School Behaviour and Bullying Policy 2016-17 Governor Lead: Nominated Lead Member of Staff: Status & Review Cycle: Nick Bailey Pastoral Director Statutory (Annual Review) Last Review Date: September 2016 Next Review Date: June 2017
WHAT IS BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING? Relationship with Self: a student who does not feel confident as a learner and who has internalised a view that he/she is unable to succeed as a` learner will be more likely to engage in the challenge of learning and (in consequence) may be more inclined to present unwanted behaviours Relationship with Others: all behaviour needs to be understood as behaviour in context. Behaviour by students is triggered as much by their interactions with others (students, teachers or other adults in schools/settings) as it is by factors internal to the child. Relationship with the Curriculum: student behaviour and curriculum progress are inextricably linked. Teachers who promote a sense of meaningful curriculum progress in learning for each student will be more likely to create a positive behavioural environment. North Cestrian School believes that outstanding teaching is a key component of reducing behaviour problems. Well planned lessons, meaningful schemes of learning, good interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence contribute to removing most behaviour issues. Behaviour for Learning emphasises the crucial link between the way in which children and young people learn and their social knowledge and behaviour. In doing this the focus is upon establishing positive relationships across three elements of self, others and curriculum.
1. PRINCIPLES We aim to: 1.1 Have a caring, secure and orderly community in which the boundaries of acceptable behaviour are clear, shared and consistent, and reflect Government legislation as represented in the Education Act 2002 (amended 2011); The Education and Inspection Act 2006; DFE Exclusion from Academies in England; The School Discipline (pupil exclusion and reviews) 2012; The Education Regulations 2007; The Human Rights Act 1998; and the Race Relations Act 1976 (amended 2000); 1.2 Ensure that all staff are aware of the powers available to them, to sanction poor behaviour; 1.3 Ensure that students and parents/carers are introduced on entry to the School s expectations via the Home/School agreement and associated documents; 1.4 Ensure that all students are clear about the School s expectations through their Student Planner, visible displays in school and assemblies; 1.5 Ensure that students are familiar with the Consequence Scale and SMART Time systems for managing student behaviour; that staff apply these consistently; and that these are regularly monitored; 1.6 Ensure that students understand how their behaviour contributes to their school record; 1.7 Ensure that students understand how their behaviour contributes to the overall learning climate of the School; 1.8 Ensure Equality of Opportunity for all students; 1.9 Consider the impact of each individual s behaviour on the school community as a whole; 1.10 Work as part of a multi agency network to help students achieve more; 1.11 Promote clear values and a clear moral code; 1.12 Enforce fair, consistent and appropriate sanctions, when necessary;
1.13 Involve parents/carers and governors wherever it is appropriate or required; Use counselling whenever appropriate; 1.14 Use IEPs wherever relevant to support behaviour; 1.15 Ensure all members of staff are aware of the School s preferred practices when managing students. 2. PRACTICE 2.1. The School recognises that every student and member of staff is responsible for promoting good behaviour. We recognise that poor behaviour forms a significant barrier to learning and progress. To this end, it will not be tolerated. 2.2. Guidance for parents on the School s expectations appears in the Home / School Admission Agreement, which is signed by the school, the parent/carer and the student preadmission to the School. In the event of an external exclusion the School, parent/carer and student are required to meet to sign a re-admission agreement, which stipulates the expectations placed on any student returning to school following a fixed term exclusion. 2.3. In order to ensure that appropriate support is in place and the rights of all students to learn in an orderly environment are protected, the School may carry out a risk assessment in cases when a student is considered a risk to the learning or health and safety of other students or staff. Where students are known to have been excluded, either permanently or for a fixed term, from their previous school, they will be risk assessed prior to admission to the school. The School reserves the right to risk assess any student on roll as a result of behaviour that causes concern. 2.4. The School operates a system of Real-Time Tracking. This system offers support to all colleagues from the Pastoral Team, when difficulties arise. Students removed from lessons are monitored centrally and parents/carers are informed. 2.5. The school operates a system of SMART Time and students are placed in the learning focus room when their behaviour falls below the parameters of being considered acceptable. Student behaviour is monitored in real time via the HOKS TV. When a student receives 2 behaviour points he/she will be spoken to informally by a member of the
pastoral team. If the student receives 3 behaviour points on SIMS then he/she could be removed from class for the remainder of the day to spend SMART time in the Learning Focus Room. The Learning Focus Room is operational daily if needed and supports planned periods of SMART time for learning focus. Following a period of learning focus, the School, parent/carer and student are required to meet to sign a reintegration agreement, which stipulates the expectations placed on any student returning from a period of being supported in the learning focus room. See appendix for more information regarding SMART Time. 2.6. All staff are responsible for maintaining a calm, safe environment by performing duties before and after school and at break times. The Senior Leadership Team provide further support by patrolling key areas of the school during every break and lunchtime. 2.7. When reporting issues of a serious nature (C5-C7) a detailed version of events must be recorded on SIMS by the relevant member of staff. The relevant Consequence Point will be placed on SIMs by the HOK/SLT when appropriate action has been taken. 2.8. In order to support the Help Children Achieve More DFE Agenda, students are placed onto an additional needs register in order to ensure that staff, students and parents are aware of the risk of exclusion an individual student faces, and of the intervention and support that is in place. A student may have an identified need, such as a bereavement or LAC status that places them in a tier, without presenting behavioural concerns. Where the School has concerns, the SENCo or Pastoral Director will adopt a Multi Agency approach to assess the levels of need and implement the most appropriate levels of support. 2.9. All staff are required to familiarise themselves with the Keeping Children Safe in Education document provided at the beginning of the academic year. 2.10 All members of staff are encouraged to use preferred practice tactics for classroom and student behaviour management. 2.11 Standards Cards are issued to every student once per fortnight. They are used by all members of staff to monitor behaviour around the school and to maintain the School s high expectations of personal standards, including uniform, equipment and general behaviour. If a student receives 5 signatures on their card in one standard area in one week, they will be required to attend a detention. More information is contained in the relevant appendix.
3. STUDENTS 3.1 All students receive a Student Planner. 3.2 All students are expected to prioritize their learning and understand the importance of courtesy and manners. Good behaviour is the norm ; poor or off task behaviour is a hindrance to learning and affects the climate for learning. All classrooms display the Behaviour for Learning expectations. 4. EXCLUSIONS 4.1 The School adheres strictly to the Law in relation to exclusion and it has regard to appropriate guidance issued by the Secretary of State. 4.2 The Headmaster is legally responsible, following investigation and guidance from the Deputy Headmaster and Pastoral Director, for the exclusion of particular students and for gathering and preparing all exclusion documentation. 4.3 Following exclusion a meeting between the School, the student and the parent/carer is arranged in which a re admission agreement is signed. It is likely that special conditions will be agreed before re admission. 4.4 The Governors Discipline Panel is involved in all exclusions as laid down by the law on Exclusion. 4.5 A Governors Discipline Panel, made up of three governors, will be convened when a student has been excluded in excess of fifteen days in any one term or has been permanently excluded. A Governors Discipline Panel will also be convened in relation to any fixed term exclusions which would lead to a student being excluded from between 6 and 15 days but only when the student s parent(s)/ carers express a wish to make representation.
5. BULLYING North Cestrian believes bullying ruins lives and we will not tolerate any form of bullying within the school. At North Cestrian our definition of bullying is: Deliberate, persistent behaviour that causes another person/s upset. Deliberate means that the person involved chose to make the decision to upset someone. Persistent means that it happens on more than one occasion. A person could be very upset by a serious one-off incident and this type of incident will be dealt with seriously if it contravenes the school s expectations of behaviour. Bullying is horrible because it means a person is being upset regularly and because a person or a group of people is/are deliberately choosing to upset someone. Bullying can be physical, verbal, written, emotional, discriminatory and/or electronic. The school actively encourages students to share their concerns about themselves or others. 5.1 The Pastoral Director, in charge of the behaviour and safety of students, leads on the Bullying Policy. He is assisted by the Heads of Key Stage and the whole staff body. 5.2 The school will not tolerate bullying and recognises that challenging bullying effectively will improve the safety and happiness of students, show that the school cares and make clear to bullies that their behaviour is unacceptable. 5.4 All incidents of bullying are recorded on SIMS, including the actions/interventions taken to resolve the issue. Such records are kept in the form of a log called the Pastoral Report. 5.5 School recognises that there are many definitions of bullying but consider it most commonly to be: Behaviour which is deliberately hurtful, (including verbal, indirect and physical); Repeated over a period of time; Difficult for victims to defend themselves against; Bullying includes verbal and physical abuse and the inappropriate use of electronic media such as mobile phones or the internet.
5.6 The School recognises that there different types of bullying, they include: Bullying related to the race, religion and/or the cultural background of a student; Bullying that incorporates the use of sexist language; Sexual bullying; Homophobic bullying; Bullying of students with Special Educational Needs; Bullying of students with a disability; Cyber bullying; Bullying where items are stolen; Bullying which results in the injury to others. 5.7. Students should be reminded that all forms of bullying are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. 5.8. The School actively encourages students to tell if they feel they are being bullied. Direct action will be taken immediately to support the child and resolve the issue. 5.9. The School seeks to follow up after an incident to check the bullying has not started again. If students expect follow up, they are less likely to start bullying again. 5.10. Strict sanctions will be put in place for students involved in cyber bullying ; such sanctions could be supported by the confiscation of hand held devices when on school site or an insistence that the student does not bring such devices onto site. The parents/carers of students involved in cyber bullying will be engaged in this process.
5.11. Perpetrators may be required to sign an anti bullying contract in the presence of their parents/carers and a member of the pastoral team. 5.12 Sanctions should be considered carefully and involve parents/carers. In cases of severe and persistent bullying, exclusion from school may be necessary. 6. MOBILE PHONES AND OTHER DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY 6.1 North Cestrian allows students to bring mobile phones to school as long as the school s policy on mobile phone use is followed. North Cestrian accepts NO responsibility for mobile phones or any other digital device that are brought into the school and pupils do so at their own risk. Mobile phones are expensive items and parents must understand that we will not be liable for their safekeeping. Parents/carers who allow their child to bring a phone to school must understand that the responsibility for the safe keeping of the device is entirely the child s. If a parent/carer believes a child cannot look after the device safely they should not permit the child to bring it into School. 6.2 During lessons and around the School, mobile phones should be out of sight and switched off. Mobile phones should not be apparent in lessons unless their use is explicitly requested as part of a lesson by a teacher. Headphones should not be worn around the school and should not be apparent in lessons. During lesson time, if a student fails to keep their phone switched off and out of sight, it will be confiscated by the class teacher until the end of the day. If any student refuses to comply with this request, the matter will be dealt with as open defiance and the student will face the appropriate sanction. 6.3 Mobile phones or digital cameras or any other device which can record images or video must not be used in the school without permission from a member of staff. Any student who records an image or video without this permission must delete the file in the presence of a member of staff. Failure to do so may lead to the recording device being confiscated and the file deleted.
7. CONSEQUENCE SYSTEM 7.1 Schools are complex places and North Cestrian endeavours to see each student and incident individually. 7.2 Members of staff are expected to display and adhere to a set of common expectations and responses through the Consequence System. 8. DETENTIONS 8.1 10-30 minute break time and dinner break detentions can be issued at the discretion of any member of staff at the School without notice. 8.2 Afterschool detentions will take every night from 15:30 to 17:00 and can be issued for a number of reasons; an accumulation of C1 consequence points, issued at the discretion of the form tutor; a single, more serious breaking of the School Rules; an accumulation of 5 signatures on the Standards Card. All afterschool detentions will be sanctioned after contact home is made by telephone. 8.3 Saturday morning detentions can be sanctioned at the discretion of the headmaster. A Saturday morning detention is 90 minutes long. 9. STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES This Policy recognises the School s legal duties under the Equality Act 2010, in respect of safeguarding and in relation to pupils with SEND. The Headmaster will make reasonable adjustments to enable pupils with SEND to be included within the school community and within the scope of this policy. These will include: Ensuring that staff have had training in the nature of learning difficulties or disabilities, and how they should treat children with SEND; Ensuring that staff are aware of any children with SEND; Ensuring that help is sought from outside professionals or the LA to enable the school to make reasonable adjustments;
Ensuring that school resources are committed to assist in making reasonable adjustments; and making reasonable adjustments to school organisation or of the timetable of particular children.
Appendix: The Standards Card THE STANDARDS CARD At North Cestrian we believe that Personal standards are nothing more than a set of behaviours. These behaviours are built upon expectations you have of yourself in a variety of situations. They are in some respects performance standards. They lay down the benchmarks of performance for your life. Standards are simply an agreed way of doing things. They give ambitious organisations a set of tools with the potential to help them perform better and compete more strongly. The Standards Card is the School s way of agreeing on a set of personal, professional and organisational standards to which we all adhere to. These include: Uniform Punctuality to lessons Equipment Standards around the School The Standards Card is carried by every pupil in the school. If a member of staff witnesses a slip in standards from a pupil then they will ask the student for their card. The member of staff will initial the card in the appropriate box. The Standards Card A Perfect Blank card will allow entry into your year group s prize draw at the end of each half term. Your card will be checked by your Form Tutor each day during registration (put it on the desk). A detention is held after school each night and can be given for: A missing card 5 signatures NAME: FORM: HALF TERM: The Standards Reward Card
Uniform Please specify skirt/shirt/tie/ hoodie/shoes/make up/jewellery/nail varnish/mobile on view/earphones Equipment Please specify - pen/pencil/planner/books/kit Punctuality to lesson Please state how many minutes late Standards around school Please specify fizzy drinks/littering/out of bounds/in school building Stars Awarded by teachers around school for positive actions beyond expectations *inside view Standards Card Rules If the student gets 5 signatures in the same standard, they will receive an afterschool detention. Form Tutors will check the standards card every day for signatures. If the form tutor finds 5 signatures in one particular standard they will take the card and issue a new one. The card will then be handed in to the Student Manager who will telephone home regarding the detention. If students refuse to produce their cards when asked, they will receive an afterschool detention.
Appendix: SMART Time. SMART Time SMART Time is a term given to any period of reflection that a student undertakes as a result of poor behaviour or certain types of disappointing academic progress. The student may require time to reflect on his/her behaviour or use this time to catch up and improve on any missing work or homework assignments. All students undertaking SMART Time are supervised either in the Learning Focus Room or a pre-arranged classroom in each Faculty. SMART time in the Learning Focus Room can be sanctioned by HOK/HOF or a member of SLT. If a student s behaviour reaches C3 and they have been removed from a lesson they will need to be sent to a pre-organised place. This could be the Learning Focus Room, the appropriate Head of Faculty or a colleague in the same department or corridor. When a student is removed from the lesson and sent to a colleague or senior member of staff they must come prepared with work, where appropriate. The student should not be interviewed at this moment in time. Their removal from a lesson is a consequence of their behaviour and must be treated as such. The subject teacher MUST follow up this incident to improve their working relationship between themselves and the student to reinforce the standards. FUFT The subject teacher is solely responsible for recording this information on SIMS, contacting parents/carers and organising the interview with the student. Form Tutor / Head of Faculty and Head of Key Stage should be informed of the incident and kept informed of any resulting communication home.