School Ethos
We strive to know our children well, understanding their individuality, life experiences and barriers to their learning and development. We provide challenges for our children whilst understanding their starting points. We value learning and everyone within our community. The uniqueness and diversity within our staff, student and parent body is valued and celebrated. We make provision for developing the emotional learning of all our pupils, but most particularly for its most vulnerable pupils. We accept our children as they are, nurture their strengths and support their development so that they can be the best they can be.
School Rules and Rights
The rules and rights apply to our whole school community which includes; children, parents/carers and staff. The rules and rights should be made clear to the children so that they understand boundaries and expectations. Boundaries and expectations help children to understand what is required and to predict an outcome. We are using universal school rules to ensure that children and staff have simple and consistent communication when interacting with each other.
Gainsborough Rules and Responsibilities
Valuing Positive Behaviour and Achievements
Our emphasis is on recognition that supports development of positive behaviour and individuals’ achievements rather than focusing on consequences for mistakes. We believe that social rewards have the biggest impact on children’s learning and self-esteem. The easiest reward to give is verbal and social recognition, informal and formal, public and private, to individuals and groups. Recognition should be tailored to the development stage of the child which values their individual achievements. Rates of recognition for positive behaviour should be as high as for learning.
To recognise and promote positive behaviour, we use a range of social recognitions including;
- Verbal feedback
- Non-verbal feedback e.g. thumbs up gesture, smile, pat on shoulder
- Acknowledgement in assembly
- Notes in home/school diary
- Use of social media e.g. Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
- Phone call/text to parents/carer
- Share good choices with other adults for positive reinforcement
Working with Parents/Carers
Working in partnership with parents and carers is an integral part of school life for getting the best outcomes for the children. Teachers should be having regular informal conversations with parents regarding their child’s behaviour.
The balance of celebrating children’s successes should outweigh any communication regarding any difficulties a child may be experiencing. For our children who have full time 1:1 support, the school will communicate regularly with parents/carers.
Responsibility of Governors
The Governors for Gainsborough Primary School are required to:-
- Have good knowledge of the Behaviour Policy and ratify any upadates
- Understand the culture of the school and complete visits to monitor the ethos
- Have a legal responsibility for exclusions
Exceptional Circumstances
We recognise that behaviour is a form of communication of an emotional need (whether conscious or unconscious) and should be responded to accordingly. Individuals with SEND/SEMH are recognised within our behaviour systems and appropriate scaffolded support is put in place to ensure they can manage within boundaries that are recognised in the school. Children who have an emotional need, disability or special educational need may have an individualised specialist plan to support them. For our Autisic children, we will always use the SCERTS model to support emotional regulation.
Fixed Term or Permanent Exclusions
We will always, by any means possible, avoid excluding our pupils. However, there are some situations that will warrant a reactive response from school. Fixed Term Exclusions may be either Internal where they will attend school but learn away from their class or an External Exclusion, which requires the pupil to undertake their learning off site. In the case of an external exclusion, this will be registered with the local authority.
Parents are always informed by a standard letter if a Fixed Term Exclusion has been given. Following exclusion, the pupils and parents will be called to a ‘return to school’ meeting and a support plan will be initiated where appropriate.