Parents often ask about our behaviour policy. It is a long document available on this website. Please take the time to read it if you can.

Transcription

1 BEHAVIOUR Parents often ask about our behaviour policy. It is a long document available on this website. Please take the time to read it if you can. This short version answers parents most frequently-asked questions, I hope. Please remember, most of our young people behave exceptionally well all of the time. Excellent behaviour in a happy community is normal at Johnston! 1. DURHAM JOHNSTON S BEHAVIOUR POLICY sets out how we will educate our young people to develop the personal skills and discipline which build up an equitable, safe and happy community from which they may succeed as useful citizens. 2. WHY IS GOOD BEHAVIOUR IMPORTANT? a. Schools have a duty to build and maintain orderly and cohesive communities, so that young people may learn how to get along with one another and moderate their own needs against those of others. b. Through our successful promotion of good behaviour we offer our young people, irrespective of background, the space to learn and grow and develop as active citizens without fear or inhibition knowing that they are equally valued. c. The simplest basic requirement of good behaviour in community is an observance of good manners. We teach manners explicitly at Durham Johnston and expect all members of our community to demonstrate them at all times. We expect our young people to show respect to all adults and those in authority over them. While respect may be enhanced by personal knowledge, in this large community we expect our young people automatically to show respect to adults whether they know them or not. No adult may be treated dismissively or rudely at Durham Johnston. d. All adults should expect the Headteacher to provide safe and pleasant working conditions: this precludes rude, threatening or abusive behaviour. Foul language is particularly unacceptable. e. In all of this, we wish to work in partnership with parents so that good behaviour taught in the home might be reinforced at school and viceversa. However, we cannot negotiate acceptable behaviour norms for individual children with parents, as our responsibility is to the maintenance of a larger, orderly and happy community focussed on

2 the common good. Though an individual s circumstances may be taken into account, the same rules, expectations and benefits apply to all. f. We know that for many young people adolescence is turbulent and equally difficult for their families. We believe that our strong boundaries offer a secure place within which those trying times may develop good, strong, reflective and responsible citizens of the future. g. We will follow OFSTED s advice that the most successful schools are those who i. Tackle behaviour as part of whole school improvement ii. Promote honesty, ownership and teamwork iii. Identify the most challenging behaviour and plan responses to it iv. Use external support effectively 3. WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS GOOD BEHAVIOUR? a. The first responsibility for good behaviour lies with the child. While most children have an innate sense of right and wrong, of sharing and fair play some find them harder lessons to learn. We try to ensure that our school runs in such a way that no child can be in any doubt about acceptable standards of behaviour which we try always to explain clearly and uphold consistently. b. Parents are a key part of our success at Johnston. We expect parents to support their children as they grow and develop into the good citizens of the future. i. We therefore expect parents to support teachers and uphold Johnston s discipline and authority as we believe that children need to see unity and know boundaries. ii. In more practical terms we expect parents to ensure that their children are always in school, wearing full uniform and well equipped. We expect parents to support and encourage their child s learning. In particular, we do not expect parents to seek to blame the school for the consequences of poor behaviour or lack of application. iii. We will support parents in their duty to ensure that children are well-mannered, understand how to be polite and cooperative citizens able to foster mutually respectful relationships. Where this has not been central to the child s upbringing before joining us, we find it harder to modify poor behaviour. iv. We expect parents take responsibility for their children s activity out of school. In particular, we expect that parents will monitor internet activity so that students are not enabled easily to engage in bullying of other members of the school community through social networking sites.

3 v. We ask that parents maintain regular contact with us in school including providing absence notes, attending parents evenings and signing the pupil organiser every week. vi. We strive to keep children safe and maintain a happy and orderly community at Johnston but we find it hard, to solve problems within or between families, or disputes in local communities so we ask that such issues are kept out of school. vii. Sometimes parents find their children s behaviour very hard to manage and we can offer some support with that from our years of dealing with adolescents, and by directing or referring them to other specialist services. viii. When your child is in school he or she must do as we say. You cannot override that. We ask parents to note that The teacher has general authority over pupils for the purpose of securing their education and well-being and that of other pupils in the school and ensuring that they abide by the rules of conduct set by the school. This authority is not delegated by the parent, but derives from the teacher s position as a teacher. In matters relating to the school, this authority overrides that of the pupil s parent. (Elton Report 1989) 4. WHAT IS GOOD BEHAVIOUR? At Johnston we define good behaviour as that which promotes courtesy, successful learning, a pleasant atmosphere, happiness, security, co-operation and consideration from all pupils in their relationships with other pupils, school staff, visitors and other persons within and outside the school premises, and demonstrates respect for other people, the school community and environment. 5. WHAT IS BAD BEHAVIOUR? At Johnston we define bad behaviour as that which leads to rudeness, disruption of learning, a nasty atmosphere, fear, conflict and disrespect. Bad behaviour can be wrong actions or bad choices. Some children deliberately behave badly, others do not know how to behave. All need to be taught the acceptable norms of school life so that they may flourish, and so that they will than have an understanding of the norms of community interaction which will help them to be good citizens and prosper in life. 6. HOW DO WE ENFORCE GOOD BEHAVIOUR? a. We have a simple code of conduct which is displayed in all classrooms. There is behaviour advice in students organisers and on the school website. All teachers set their behaviour expectations at the start of the year and reinforce them regularly. All students are reminded regularly about behaviour in assemblies.

4 b. We expect good behaviour as a norm at Durham Johnston and have a simple rewards for subjects which includes Praise, thanks and positive feedback Department commendations Letters to parents and carers School awards c. Where students choose bad behaviour we have a range of sanctions. These are 1. talking privately with the pupil 2. counselling and advice 3. verbal reprimand 4. confiscation of banned articles (see below) 5. time out of class or time out of circulation in school instituting pupil detentions (see below) 6. carrying out a useful task in school 7. withdrawal of school privileges; 8. letters to parents or carers; 9. meetings with parents or carers; 10. referring matters to the subject leader, personal tutor, year leader, Assistant or Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher as appropriate; 11. referral to external agencies; 12. time in the school Inclusion Unit 13. internal exclusion in the Inclusion Unit 14. a trial managed move to another school for 6 weeks 15. fixed-term exclusion (up to 5 days) 16. fixed term exclusion (between 6 and 45 days, served in the behaviour unit of a partner school) 17. permanent exclusion (see annex 1). d. Although no longer a statutory requirement, the school will usually send notification of detention home in writing with a student at least 24 hours in advance of the detention to be served. i. It is not the school s responsibility if the student chooses not to inform parents or guardians. ii. If a student does not attend detention on the day for which notification is given the detention will be served as soon as possible thereafter. We do not need to inform parents of this. iii. If the child has deliberately missed the detention, more time may be added. iv. Transport home from a detention if school transport has been missed is parents responsibility. v. After-school detentions may not be served at lunch or breaktime. vi. Detentions, meetings and interventions based in the Inclusion Unit are central to our Behaviour Policy in that they serve as

5 important deterrents to misbehaviour. We expect parents to support us in these. 7. HOW DO WE TRACK BEHAVIOUR? We use a simple electronic incident reporting system which ensures that colleagues are informed about behaviour so that the correct intervention may be made. Once an issue is reported, and after it has been resolved or passed on, the year leader will ensure that the details are entered onto the student s behaviour log in our management information system. 8. WHO DEALS WITH BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOL? a. When behaviour is a cause for concern in school we would expect the following people to be involved on an escalating scale, depending on the severity of the event. Form tutor or class teacher Year leader or subject leader Unit Manager any or all of these post-holders may be but will not always be involved, depending on the event and the behavioural history of the child. Assistant Head (Mr Weaver) Deputy Head or Headteacher 9. INTERVENTION a. We try to intervene as early as possible to promote good behaviour and prevent patterns of misbehaviour developing. Where misbehaviour is rooted in poor understanding of expectations or limited understanding of life in a large community we will offer support usually through the year leaders, the Unit or the SEN department. b. We offer counselling through year leaders, the Unit, part-time counsellors employed in school and other agency support. We aim to offer counselling that will enable young people to develop the resilience they need to make their way in the world. c. We will include other agencies where this is helpful or necessary to the child. 10. INTERNAL EXCLUSION We use internal exclusion for a serious misdemeanour, especially that which disrupts learning seriously, defies the authority of staff or where we feel that the child will see a fixed-term exclusion as a holiday. It is time in isolation in our Inclusion Unit, with a different start and end time to the day and intensive counselling about the mistakes made as well as classwork. If a child is internally excluded it is the parent s responsibility to ensure transport to and from school.

6 11. FIXED-TERM EXCLUSION We use fixed-term exclusion in accordance with the statutory guidance 12. CHILDREN AT RISK OF EXCLUSION Children at risk of permanent exclusion will be given a Pastoral Support Plan in which parents and other agencies are closely involved in the setting and monitoring of targets, knowing that the failure to meet those targets may result in permanent exclusion. Children at risk of permanent exclusion may, through the LA protocol, be offered a managed move to another school as a final fresh start. 13. MALICIOUS ALLEGATIONS We will assume that a member of staff has behaved reasonably unless it can be shown that this is not the case. We may exclude a pupil who has made a false allegation against a member of staff. This may be a permanent or fixedterm exclusion. We will not automatically suspend a member of staff against whom an allegation of using unreasonable force has been made. 14. INVESTIGATING INCIDENTS a. We will always investigate behaviour incidents where the facts do not readily present themselves. In serious cases, where there is the possibility of fixed-term or permanent exclusions, we will take statements from students involved which may be anonymised for use in presenting a case to governors. Where possible or necessary, we will keep evidence confidential. b. While we are bound by natural justice to ensure that we act correctly, we are not required to match standards of evidence in criminal law. We are required to demonstrate that on a balance of probabilities our behavioural norms have been breached. c. Our investigations may lead us to a judgement that a child is lying. Lying is not unusual while growing up, and testing boundaries is normal. Some children lie habitually or occasionally. We would ask parents to remember that when a child asserts that he or she is telling the truth, that may also be a lie. We teach children that they are more likely to be believed if they usually tell the truth. The full policy is 17 pages long and puts much more flesh on these bones. Please contact us if you would like to talk about any of this. Dr M Wardle April 2014