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated and/or create a hostile, offensive or sexualised environment and can occur as:

• Sexual comments, lewd comments, telling sexual stories, calling someone sexual names
• Sexual jokes or taunting
• Upskirting
• Physical acts such as deliberately brushing against someone, interfering with their clothes
• Displaying sexual pictures, photos or drawings of a sexual nature - Online sexual harassment such as sharing nudes and semi-nudes / videos, sharing unwanted sexual explicit content,unwanted sexual comments on social media, exploitation, coercion, sexualised bullying and threats

As a school we ensure we always consider when sexual harassment crosses a line into sexual violence.

We understand the differences between the characterisitcs of healthy and unhealthy sexual behaviours and what type of intervention they require.

We ensure that when responding to a victim of an incident or alleged incident that children are:

• reassured that they are being taken seriously
• supported and kept safe
• never given the impression that they are creating a problem by reporting an incident
• never made to feel ashamed for making a report
• not promise confidentiality
• told what will happen next and who the information will be shared with - given as much control as is reasonably possible over decisions regarding investigations and support they may need

In addition staff will:

• recognise the position of trust they are in
• recognise that an initial disclosure may only be the first incident reported - recognise that trauma can impact on memory and children may not be able to recall details and timelines of abuse
• keep in mind that certain children may face additional barriers to telling someone because of their vulnerability
• make a record of the report.

Once an incident has been reported the Designated Safeguarding Team will use the AIM Checklists help to put sexual behaviours in perspective and to identify those that need short interventions and those which require further assessment and decide how to manage the report which may involve:

• Manage internally
• Early help referral
• Referral to children’s social care under s17 / s47
• Report to the police
• Liaise closely with parents, carers and allocated social workers - Implement safeguarding and support plan
• Implement a (RAMP)Risk Assessment Management Plan

Whatever the response, we ensure that the under-pinning principle is that there is a zero tolerance approach to sexual violence and sexual harassment and it is never acceptable and will not be tolerated.

Early Intervention 

We strive to help our children establish regular punctual attendance and good behaviour from the start. We work closely with parents to establish good routines. Where behaviour is a concern we believe in early intervention involving parents, our SENCo, and relevant outside agencies.

Working with Parents and Carers 

If we are to be successful in supporting a child to improve his/her behaviour, we have to work in partnership with parents. We communicate regularly with parents and offer support for them.

Where there is a concern about behaviour and the child needs a Behaviour Support Plan the parents or carers are consulted and the final plan is agreed with them

Supporting Behaviour Management 

In dealing with behaviour problems, all the staff work as a team, liaising closely with outside agencies. Staff support each other through offering advice on strategies and through giving respite to the teacher and class for short periods of time. The senior leadership team supports any member of staff with managing difficult behaviour by giving respite, debriefing, organising supervision and communicating with parents.

The Inclusion Manager/SENCo and the specialist SEN TA take the lead in supporting staff and pupils with managing behaviour and writing Behaviour Support Plans.

Involving Pupils 

We encourage children to be responsible for their own behaviour and they take part in the writing of their Behaviour Support Plan. We follow the Rights Respecting Schools ethos in enabling our children to have a right to be heard and the right to have a say in all matters that affect them.

Article 12: Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously.

Rewarding Achievements 

The majority of our children follow our school rules. We think it is vital to reward them for their good behaviour in order to maintain their motivation and sense of self worth.

Identifying Causes 

We believe that challenging behaviours children display have an underlying cause, it is the child’s way of communicating a problem. We work hard, in partnership with parents and outside agencies, to discover the cause of the child’s behaviour.

We understand that negative or withdrawn behaviour can be the result of the child having experienced trauma and recognise that Adverse Childhood Experiences can impact on a child’s behaviour. We also recognise that children with attachment

difficulties may demonstrate negative behaviours. Staff have had training on how to understand, recognise and support children who have high ACEs and who display attachment difficulties.

Children who have additional needs have a differentiated curriculum and bespoke behaviour support. They have resources, and where appropriate, their own workstation, to enable them to access the curriculum. We recognise that negative behaviour may be caused by anxiety or sensory processing difficulties and support the child to reduce any anxiety using calm spaces, sensory resources and adult support amongst others.

Behaviour Management 

As a Rights Respecting School we believe that all children should be treated with respect and dignity. This includes when they are displaying inappropriate behaviour. We follow the Restorative Approach to behaviour management and all staff wear a lanyard with question prompts and have had training on how to use them to support the children to recognise the behaviour that needs to change and the impact that behaviour has on others.

Classroom Management

Teaching and support staff are responsible for setting the tone and context for positive behaviour within the classroom.

They will:

● Create and maintain a stimulating environment that encourages pupils to be engaged

• Develop aspirations through our Careers Related Learning programme

● Display the three Academy rules and the ways of being in their classrooms

● Develop a positive relationship with pupils, which may include:

o Greeting pupils in the morning/at the start of lessons

o Establishing clear routines

o Communicating expectations of behaviour in ways other than verbally o Highlighting and promoting good behaviour

o Concluding the day positively and starting the next day afresh

o Having a plan for dealing with low-level disruption

o Using positive reinforcement

Physical restraint

In some circumstances, staff may use reasonable force to restrain a pupil to prevent them:

● Causing disorder

● Hurting themselves or others

● Damaging property

Incidents of physical restraint must:

● Always be used as a last resort

● Be applied using the minimum amount of force and for the minimum amount of time possible 

● Be used in a way that maintains the safety and dignity of all concerned

● Never be used as a form of punishment

● Be recorded and reported to parents

 Key staff have been trained in using Team Teach. Details of our approach to physical restraint can be found in our Positive Handling Policy.

Confiscation

Any prohibited items (listed above) found in pupils’ possession will be confiscated. These items will not be returned to pupils.

We will also confiscate any item which is harmful or detrimental to school discipline. These items will be returned to pupils after discussion with senior leaders and parents, if appropriate.

Searching and screening pupils is conducted in line with the DfE’s latest guidance on searching, screening and confiscation. 

Responsibilities 

We have agreed that these are the responsibilities we should take for behaviour at Co-op Academy Broadhurst.

The headteacher

The headteacher is responsible for reviewing and approving this behaviour policy. The headteacher will ensure that the Academy environment encourages positive behaviour

and that staff deal effectively with poor behaviour, and will monitor how staff implement this policy to ensure rewards and sanctions are applied consistently.

The responsibilities of all the staff are:

• To treat all children fairly, equally and with respect.
• To make it clear that they are condemning the behaviour not the child.
• To value each child’s contribution to the Academy.
• To create a safe and pleasant environment for learning.
• To provide a curriculum which is accessible for all children.
• To recognise that each child has individual needs.
• To recognise that ACEs can be a reason for a child having behaviour difficulties - To build therapeutic relationships with children experiencing difficulties. - To help each child to achieve his or her best.
• To praise children regularly.
• To act as a role model for desired behaviour, treating all adults and children with respect.
• To allow all children to have a voice and to allow them to be heard by actively listening to them.
• To display the Academy Rules clearly and mention them frequently, using them as a measure of good behaviour.
• To deal with any negative behaviour following the Restorative approaches using the language on the cards provided.
• To have weekly circle time and discuss behaviour regularly.
• To support children to improve their behaviour.
• To spend time each week delivering the Academy’s curriculum for PSHE. - To have regular contact with parents to discuss both negative and positive behaviour.
• To escort classes of children around the school ensuring all children are monitored and walking quietly and sensibly.
• To create a calm working atmosphere in the classroom, with accessible resources and well established routines.
• To work closely with senior leaders and outside agencies, implementing advice and strategies to support the child.

The children’s responsibilities are:

• To respect their rights and the rights of others
• To know the Academy Rules and keep them
• To respect differences and value everyone’s contribution
• To use the positive strategies if they are struggling with a situation and to ask for help if they need it
• To demonstrate positive behaviour for learning in lessons
• To respect that everyone has a right to an education and to be the best that they can
• To speak to others in a respectful and kind way
• To co-operate with each other when learning and playing
• To behave in an orderly and calm manner
• To help make the Academy a safe and pleasant environment
• To do as asked by all the adults in the school

The parents’ responsibilities are:

• To ensure that our children understand the importance of their education and of good behaviour.
• To discuss their education: ask what they have learned, listen to what they have to say, encourage and help with homework.
• To praise them for their efforts and achievements.
• To ensure that our children respect differences and do not abuse or discriminate against people different to themselves.
• To encourage our children to sort out difficulties without hitting, fighting or swearing, at home and at school.
• To speak regularly with our children’s teachers and keep informed about our children’s behaviour.
• To meet with school staff if there is a concern about my child’s behaviour and contribute to a Behaviour Support Plan for my child if necessary.
• To make sure that our children come to school every day and arrive on time – to ring the Academy if your child is ill.
• To support the Academy staff in implementing this behaviour policy.

PSHE 

To promote and support positive behaviour and as part of our PSHE curriculum we use various materials and approaches including: the iMatter programme, P4C (Philosophy for Children) and materials provided by Mentally Healthy School and Healthy Schools. The materials are delivered mainly by class teachers and support the children in developing key thinking skills.The five broad social and emotional aspects of learning are identified as: Self-awareness; Managing Feelings; Motivation; Empathy; Social skills.

Where children have good skills in these areas, and are educated within an environment supportive to emotional health and well-being, they will be motivated and equipped to:

• Be effective and successful learners
• Make and sustain friendships
• Deal with and resolve conflict effectively and fairly
• Solve problems with others or by themselves.
• Manage strong feelings such as frustration, anger and anxiety
• Be able to promote calm and optimistic states that promote the achievement of goals
• Recover from setbacks and be persist in the face of difficulties
• Be resilient
• Work and play cooperatively
• Compete fairly and win and lose with dignity and respect for competitors - Recognise and stand up for their rights and the rights of others
• Understand and value the differences and commonalities between people, respecting the right of others to have beliefs and values different from their own
• Have high aspirations for their own future

Rewards for Appropriate Behaviour 

Praise 

We regularly praise the children following the Academy Rules. We use verbal praise and silent gestures such as a smile, thumbs up or a nod.

Individual classes 

Individual teachers use various reward systems linked to our whole school systems. These may include, table points, certificates, marbles in the jar, Dojo points.

Golden Time 

We award every child who behaves appropriately and those who are on the Star of the traffic light system at the end of the week win a special time at the end of the week. The children who move to red or amber may lose some of their Golden Time.

Class Dojos 

All children have the opportunity to earn Dojo points for following the school rules, displaying excellent behaviour for learning, following the 4r’s, demonstrating the 4 ways of being Co-op, producing excellent work etc. The child with the most Dojos each week receives a prize.

Merit Cards 

Every child in Key Stage 2 has a merit card divided into sections for Bronze, Silver and Gold. They will be awarded stars for their merit card for receiving a certificate in assembly, achieving awards outside school, having their name in the golden book, receiving an integrity award, receiving a pen license. When they have filled up each section of their card they take it to the Headteacher who gives them a bronze, silver or gold prize and a certificate in assembly.

Congratulation postcards/praise pad sheets 

Children receive these when they have worked hard to follow the Academy Rules. They are a well done postcard to inform parents

Star of the week/Best behaviour of the week 

Each class teacher chooses a star of the week for academic achievement and at least one for continued good behaviour or for improved behaviour with a focus on behaviour for learning. The children are rewarded with a certificate in a special assembly at the end of each week. The certificates are linked to the Co-op Ways of Being.

Handwriter of the Week certificate and pen/pencil 

Children who work hard to improve their handwriting are awarded with a certificate in assembly and can choose a pen.

Pen Licence 

Children who write consistently using cursive script will be given a pen and a pen license. Children with exceptional handwriting will have the privilege of writing with a fountain pen.

Golden Book 

Children who produce exceptionally good work (in relation to their own achievements) have their name written in the Golden Book. They are awarded with a sticker in assembly.

Integrity awards 

Children can be nominated for an integrity award for doing the right thing even when no-one is looking. This can be nominated by anyone from the Academy or wider community including their peers.

Interventions for inappropriate behaviour

We always start with the least intrusive intervention.

● Non-verbal messages

● Tactical ignoring

● Description of reality

● Simple direction

● Rule reminder

● Question and feedback

● Expressing disappointment or disapproval, or using humour

● Blocking or assertive statements

● Choices and consequences

● Exit procedures

Sanctions for inappropriate behaviour

● We ask them to stop the behaviour which is causing concern and we tell them how we would like them to behave.

● We encourage children to take responsibility for their own behaviour and to change what they are doing.

How do we do this?

● We remind the children what rule they are breaking.

● We remind the children of the unacceptable behaviour.

● If the child continues to misbehave we give them a warning

● If a child continues to misbehave they will be sent for some time out in their paired class. They will take with them a card with a time limit on and relevant work.

● As a last resort they may be sent to the Headteacher.

If necessary we apply a sanction. This could be…

For incidents such as:

Playfighting, disobeying instructions, being rude or unkind, swearing, annoying other children, not working hard enough.

The sanctions could be: missing some playtime, being moved to another place in class and a letter home to parents or carers.

For more serious incidents such as:

Fighting, stealing, damaging work or property, behaving in a dangerous way or repeating a minor incident of misbehaviour

The sanctions could be: time out in another class, missing more than one playtime, sitting in a special place in the classroom, seeing the Headteacher or, Deputy Headteacher and a letter home to parents or carers.

For very serious incidents such as:

Being very aggressive and hurting others, continually ignoring instructions, being very rude to adults, serious stealing or repeating a serious incident of misbehaviour The Headteacher and/or Deputy Headteacher will be involved and the sanctions will include a formal meeting with parents or carers, or even a period of internal exclusion or exclusion from school.

Behaviour Log 

All incidents of unacceptable behaviour are logged on CPOMs. This includes lunchtime and playtime behaviour.

Internal exclusion 

For repeated incidents of poor behaviour (the next incident after a third letter home) or for one more serious incident the child may be put in internal exclusion for a day. This may be in another class.

Letters home 

For incidents of inappropriate behaviour we have a series of letters to parents.

1. A letter from the class teacher informing of the behaviour

2. An amber letter from the class teacher that is countersigned by the Headteacher

3. A red letter sent from the Headteacher inviting the parents in to discuss their child’s behaviour.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Children in the Foundation Stage follow the same Academy Rules and the rationale and aims are similar to the rest of the Academy but some of the details are more age appropriate.

To encourage appropriate behaviour

● We try to catch the children demonstrating good behaviour and praise them explicitly stating what they are doing

● We smile, give stickers, show thumbs up and give comments that show approval

● We model appropriate behaviour between ourselves

● We celebrate good behaviour with parents

● We use reward charts for individual children

● Award gems in individual pots for doing the right thing

To discourage inappropriate behaviour

● We praise a child nearby who is demonstrating appropriate behaviour

● We frown or look disapproving

● We remind the child about the appropriate behaviour

● We talk to the child about why what they are doing is unacceptable

● Ask the child to take some ‘Time out’

● We encourage the child to say sorry and mediate to resolve conflicts between children

● We discuss behaviour with parents/carers during key person times and ask them to follow up the discussion at home

● We introduce behaviour sticker charts when necessary

● We talk to the SENCo and may follow this with an Individual Behaviour Support Plan

● We talk to outside agencies

Additional Strategies to Support Inclusion 

TATTs

Some children may need specific targets to help them. We call these targets Tiny Achievable Tickable Targets. These are small steps and would be linked to the Behaviour Support Plan

SEN Code of Practice/Support Plans/EHCP

Children with serious or repeated behaviour difficulties may need to have an individual Behaviour Support Plan in accordance with the Special Needs Code of Practice. We may ask for an assessment from our Educational Psychologist or, with agreement from parents, refer to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) through our school nurse. Such plans are written in conjunction with the SENCo and may include a Positive Handling Plan. If the child has an EHCP then the Behaviour support plan will reflect the targets in the EHCP.

Pastoral Support Plan

If a child has had a series of fixed term exclusions and is at risk of a permanent exclusion we will hold a multi-agency meeting to formulate a plan of support.

Therapies

We provide therapies for pupils who have experienced trauma or mental health difficulties. These may include drama therapy and a trained counsellor.

Playtimes and Lunchtimes

Rewards:

Children have to follow the playground rules during these times and in addition the Lunchtime Rules at lunchtime. Rewards for following these rules may include:

      ● Stickers

● Class of the week – they are rewarded by being awarded a certificate during assembly.

● Lunchtime certificates – individual children are rewarded by being awarded a certificate during assembly.

● Individual lunchtime trophies for good sportsmanship.

Sanctions:

At playtime the sanctions follow the classroom sanctions. At lunchtimes we follow the following sanctions:

1. Warning and reminder

2. Behaviour reported to the class teacher.

3. Sending to Senior Lunchtime Organiser

4. Serious incidents of violence to children or lunchtime staff or verbal abuse to lunchtime staff may result in a fixed term or lunchtime exclusion.

Exclusion from School 

At Co-op Academy Broadhurst we believe that excluding a child from school should be a very last resort after all other avenues have been explored. The decision to exclude should only be made by the Headteacher.

A decision to exclude a pupil will be taken only:

        ● in response to serious or persistent breaches of the school’s behaviour policy and

        ● if allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of others

Before deciding whether to exclude a pupil, either permanently or for a fixed period, the headteacher will:

● consider all the relevant facts and evidence, including whether the incident(s) leading to the exclusion were provoked

● allow the pupil to give their version of events, where practical

● consider if the pupil has special educational needs (SEN)

If we believe that a pupil is at risk of exclusion then we would ensure a Behaviour Support Plan and/or Pastoral Support Plan is in place.

Details of our approach to exclusion can be found in our Exclusions Policy

Off-site Behaviour 

Sanctions may be applied where a pupil has misbehaved off-site when representing the Academy, such as on a school trip or on the way to or from the Academy.

Malicious Allegations 

Where a pupil makes an accusation against a member of staff and that accusation is shown to have been malicious, the headteacher will discipline the pupil in accordance with this policy.

Please refer to our safeguarding policy of procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff for more information on responding to allegations of abuse.

The headteacher will also consider the pastoral needs of staff accused of misconduct.

Pupil Transition 

To ensure a smooth transition to the next year, pupils have transition sessions with their new teacher(s). In addition, staff members hold transition meetings.

To ensure behaviour is continually monitored and the right support is in place, information related to pupil behaviour issues may be transferred to relevant staff at the start of the term or year. Information on behaviour issues may also be shared with new settings for those pupils transferring to other schools.

Training 

Our staff are provided with training on managing behaviour. They can access the Behind the Behaviour training with Healthy Schools. Staff have also received training on ACES and we are a trauma informed school.

Behaviour management also forms part of continuing professional development and staff are involved in the annual review of this policy.

A staff training log is kept by our Inclusion Manager.

Links with other policies 

Our Behaviour Policy underpins the working of the school. There are, however, other specific links with the following policies:

• SEND Policy
• Inclusion Policy
• Attendance Policy
• Online Safety Policy
• Anti-Bullying Policy
• Exclusions Policy
• Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
• Positive Handling Policy
• RSE Policy
• PSHE Policy

Monitor and Review 

In writing this policy we consulted with the children, staff, governors, and parents. We will monitor the effectiveness and the policy in practice regularly and review it termly. We do this by way of staff meetings, discussions, phase meetings, senior leadership meetings and school council meetings.

Next review date: September 2023