St John the Evangelist Infant and Nursery School and St Nicolas C.E. Junior School

Behaviour Principles Statement

Rationale and Purpose

1. This statement has been drawn up in accordance with the Education and Inspections Act, 2006 and DfE guidance (Behaviour and Discipline in Schools January 2016)
2. The purpose of the statement is to provide guidance for the executive headteacher in drawing up the school’s behaviour policy so that it reflects the shared aspirations and beliefs of governors, staff, parents and children in both schools, as well as taking full account of law and guidance on behaviour matters. It is intended to help all school staff to be aware of and understand the extent of their powers in respect of behaviour and consequences and how to use them. Staff should be confident that they have the governors’ support when following this guidance.
3. This is a statement of principles, not practice: it is the responsibility of the executive headteacher to draw up the schools’ behaviour policy, though he must take account of these principles when formulating this. The executive headteacher is also asked to take account of the guidance in the DfE publication Behaviour and Discipline in Schools: a guide for head teachers and school staff.
4. The behaviour policy will be reviewed annually by the governing boards, taking into account the behavioural principles of the schools. The policy will be available to all stakeholders on the school website.

Principles

The governors of both schools have a strong expectation of good behaviour of all children. Both schools aim is to engender mutual respect, inclusivity and forgiveness.

The schools’ ultimate aim is to support children on the journey towards self-regulation understanding that every child’s path towards this is different but providing an equitable opportunity for all to achieve.

The schools aim is for their behaviour policies to reflect this by understanding that what works for the majority of children in managing their behaviour may not work for all children and that approaches will need to be adapted and behaviour taught for some children.

Both schools are inclusive schools. All members of the school community should be free from discrimination of any sort (as laid down in the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the schools must have a clear and comprehensive anti-bullying policy that is known and understood by all, consistently applied and monitored for its effectiveness. Measures to protect students from bullying and discrimination as a result of gender, race, ability, sexual orientation or background should be clearly set out and regularly monitored for their effective implementation.

The schools’ legal duties under the Equality Act, 2010 in respect of safeguarding, children with Special Educational Needs and all vulnerable children should be set out in the behaviour policy and made known to all staff.

Parents and carers should be encouraged and helped to support their children’s education, just as the children should be helped to understand their responsibilities during their time at the schools, in the local community and in preparation for their life after school. The responsibilities of children, parents and carers and school staff with respect to children’s behaviour must be outlined in the ‘Home School Agreement’ which children and parents or carers are expected to sign when a child joins either school.

Governors would like to see the policy referring to good behaviour being a reward in itself. The governors however understand that where classroom rewards are used, they should be consistently and fairly applied in such a way as to encourage and reward good behaviour in the classroom and elsewhere. These should be made clear in the behaviour policy and regularly monitored for their consistent, fair application and effectiveness.

Consequences laid out in the schools; behaviour policy should be clear to all children, staff and parents or carers and should be able to be consistently and equitably applied. The governors strongly feel that exclusion should only be used as a last resort. The behaviour policy should clearly lay out the schools’ approach to exclusions.

The governors expect the schools’ behaviour policy to include reference to plans for individual children for whom the schools’ general approach to behaviour will not apply. The governors expect these plans to follow the therapeutic approach to behaviour ensuring an equitable opportunity for all children to develop self-regulation.

The federation behaviour policy that has been developed from these principles can be accessed here.