Principles

At Holly Lodge, we believe that if effective teaching and learning is to take place then good behaviour and a positive attitude are essential elements of the successful classroom and school. We recognise that positive behaviour should be promoted and rewarded at all times and that the promotion of a culture of celebration will impact on all students, increasing motivation and achievement.

Aims

The six main aims of this policy are:

1.       To promote a fair, safe and positive environment where discipline and good order lead to achievement and progress by all students.

2.       To recognise, reward and celebrate good behaviour and achievement.

3.       To challenge inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour and language.

4.       To provide clear guidelines to all members of the school community on the consequences of unacceptable behaviour.

5.       To develop an effective whole school approach to the implementation of our school’s Relationships for Learning policy.

6.       To involve students, parent/carers, staff and governors in the implementation of the Relationships for Learning policy.

Procedures

1.       We believe that effective and thorough lesson planning will help prevent or minimise behavioural problems. Therefore, staff should plan their lessons in accordance with the school’s Teaching for Learning policy.

2.       Staff should be on time for their lessons and ready to greet their students. The lesson should start promptly and a register taken within the first 15 minutes.

3.       A seating plan should be used in accordance with school policy and should be used in order to maximise students’ learning.

4.       Positive behaviour should be acknowledged throughout the lesson so that the focus is on those students who are following classroom routines. Staff should make appropriate use of the merit system in KS 3 and the Learn to Earn system in KS 4 to reward good behaviour and achievement.

5.       Staff will use the IRIS system adopted by the school to record merits and rewards issued to students. Teaching staff should record merits and rewards every 3 weeks. Form tutors must record merits for attendance, punctuality and uniform every week.

6.       Staff should model the behaviour they want to see and strive to maintain and develop positive relationships with their students.

7.       To maintain good order throughout the lesson, staff should regularly and clearly articulate the routines that students need to follow in order to be successful. Specific reference to the School Charter should be made where appropriate and the consequences of poor behaviour should be made clear to students.

8.       When students choose to display behaviour that disrupts the learning and/or safety and well being of other students, they must be made aware of the consequences of their poor behaviour in the form of an appropriate sanction. The School only uses sanctions as a last resort but we expect all students and their parents/carers to abide by the sanction(s) set.

9.       The School has 4 agreed groups of poor behaviour of increasing severity (see appendix 1). All incidents of poor behaviour must be logged on the school’s management system – IRIS. It is important that the information is correctly recorded as the Year Leaders and their Leadership link will monitor it regularly.

10.     Incidents of poor behaviour should be recorded by the end of the school day using the IRIS system. The incident slip should record the action taken by the member of staff. Any further action taken should also be recorded; this may include action taken at a later date by another member of staff or it may be a record of the completion of a sanction.

11.      An incident slip should not be completed during a lesson if it is going to interrupt the flow of the lesson and the learning of students.

12.     When completing an incident slip for poor behaviour or behaviour giving cause for concern, it is important that staff provide clear and precise information that is factual and professional in its tone. Incident slips may be viewed by parents, other schools and LA officers.

13.     An alert system is set up on the IRIS system so that key members of staff are made aware when poor behaviour is recorded. Because of the alert system, IRIS will be the only means through which members of staff inform Year Leaders of poor behaviour.

Form Tutors will receive Level 1 incidents for members of their form.  It is expected that Form Tutors will check the IRIS profile for their form at least twice each half-term.

14.     Year Leaders will analyse the issuing of incident slips and rewards on a weekly basis. This will be used to form a monthly report for their Leadership link colleague and used to discuss and establish appropriate action for students whose behaviour is of concern.

15.     When dealing with incidents of poor behaviour staff must follow the School’s Referral Process (see Appendix 1). The sanctions available to the school are set down in the Referral Process and range from a simple verbal reprimand to exclusion. (See Relationships for Learning Booklet for further information on behaviour management strategies).

16.     All teaching and support staff must be reflective, collaborative and proactive in dealing successfully with behavioural challenges that may arise in and outside the classroom. Colleagues must work closely with each other and the pastoral system to identify underlying causes of concern and to develop more effective strategies and solutions.

17.     The school works closely with support staff and outside agencies to offer support strategies to students who regularly display poor behaviour or who are at risk of exclusion.

18.     The confidential nature of some of the work done by support staff and outside agencies means that it is sometimes difficult to share it in detail. Year Leaders will regularly inform staff of students who are vulnerable. Staff should be mindful of these issues when dealing with students.

19.     It is the responsibility of the Curriculum Leader in the first instance to monitor and manage the strategies used within their department to deal with disruptive behaviour.

Further support is available from Year Leaders, KS Coordinators and LT links. Curriculum Leaders should consult Progress Leaders before requesting a meeting with a parent / guardian.

20.     At the start of each academic year, the Curriculum Leader must establish the department’s “Buddy” timetable. Consideration should be given to potential “hot spots” on the timetable and appropriate “Buddy” classes should be identified. Smaller departments should team up with another department to assist them in this process.

21.     Fixed term exclusions are available to be used by the Headteacher. Fixed term exclusions of 1 to 5 days will be used for the most serious cases of misbehaviour e.g.

Fighting / bringing the school into disrepute / foul and abusive language to staff / physical intimidation of staff. This is not an exhaustive list.

22.    Permanent exclusions will be a last resort after all other support mechanisms have failed. Permanent exclusions are used rarely but will take place for persistent serious misbehaviour.  Permanent exclusion will also be used in very rare cases for a one-off, extremely serious offence which threatens the safety of anyone within the school community.

This policy is linked to:

Teaching for Learning Policy

Information for Parents and Carers Leaflet                                                  13^th June 2011