Encouraging Good Behaviour
The five guiding principles of Christow School are:
Care, Consideration, Co-operation, Compassion and Commitment.It is a primary aim of our school that every member of the school community feels valued and respected, and that each person is treated fairly and well. We are a caring community, whose values are built on mutual trust and respect for all. The school behaviour policy is therefore designed to support the way in which all members of the school can live and work together in a supportive way. It aims to create an environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure.
The school has a number of school rules, but the behaviour policy is not a system to enforce rules. It is a means of promoting good relationships, so that people can work together with the common purpose of helping everyone to learn. The policy supports the school community in aiming to allow everyone to work together in an effective and considerate way.
The policy aims to promote good behaviour, not merely deter anti-social behaviour.
We treat all children fairly and apply our behaviour policy in a consistent way.
The role of the class teacher
It is the responsibility of the class teacher to ensure that the school rules are enforced in their class, and that their class behaves in a responsible manner during lesson time. In addition to the school rules, each class has its own classroom code, which is agreed by the children and displayed on the wall of the classroom. In this way, every child knows the standard of behaviour we expect in our school. The class teacher treats each child fairly with respect and understanding and enforces the classroom code consistently. If there are incidents of anti-social or inappropriate behaviour, the class teacher discusses these with the whole class during 'circle time'. The class teacher has high expectations of the behaviour of the children. If a child misbehaves repeatedly in class, the class teacher keeps a record of all incidents. In the first instance, the class teacher will deal with the child. However, if misbehaviour continues, the class teacher will involve the parents and seek help and advice from the headteacher. The School Council is encouraged to influence behaviour in the playground and, in co-operation with staff, work towards the solution of problems.
All members of staff are aware of the regulations regarding the use of force. Staff only intervene physically to restrain children or to prevent injury to a child, or if a child is in danger of hurting him/herself. The actions we take are in line with government guidelines on the restraint of children.
The role of the head teacher
It is the responsibility of the head teacher to implement the school behaviour policy consistently throughout the school, and to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all children in the school.The head teacher keeps records of all reported serious incidents of misbehaviour. The head teacher has the responsibility for giving fixed-term exclusions to individual children for serious acts of misbehaviour.For repeated or very serious acts of anti-social behaviour, the head teacher may permanently exclude a child.
The role of parents
The school works collaboratively with parents, so children receive consistent messages about how to behave at home and at school. We expect parents to support their child's learning, and to co-operate with the school, as set out in the home/school agreement. We try to build a supportive dialogue between the home and the school, and we inform parents immediately if we have concerns about their child's welfare or behaviour.
If the school has to use reasonable sanctions to punish a child, parents should support the actions of the school. If parents have any concern about the way that their child has been treated, they should initially contact the class teacher or the head teacher. If the concern remains, they should contact the school governors. If these discussions cannot resolve the problem, a formal grievance or appeal process can be implemented (refer to the school's complaints procedures).
The role of Governors
The governing body has the responsibility of setting down the general guidelines on standards of discipline and behaviour, and of reviewing their effectiveness. The governors support the head teacher in carrying out the guidelines. The head teacher has the day-to-day authority to implement the school behaviour and discipline policy, but governors may give advice to the head teacher about particular disciplinary issues. The head teacher must take this into account when making decisions about matters of behaviour.
Rewards and punishments
We praise and reward children for good behaviour in a variety of ways:
Teachers congratulate children;
Stickers are awarded for good behaviour, effort and achievement.
Classes have 'marble' award systems.
We have an achievement assembly to celebrate the week's good work/behaviour.
Each week we nominate a child from each class to receive a headteacher award.
We make termly awards of book tokens for effort and achievement
The governors make termly presentations of shields for the '5C's'
The school employs a number of sanctions to enforce the school rules, and to ensure a safe and positive learning environment. We employ each sanction appropriately to each individual situation.
We expect children to listen carefully to instructions in lessons. If they do not do so, we ask them either to move to a place nearer the teacher, or to sit on their own.
We expect children to try their best in all activities. If they do not do so, we may ask them to redo a task.
If a child is disruptive in class, the teacher will reprimand him or her. If a child misbehaves repeatedly, we isolate the child from the rest of the class until s/he calms down, and is in a position to work sensibly again with others.
The safety of the children is paramount in all situations. If a child's behaviour endangers the safety of others, the class teacher will stop the activity or prevent the child from taking part for the rest of that session.
If a child threatens, hurts or bullies another pupil, the class teacher records the incident and the child is punished. If a child repeatedly acts in a way that disrupts or upsets others, the school contacts the child's parents and seeks an appointment in order to discuss the situation, with a view to improving the behaviour of the child.
We feel it is unacceptable for a child to prevent the teacher from teaching or the children from learning through inappropriate behaviour.
We consider bullying to be the deliberate intention by one or more children to cause emotional or physical hurt to one or more children in an isolated or series of incidents. The school does not tolerate bullying of any kind. If we discover that an act of bullying or intimidation has taken place, we act immediately to stop any further occurrences of such behaviour. While it is very difficult to eradicate bullying, we do everything in our power to ensure that all children attend school free from fear. Back to top