School Policy – Behaviour

Research evidence suggests that pupils demeanor can be influenced by in all the major features and processes of a condition. These include the quality of its leadership, developroom management, demeanour insurance indemnity, curriculum, pastoral c are, buildings and physical surroundings, organisation and timetable and relationships with parents. (Elton line, DES, 1989) The secondary education issue I have chosen to focussing on for this presentation is Whole give instruction doings Policies and how such policies can influence the precept and acquisition experiences in nurture through the use of sanctions and rewards.I chose this area to focus on because, as a student instructor on a teaching dis cropment, deportment in shallows is one of my biggest concerns and also because, according to the Elton Report and other writings I have read, it appears that this is a major area of concern passim secondary schools in the UK. The Elton Report, a national enquiry into discipline in schools, was established by the Secretary of State for Education and Science in March 1989 in response to concern ab proscribed the problems facing the teaching profession.Their task was to recommend action to the government, local authorities, voluntary bodies, governors, headteachers, teachers and parents aimed at improving conduct in schools for effective teaching and instruction to take place. (Elton Report, DES, 1989) The Elton Report has formed the basis of much of the current legislation on school behavioral policies and offers guidance for schools in make believeing up their suffer behaviour policies.The main findings and recommendations of the Elton Report can be summarised in the avocation points (Teachernet, 2008) checks should adopt a whole-school burn down to their behaviour policies and the teachers approach should be one of unity and fairness trails should have a acquire vision for managing behaviour through establishing clear rules and boun daries, with emphasis on the positive. entirely must adhere to insurance principles, and teachers should model behaviour and interactions in a positive and acquitive way. Boundaries should be made clear and sanctions should be in place, but the emphasis is on praise and rewarding good behaviour. in all mental faculty should recognise that the quality of teaching and learning has a satisfying wallop on pupils behaviour A schools central purpose is that squirtren should learn. untroubled behaviour makes effective teaching and learning possible. Bad behaviour disrupts these processes. (Elton Report, DES, 1989) In September 2003, the governments plane section for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) launched the demeanour and Attendance fibril of the Key Stage 3 Strategy.This programme aims to provide advice, substantiate and fostering for all secondary schools in England to embolden positive behaviour and undertake issues of low- take disruption. It recommends that seni or leadership teams in schools will carry out audits of behaviour and attendance and, from these, will establish priorities for the whole school. They will thusly plan actions to nurture improve their constitution and practice and will draw up training plans for their lag. ( deportment4learning, 2008) At my year one placement school I witnessed these recommendations put into practise in the classroom through the carrying into action of the schools Behaviour Policy.The placement school is a sundry(a) comprehensive school in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. The head teachers perception of the schools catchment area is that it is a predominantly working class area of London with high levels of poverty and unemployment. correspond to the schools latest Ofsted inspection report the number of pupils who are registered SEN (Special Educational Needs) is above the national average. Although non all special need are connected to behaviour, it is largely acknowledged that if a c hild finds learning very difficult it is possible that incidents of poor behaviour can occur. Cowley, 2006) The school has a behaviour policy in place and, by adhering to it, aims to promote a positive learning and teaching community for staff and pupils. (Swanlea School Behaviour Policy) The main aims, as summarised in the policy, are To ensure that behaviour is a whole school responsibility To ensure that rewards and sanctions procedures are utilize fairly and consistently To foster compassion and tolerance, celebrate diversity and bust a sense of citizenship and care for the whole community and purlieu To alter all pupils, irrespective of race, class, gender and ability, to achieve their personal best. Swanlea School Behaviour Policy) The policy also sets out the rights of staff and students, which are summarised as every student has the right to learn at his or her optimum rate, without creation hindered by others Every student has the right to live each twenty-four hours in school without fear. Bullying, threatening behaviour, racial or sexual agony and damage to property will not be tolerated. both staff have the right to go active their work without macrocosm hampered (Swanlea School Behaviour Policy)This reflects a clear alignment with research by Cowley (2006) who states that assorted types of school have very different and specific behavioural problems, and i competely the whole-school behaviour policy should be linked about to the particular difficulties your school faces. (Cowley, 2006, p172) The schools behaviour policy is clearly in place to give rise a positive environment for pupils but it is also in that respect for the benefit of teachers and staff to create a positive working environment and enable the teacher to effectively teach without disturbance. Its important to economise in take care that the reason we need to manage behaviour at all is so that we can actually get on with teaching. (Cowley, 2006, p96) The policy was established by the head teacher, deputies and heads of surgical incision together with the behaviour put forward team. It is managed by the substitute head teacher and is reviewed each term, through consultations with heads of department and the behaviour support team, at practiceated Behavioural Policy Review meets.These meeting allow for changes to be made if the policy appears to be ineffective and, for example, if incidents of sorry behaviour have increased. In order to check the effectiveness of the policy, the deputy head teacher analyses data, in the form of exclusion rates, details of incidents of determent and racist abuse and the use of sanctions and rewards. All of the schools staff, including teachers and support staff, are responsible for ensuring that the behaviour policy and procedures are followed and applied.This guidance example has made it easier for staff to respond to incidents of gravely and good behaviour consistently and fairly and for all students t o be made aware of the policy. As recommended in research by Rogers (2006) When schools have a common framework for classroom behaviour agreements, each successive year group becomes increasingly advised of the way we do things here. This enables some sense of common understandings and expectations about appropriate and fair behaviour and also some reasonable consistency in behaviour management by adults across the school. (Rogers, 2006, p46) The behaviour policy states that all staff are expected to model the high standards of behaviour and punctuality expected of pupils. Form tutors are also expected to support and encourage individual pupils through praise, positive reinforcement and contact with parents. The policy also advises that form teachers are directly intricate with low level behaviour issues, such as addressing school uniform issues. The school believes that maintaining a level of consistency across all staff and department, with regards to the behaviour policy, ensur es that all pupils are aware of its contents.This is in line with Rogers (1995) and Cowleys (2006) findings, who say that a whole-school behaviour policy is effective when it- Is created in conjunction with all the staff undergoes a continuous process of change is consistently applied All pupils at the school carry a travelling diary to lessons in which homework and behavioural issues such as lateness are monitored and recorded. The travelling diary contains a summary of the schools behaviour policy and expectations further ensuring that the students are aware of the policy contents.Assemblies on the theme of respect and behaviour are also delivered to the pupils on a regular basis. The behaviour policy is well(p)spring constructed and understood by most students and applied evenly by all staff. (Ofsted, 2007) The school has in place a schema of sanctions and rewards to mess hall with negative and positive behaviour respectively. Depending on the severity of the negative beha viour in the school, the sanctions range from a verbal telling off to the child being placed in the schools closing off unit. Sanctions are there to offer corrective measures to indicate to the perpetrator that the displayed behaviour is not acceptable and provide and opportunity for the individual to redeem him/her self. (Swanlea School Behaviour Policy) The behaviour policy states that the school aims to support a positive learning environment for students through the use of rewards for good behaviour. This ranges from praise from the teacher to statuesque awards and prizes at the schools annual awards ceremony and during assemblies. This in reflected by Cowley (2006) who says Using rewards is one of the most effective ways of getting violate behaviour. This will help you maintain a positive focus and atmosphere in your classroom. (Cowley, 2006, p81) However, it is challenged by Kyriacou (1998) who argues that it is effective teaching not rewards that create better behaviour. The most important point to bear in mind in considering discipline is that creating the necessary order is more to do with the skills involved in effective teaching in general than it is to do with how you deal with pupil misbehaviour itself. (Kyriacou, 1998, p79) To sum up, from classroom observations at my placement school I frequently observed incidents of students bad behaviour and how these incidents were dealt with in the design and technology department. It was apparent that the design and technology department, like the rest of the school, is closely following the guidance in the behaviour policy and is very expeditious at dealing with bad behaviour. This appears to have a positive impact on the school in that it creates a safe environment for the pupils.However, on a daily basis I observed poorly behaved children being given break time detentions and several children receiving the ultimate sanction of the isolation unit. While this appears to be effective in that it create s an ordered classroom environment for teaching and learning to take place, I frequently observed the well behaved pupils going un-noticed in the schools efforts to stamp out bad behaviour. .We can get trapped into giving lots of rewards to our tricky students, to deliver them onside and get them to co-operate.But dont overlook those children who work baffling all the time they deserve to receive recognition for their efforts as well. (Cowley, 2006, p83) This suggests that their behaviour policy is not working as effectively as it could and that a solution could be to have, embedded in the behaviour policy, a system of rewarding good behaviour and recognising hard working children, as well as responding to the students bad behaviour. References Cowley, S. 2006), Getting the Buggers to Behave, Continuum International Publishing Group, London HMSO (1989) The Elton Report Enquiry into Discipline in Schools, Her Majestys Stationery Office, London Kyriacou, C (1998), congenital Teac hing Skills, Nelson Thornes Ltd, Cheltenham Laslett, R and Smith, C (1984) Effective Classroom forethought, Croom Helm Ltd, Kent Rogers, B (2006) Classroom Behaviour A Practical Guide for Effective Teaching, Behaviour Management and Colleague Support, Paul Chapman Publishing, London Rogers, B (1995) Behaviour Management A Whole-School Approach, Scholastic Australia, Gosford Swanlea School Behaviour Policy, London Web references Behaviour4Learning. Accessed 20. 11. 08 www. behaviour4learning. ac. uk Department for Children, Schools and Families. Accessed 20. 11. 08 www. standards. dfes. gov. uk Office for Standards in Education. Accessed 20. 11. 08 www. ofsted. gov. uk Teachernet. Accessed 20. 11. 08 www. teachernet. gov. uk