WITHYMOOR SCHOOL

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General Philosophy

The philosophy of the Behaviour Policy of Example School is embodied in the Code of Conduct.

Code of Conduct

Treat others as you would like them to treat you

Take good care of our school

Call others by their proper names

Join in lessons fully

Always walk quietly and sensibly around school

Introduction

Withymoor promotes a high standard of behaviour and an atmosphere where all members of the school are valued as individuals. The school believes in the development of self esteem, respect for others and self discipline. The golden rule for all members of the school community is …

‘treat others as you would like to be treated yourself’.

Children are expected to be polite and to show respect for other people and property. In
class, children should join in the lesson to the best of their ability by listening carefully, answering and asking questions and by taking part fully in activities.

At Withymoor great emphasis is placed on positive reinforcement of behaviour through praise. Children’s confidence and self-esteem are developed through encouragement, incentives and rewards, both verbal and written. Positive and constructive comments are written at the end of children’s work to recognise effort, improvement and achievement of targets set. Stickers. stamps and merit points are awarded as rewards for helpfulness, kindness to others, positive attitude, politeness and effort in work.

Aims of the Policy

•	to develop a moral framework within which initiative, responsibility and sound relationships can flourish;
•	to enable children to develop a sense of self worth and a respect and tolerance for others;
•	to produce an environment in which children feel safe, secure and respected.

Objectives

For children to show:

•	self confidence;	•	pride in their achievements;
•	self control;	•	an interest in their activities;
•	respect and tolerance for others;	•	empathy with others’ feelings;

For children to develop:

•	responsibility for their learning and their environment;	•	an understanding of the need for rules;	•	non-racist or non-sexist attitudes;
•	an independence of mind and self esteem;	•	a respect and tolerance for others’ ways of life and different opinions	•	a persistent approach to tasks;
•	a sense of fairness;	•	the ability to accept fair criticism;	•	an acceptable reaction to bullying and abuse.

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Implementation

Staff will….

•	treat all children equally, irrespective of gender, race or religion;	•	be alert to signs of bullying and racial harassment and deal firmly with such problems, in line with school policies.	•	deal sensitively with children in distress, will listen to them and deal with any incident appropriately;
•	play an active part in building up a sense of community and will apply the agreed standards of behaviour consistently;	•	record any incident of racial harassment and alert the Headteacher and other staff;	•	support each other in maintaining good classroom management and show sensitivity to each other’s needs and difficulties.
•	have a responsibility to model the type of behaviour felt to be acceptable;

Children….

•	should treat others as they would like be treated ie fairly and with tolerance and respect for other’s views and rights;	•	rewards will be accessible to all children.	•	examples of children’s work and achievements will be displayed in the classrooms and around the school.
•	should accept responsibility for their own choices and actions;	•	Assembly will be used as an opportunity to acknowledge achievements and to foster a sense of community.	•	should be given opportunities to show responsibility by taking turns to do appropriate jobs.
•	children’s achievements, academic or otherwise, will be recognised.

Rewarding good Behaviour

Rewards for good behaviour include:

•	praise from staff;	•	individual rewards which contribute to class/group rewards to develop a sense of community	•	showing good work in school assembly;
•	responsibilities given;	•	extra play time or additional activities	•	showing work in class at the end of the week;
•	quality time in the classroom when good work and good behaviour are acknowledged;	•	showing good work to the head teacher or deputy;	•	the use of awards – individual staff may wish to award points/merits or stickers and do so at their discretion.
•	Informing parents (verbally, by letter, postcard home)

Prefects

Year 6 pupils may be awarded prefect status to reward consistent effort, attitude and contribution to school life. A special badge will be awarded to prefects in recognition of their achievement. Prefects are there to set an example to others of the qualities embodied in the code of conduct. They will be awarded a badge to keep. Prefects may be appointed at any time during year 6. Prefect status may also be withdrawn by the Headteacher for a serious breach of the behaviour policy.

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Unacceptable Behaviour

Unacceptable behaviour includes

•	disobedience to a reasonable instruction;	•	damaging property;	•	truancy;
•	biting, spitting, hitting and kicking;	•	answering back, rudeness or aggression to adults;	•	racist comments;
•	foul language and swearing;	•	stealing;	•	forming gangs and bullying;
•	making unkind remarks;

Sanctions

When children’s behaviour falls below an acceptable standard a range of sanctions may be used to correct this

A firm reprimand from a member of staff is expected to be sufficient to correct most misbehaviour. However, if this fails to correct the behaviour of a child the following procedures may be adopted:

In the classroom

Time out – removal from the scene of an incident. This may mean working at a different place, working in another classroom by arrangement with the class teacher, working in the corridor outside the head teacher’s office by prior arrangement.

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Completing/repeating work.

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Loss of privileges

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Loss of free/play time

In the playground

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A pupil is taken indoors for a five minute cooling off period.

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A community task – e.g. tidying a shelf or cupboard, helping staff.

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If the above sanctions do not lead to a modification of behaviour, the following may be considered.

•	Exclusion from a favoured activity – this must be immediate, but can only be used occasionally. It has to be considered whether it is educationally sound to deprive children of particular lessons. They cannot learn to behave in lessons if they are removed from them.
•	Exclusion from the right to represent the school. This sanction should be used only rarely.
•	The establishment of a behaviour record or home-school report book.
•	A verbal disciplining from senior member of staff – Head or Deputy Head.
•	A requirement for a written apology.
•	A regular report to be given to the head teacher.
•	A letter/telephone call to a parent from the Head teacher or Deputy.
•	A meeting with parents.
•	Other sanctions following discussion between parents, class teacher and headteacher.
•	Exclusion from school (LEA guidelines to be followed).

Racist remarks

•	A pupil is reprimanded, the headteacher is informed and a record of the incident kept.
•	For a repeated offence, a record is kept and parents will be informed.
•	In persistent cases, parents may be asked to discuss the matter with the headteacher or a school governor in line with the school’s equal opportunities policy.

Bullying

The school has a separate policy for dealing with incidents of bullying.

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