Behaviour Policy

The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.

John C. Maxwell

1.    Rationale:

This policy represents a whole school code of behaviour and discipline.

2.    Aims

At Edison Global Academy , we aim to

1.      motivate children and raise self esteem

2.      value achievement and show appreciation of good work and behaviour

3.      have high expectations with regards to behaviour and encourage pupils to take responsibility for their actions

4.      provide children with a learning environment that all pupils respect, which is safe and secure, and in which we hope pupils will feel happy, comfortable and confident.

5.      encourage all pupils to develop self-discipline, awareness and respect for their own needs and rights and those of others, a caring attitude for people, property and environment

6.      ensure that all adults present a positive role model for children to follow and ensure a positive atmosphere for learning where every child can maximise their potential

7.      stress the importance for children receiving their education in a stable and ordered environment. To this end, children are expected to be polite, helpful and hard-working

Whilst we promote self-discipline and offer pupils incentives to work hard and conduct themselves appropriately, we recognise that in certain circumstances, sanctions are considered necessary.

3.    Staff expectations

All members of staff at Edison Global Academy  have a very important role to play regarding behaviour and discipline at the school and adhere to the following code of practice:

1.      All staff, both teaching and non-teaching must take responsibility in maintaining the ethos and discipline in school to provide consistency

2.      Praise where appropriate

3.      Draw attention to good behaviour

4.      Rules should be expressed positively and their rationale explained. Pupils should play an important part in forming school and classroom rules

5.      A balanced system of rewards and sanctions should be in place

6.      Be disappointed, upset, even angry at the behaviour and reject that, but not the child who is still valued as a person

7.      Ignore petty, attention-seeking behaviour when it does not significantly infringe classroom rights

8.      Minimise unnecessary confrontation, undue criticism or embarrassment

9.      All responses should be seen as fair

4.    Pupil Expectations:

We expect the children at Edison Global Academy :

·        to address/refer to all members of staff and other pupils politely and by using their name

·        to be honest and assume responsibility for their own actions and belongings

·        to arrive to school on time, in proper school uniform and with a positive attitude to work

·        to walk around the school and enter and leave school in an orderly manner

·        to show self-control and not react angrily at any time

·        to show kindness and tolerance towards others without bullying mentally, emotionally or physically

·        to show good manners (eg. please, thank you)

·        not to swear or use bad language

·        not to interrupt when someone is talking

·        to assume responsibility for a tidy and clean learning environment and to use litter bins provided

·        to care for and use school property and equipment correctly and sensibly

·        to use sanitary facilities appropriately and wash hands afterwards

·        to never leave the school grounds during school hours unless supervised by a member of staff

·        to only bring toys and other valuable items into school when given permission to do so

·        not to chew gum at school

·        not to wear jewellery (girls are allowed small earrings or studs)

·        not to wear make-up or nail varnish

·        should not use or have a mobile phone at the school .

The children are constantly reminded in a positive way of these expectations and are reminded of these.

5.    Classroom Behaviour

At Edison Global Academy , we believe that positive teaching strategies help prevent disruptive behaviour. Children are given work appropriate to their needs so that self-esteem and confidence can develop. Children should feel an integral part of the school so they do not feel the need to cause disruption.

Hence, in our classrooms

·        routines are clearly established and children are involved in this process

·        children are expected to participate in all activities with a positive attitude

·        consistent expectations for learning are set

·        Rules are clearly presented to the class at the earliest opportunity by the Class Teacher, and are reminded of these on a regular basis. It must be made clear to students what is expected of them.

·        Tasks are matched to the ability to ensure a sense of success for all children. Learning objectives are communicated to the children in every lesson and Success Criteria  generated  are appropriate, to ensure that children know what, how and why they are learning

·        Children are listened to and taken seriously

·        The Class Teacher will learn as much as possible about each child in the class

·        The Class Teacher will ensure that an emotionally upset child is supported by informing the appropriate people (eg. Principal, Deputy Principal, Office Staff, etc.) are involved so that action can be taken

·        The Class Teacher will have the flexibility not to over-react to situations over which the child has very little control eg lateness, fee-payment, etc.)

6.    Rewards

At Edison Global Academy , there is an emphasis on the positive approach to behaviour management. Pupils will be encouraged and praised and negative criticism is to be avoided. Where it is considered that criticism is appropriate, it will be constructive in its approach and include advice on how to improve behaviour.

Reward systems are in place for every pupil in the school. However, as we aim to promote healthy eating  sweets will not be used as a reward. 

7.    Intervention Planning and Sanctions

There are a number of strategies throughout the school to address poor behaviour and teachers are encouraged to develop their own methods which are appropriate to the age group and maturity of their classes.

·        Focus on Learning

This includes ignoring the poor behaviour and noticing children who are on task and learning but it is also vital that the learning is well planned and differentiated so that all children are able to stay on task.

·        Non verbal interventions:

Often looks or a small head movement from the Class Teacher is enough to deter children from further disruption

Verbal Intervention:

·        This is meant to be a warning, however it is important that it is, wherever possible, still linked to learning or questioning.

Delay confrontation:

Where possible, confrontation should be avoided in front of an audience. Children should be given the choice to join in with the learning so that there is a ‘win win’ situation

·        Consequences:

Consequences of poor behaviour should be based on ‘certainty not severity’. Children should understand a consequence will definitely happen whether they begin to join in with the lesson or not (eg. they cannot win back break time with good behaviour). Each school will have its own disciplinary procedures that will detail the consequences of poor behaviour choices to ensure consistency across the school.

Examples of Consequences are:

              a. Loss of break time: children are required to stay in for their break time

b. Time out sessions: if a pupil continues to behave inappropriately despite two prior warnings in class, said student will be removed from the class for a ‘time-out-session’, and will be given some classwork to complete during this time. Pupils are to spend such ‘time-out-sessions’ in the Principal/Deputy Principal/Learning support staff office.

c. Involvement of the Principal: should the pupil continue to behave inapropriately, or should a more serious incident have occurred, the Principal will get involved.

d. Tasks as Punishment: for certain pupils, it may be appropriate to issue a task as punishment for inappropriate behaviour. This should be a useful task, yet not one the pupil particularly enjoys or considers to be a reward. The Class Teacher or the Principal will decide the nature of this task and when it has to be undertaken by the pupil (eg. cleaning up the playground, rearranging books in the school library).

e. Detention: if a pupil continues to persistently display poor behaviour, he may be issued with an after school detention, accompanied by a letter to the parents informing them of the child’s poor behaviour and the necessary detention signed by the Principal.

Reasons for the issuance of detentions are:

·        persistent defiant behaviour

·        persistent disruptive behaviour

·        behaviour that puts others in danger (i.e. constant fighting, aggressive behaviour towards others)

·        persistently breaking school or classroom rules

·        disrespect towards any adult around the school

·        persistent refusal to do homework or bring copy books to school

·        Bullying

Through assemblies, stories and other areas of the curriculum the philosophy of respecting each other, helping and protecting those smaller or weaker than ourselves is explained. Edison Global Academy  has a no-tolerance stance towards bullying and any incidents are to be reported and recorded.

If bullying is reported by parents or child, procedures outlined in the ‘Anti-bullying Policy’ are to be followed.

1.    Immediate Suspension:

On occasion, it may be necessary to suspend a pupil from Edison Global Academy  with immediate effect. Only the Principal can suspend a child from school. Such an action will be exceptional and generally relate to extreme behaviour, constituting a serious breach of school rules. However, the Principal also has the right to exclude a child where the health, safety and welfare or education of others are threatened.

Such offences include:

1.      assaulting a member of staff or another pupil

2.      possession of illegal substances eg. cigarettes), an offensive weapon (eg. knives) or any other object which could be potentially hazardous

3.      serious physical or indecent assault against fellow pupils

4.      persistent bullying (ongoing intimidation or physical, emotional, verbal abuse against other pupils)

5.      refusing to cooperate with staff when the pupil’s or other pupils’ education or welfare are at risk

6.      causing serious damage to school property or the school building

School rules Circular:

The School rules circular in as Appendix 1 to this policy, is to be shared with parents to ensure communication about the importance of the schools rules and the consequences if they are not followed.