Behaviour Policy

In this document

Beckfoot Trust is committed to creating an environment where exemplary behaviour is at the heart of productive learning. Everyone is expected to maintain the highest standards of personal conduct, to accept responsibility for their behaviour and encourage others to do the same.

This Behaviour Policy guides staff to teach self-discipline and self-regulation. It echoes our core values with a heavy emphasis on respectful behaviour, a partnership approach to managing poor behaviour choices and research informed interventions that support staff and learners. Each school will have its own Local Behaviour Protocol which will align with the Trust Behaviour Policy.

• High quality relationships and the promotion of emotional well-being underpin everything that we do.
• We show unconditional positive regard, valuing and respecting each other. This means we treat each other with respect and dignity, always aiming to build self-esteem. We are honest, kind and nurture the strengths and talents of others.
• We aim for all students to strive to be the best they can be, enjoy learning and be intrinsically motivated to succeed.
• We believe in simple learning habits that are designed to reinforce high expectations:
  • Follow the school dress code
  • Complete home learning on time and to a good standard
  • Be on time, every time
  • Be ready to learn with the right equipment
  • Be focused and on-task in lessons and around the building
  • Be respectful and safe in all you say and do
• We believe that explicit rules that are taught and reinforce our learning habits, help students to learn, keep them safe, and feel secure.
• We believe that simple routines are essential to the smooth running of schools and should be taught and reinforced through simple, consistent routines to establish a calm and purposeful environment.
• We value the individuality of our schools and therefore expect that the Local School Behaviour Protocol, reflects this policy and is devised locally by our schools detailing an approach to recognising and celebrating positive learning habits alongside implementing a stepped approach to consequences, which are appropriate for the students, the incident and context.
• We work as leaders across the Trust to ensure we have broad agreement on the reasonableness and proportionately of stepped consequences.
• Our schools are aware of the range of research available with regards to positive approaches to behaviour management, including that of restorative practices.

2.1 This policy is underpinned by legislation and statutory requirements and is based on advice from the Department for Education (DfE) on:

• Behaviour in schools: Advice for Headteachers and school staff
• Suspension and Permanent Exclusions September 2023
• Searching, screening and confiscation at school
• The Equality Act 2010
• Use of reasonable force in schools
• Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school
• Special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice
• Schedule 1 of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014
• DfE guidance explaining that academies should publish their behaviour policy and anti-bullying strategy online

This policy complies with our funding agreement and articles of association.

2.2 The principles and practice are supported by regular and appropriate staff training; close parental and community links; student-led participation in school life; promotion of students’ self-esteem through positive reinforcement and extra-curricular activities.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following:

• Local School Anti-Bullying Protocol / Behaviour Protocol
• Trust Care and Control Policy
• Trust Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
• Trust Code of Conduct Policy
• Trust Equality and Diversity Policy
• Trust Suspension and Exclusion Policy
• Trust SEN and Disability Policy
• Trust Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs Policy

2.3 Beckfoot Trust recognises that all of our behaviour is a communication, and we respond accordingly based on this. We know that our schools will succeed, and achieve high attendance and outcomes, when the social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs of staff, children/young people and families is prioritised. We uphold the following principles:

• Everyone understands they have the right to feel safe, valued, and respected, and learn free from the disruption of others.
• The Trust Behaviour Policy and the Local Behaviour Protocol are shared and understood by staff, students, parents, and carers.
• All students, staff and visitors are free from any form of discrimination.
• Staff and volunteers always set an excellent example to students.
• Recognition and consequences are used consistently by staff, in line with the school behaviour protocol and the care and control policy.
• The use of reasonable force is used consistently in line with the Trust Behaviour Policy and the Trust Care and Control Policy.
• Exclusions will only be used as a last resort. The Trust Suspension and Exclusions Policy explains and outlines the processes involved in permanent and fixed-term exclusions.
• Students are helped to take responsibility for their actions.
• Families are involved in behaviour incidents to foster good relationships between the school and students’ home life.
• The Headteacher on behalf of the Trust Board ensures that violence or threatening behaviour is dealt with swiftly and appropriately.

In practice our schools:

• Have the highest expectations of behaviour to maximise students’ opportunity to achieve.
• Ensure all students develop the good learning habits that they need to be successful in school and in life.
• Realise and celebrate the potential of all students though promoting independence, high self-esteem and enabling students to reach their full potential.
• Deliver a curriculum and create environments in which students are enabled to mature, become self-disciplined and self-regulated, work hard, able to accept responsibility for their own actions and understand the impact that their behaviour has on others.
• Have a no tolerance approach to low-level disruption in lessons, bullying or sexual bullying and harassment and work hard to create a positive and safe learning environment.
• Actively involve parents and carers to support their children’s learning.

3.1 Difficult behaviour is defined as:

• Disruption in lessons, in corridors between lessons, and at break and lunchtimes
• Refusal to respond or engage
• Non-completion of classwork or homework
• Poor attitude
• Persistent refusal to comply with the school dress code (secondary)

3.2 More serious behaviours are defined as:

• Repeated breaches of the school rules
• Any form of bullying
• Verbal abuse
• Physical aggression
• Destructive behaviour, damage and vandalism
• Sexual bullying, harassment, abuse or assault
• Any unwanted sexual behaviour that causes humiliation, pain, fear or intimidation, including online behaviour
• Theft
• Fighting
• Smoking or vaping
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or discriminatory behaviour
• Possession of any prohibited items

Appendix 1 outlines the broad approach that schools follow when responding to difficult and more serious behaviours.

3.3 Bullying is defined as the repetitive, intentional harming of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power.

Bullying is, therefore:

• Deliberately hurtful
• Repeated, often over a period of time
• Difficult to defend against

Types of bullying	Definition
Emotional	Being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting
Physical	Hitting, kicking, pushing, taking another’s belongings, any use of violence
Racial	Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
Sexual	Explicit sexual remarks, display of sexual material, sexual gestures, unwanted physical attention, comments about sexual reputation or performance, or inappropriate touching
Direct or indirect verbal	Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
Cyber-bullying	Bullying that takes place online, such as through social networking sites, messaging apps or gaming sites

Details of each school’s approach to preventing and addressing bullying are set out in the local school anti-bullying protocol.

The Trust has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual violence and sexual harassment. It is never acceptable and will not be tolerated.

• All concerns are taken seriously and followed up by school staff and appropriate consequences implemented.
• The Trust recognises that sexual violence and harassment or on a continuum and consequences applied will reflect the harmfulness of the behaviour. Section 5 of KCSIE is used to support staff to respond.

The Trust Board will:

• Establish the policy for promoting positive behaviour and relationships in consultation with schools, parents/carers and students.
• Ensure the policy does not discriminate and that it advances equality and good relations for those with protected characteristics.
• Be responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the behaviour policy and holding Headteachers to account for its implementation.
• Ensure the policy is communicated to students and parents/carers.
• Keep the policy under review.

The Headteacher is responsible for the day-to day management and implementation of the behaviour policy and will:

• Create a school culture which is inclusive and embodies the mission and values of the Trust.
• Have a Local Behaviour Protocol that is aligned with Trust Behaviour Policy
• Ensure that the school environment encourages positive behaviour and that staff recognise and reward positive behaviour and intervene effectively with poor behaviour.
• Monitor consistency and high expectation to ensure the Local Behaviour Protocol is fairly and consistently applied by staff.
• Support staff who face challenging behaviour.
• Ensure that the concerns of students are listened to and appropriately addressed.
• Foster close working relationships with parents and carers.

Staff are responsible for:

• Implementing the behaviour policy consistently and fairly.
• Modelling positive behaviour.
• Providing a personalised approach to the specific behavioural needs of SEND and other vulnerable students.
• Listening and following up on the concerns of students so that they appropriately addressed.
• Recording behaviour incidents.
• Working positively and confidently with children and find the least intrusive way possible to support, empower and keep them safe. They should invest in building relationships of trust and understanding, seek to understand triggers and find solutions. If incidents do occur, defusing the situation and/or distracting the child wherever possible.

Parents /carers are expected to:

• Ensure their child attends school regularly, is punctual, properly equipped to learn and that they provide an explanation if their child is absent.
• Work in partnership with the school to assist the school to maintain high standards of behaviour, including following the school dress code.
• Sign and support the home school agreement.
• Work with the school to support their child’s behaviour at school.
• Support their child in adhering to the student behaviour code.
• Inform the school of any changes in circumstances that may affect their child’s behaviour.
• Discuss any behavioural concerns with the class teacher/form tutor promptly.
• Support their child to complete home learning.
• Treat all members of the school community with respect and politeness.

Students are expected to:

• Take responsibility for their own behaviour both on and off the school site.
• Behave in an orderly and self-controlled way.
• Show respect to members of staff and each other.
• In class, make it possible for all students to learn.
• Move quietly around the school.
• Treat the school buildings and school property with respect.
• Always wear the correct uniform.
• Accept consequences of poor behaviour choices when given.
• Report incidents of disruption, violence and any form of bullying and harassment.
• Refrain from behaving in a way that brings the school into disrepute, including when outside school.
• Engage with and complete home learning.

Beckfoot Trust teachers should develop a positive, predictable, and safe environment for students, by:

• Establishing a supportive and inclusive environment with a predictable system of reward and sanction in the classroom.
• Working alongside colleagues as part of a wider system of behaviour management (e.g., recognising responsibilities and understanding the right to assistance and training from senior colleagues).
• Giving manageable, specific, and sequential instructions.
• Checking students’ understanding of instructions before a task begins.
• Using consistent language and non-verbal signals for common classroom directions.
• Using early and least-intrusive interventions as an initial response to low level disruption.
• Responding quickly to any behaviour or bullying that threatens emotional safety.

Trust Teachers should establish effective routines and expectations, by:

• Creating and explicitly teaching routines in line with the school ethos that maximise time for learning (e.g., setting and reinforcing expectations about key transition points).
• Practising routines at the beginning of the school year.
• Reinforcing routines (e.g., by articulating the link between time on task and success).

Trust Teachers should build trusting relationships, by:

• Liaising with parents, carers, and colleagues to better understand students’ individual circumstances and how they can be supported to meet high academic and behavioural expectations.
• Responding consistently to student behaviour.

Trust Teachers should motivate students, by:

• Supporting students to master challenging content, which builds towards long-term goals.
• Providing opportunities for students to articulate their long-term goals and helping them to see how these are related to their success in school.
• Helping students to journey from needing extrinsic motivation to being motivated to work intrinsically.

• Trust schools establish rules that are explicit, as short as possible, compact, and memorable. They must be widely known and demonstrated throughout school life.
• Teaching, modelling, and reinforcement of the rules ensures that they are communicated, widely understood and that compliance is recognised, praised and celebrated.
• When rules are broken, school staff will follow up and apply an appropriate consequence.

• Trust headteachers will ensure that any area of general behaviour that can be sensibly translated into a routine should be done so explicitly. This removes uncertainty, reduces anxiety, creates a framework of social norms.
• Trust schools have well-established and universally known and understood routines for example, student removal, consequences, and sanctions, corridor and classroom expectations, behaviour on trips, arrival, transition, and departure behaviour and so on.
• These routines should be seen as the aspiration of all members of the school community whenever possible.

• Our Trust schools use a range of ways to recognise and reinforce the rules and routines for learners who go ‘over and above’ the standard expectations. There will some adaptations made for those learners who struggle to learn, remember, and display appropriate behaviour so that they can be gradually more successful.
• School staff use praise to develop a positive atmosphere in the classroom. Praise is the key to developing positive relationships, including with those learners are hardest to reach.
• Schools use a tiered approach, from the use of a sincere gesture, quiet word or specific personal praise graduating through to larger more public praise and recognition. Positive feedback should be proportionate to the effort displayed by learners.

• Our Trust schools have a clear and clearly communicated stepped system of consequences to respond to poor or inappropriate behaviour choices.
• Sanctions are consistently applied across the whole school community and based on certainty rather than severity.
• Poor or inappropriate behaviours should be seen as an opportunity to teach and scaffold the best behaviour that a student is capable of.
• Schools should ensure that the set high expectations of all students and define the exceptional circumstances where vulnerable students and students with SEND may require adaptation to the system of consequences in line with their additional needs or disabilities. School leaders should ensure that staff are aware of any reasonable adjustments that are required and support staff with training where necessary.

• There is strong research evidence that restorative processes, where reflections and learning take place, are successful in supporting wellbeing and long-term behaviour change.
• Our schools recognise that during any incident the child or young person’s behaviour is likely to be influenced by a strong emotion such as a feeling of anger, frustration, or disappointment. They may present as not be ready to engage in anything until they have calmed sufficiently.
• Equally, the impact of the incident on the staff and others involved is recognised.
• Once it is considered the child or young person (or member of staff) is ready for the restorative process, this can take place and should involve all relevant persons (for example, key staff, parents, other children, and young people).
• The purpose of reflect, repair, and restore is to re-visit the experience with the child or young person when they are calm, relaxed and receptive to being reflective about the incident.
  • Explore what happened (tell the story)
  • Explore what people were thinking and feeling at the time
  • Explore who has been affected and how
  • Explore how relationships can be repaired
  • Summarise what has been learnt so there can be different responses next time.
• Schools can follow by using restorative questions within this discussion:
  • What would you like to happen next?
  • How can we make things better for you and others affected?
  • If everything was going to be alright, what would need to happen?
  • How can you help to put this right?
  • How can we make teach you to make a different behaviour choice if this happens again?
• To be effective, the reflect, repair and restore process should be adjusted according to the age, understanding and other needs of the child or young person.

Headteachers have the power to respond to non-criminal bad behaviour and bullying which occurs off the school premises and which is witnessed by a staff member or reported to the school. Consequences, where appropriate, can be implemented.

Schools can apply consequences for inappropriate behaviour when the student is:

• Taking part in any school-organised or school-related activity
• Travelling to or from school or
• Wearing school uniform or in some other way identifiable as a student at the school.
• Misbehaviour at any time, whether the conditions above apply, that could have repercussions for the orderly running of the school, pose a threat to another student or member of the public or adversely affect the reputation of the school.

Where a student makes an accusation against a member of staff and that accusation is shown to have been malicious, the headteacher will discipline the student in accordance with this policy.

Please refer to our Trust Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, Discipline Policy, Code of Conduct, Whistleblowing Policy and Grievance Procedure for more information on responding to allegations of abuse.

The Headteacher will also consider the pastoral needs of staff accused of misconduct.

Refer to Trust Care and Control Policy

• In some circumstances, staff may use reasonable force to restrain a student to prevent them:
• Severely disrupting the learning of others
• Hurting themselves or others
• Damaging property
• Incidents of physical restraint must:
• Always be used as a last resort
• Be applied using the minimum amount of force and for the minimum amount of time possible
• Be used in a way that maintains the safety and dignity of all concerned
• Never be used as a form of punishment
• Be recorded and reported to parents

The Headteacher can authorise the use of force to conduct search without consent for illegal items or those which may cause offence or harm. These items include:

• Knives and weapons
• Alcohol
• Illegal drugs
• Stolen items
• Tobacco and cigarette papers/vapes.
• Fireworks
• Pornographic images
• Any article that has been or is likely to be used to commit an offence, cause personal injury or damage to property.
• Paracetamol or other pain relief (students can seek support for medical issues from the care team in school)

In the case of anything illegal, the items will be handed to the police.

Headteachers will confiscate any item which is harmful or detrimental to school discipline. These items will be returned to students after discussion with senior leaders and parents, if appropriate.

Searching and screening students is conducted in line with the DfE’s latest guidance on searching, screening and confiscation (July 2022)

Headteachers also have the right to confiscate banned items. Please refer to the Local Behaviour Protocol

Trust schools have the power to impose detentions outside of school hours, without parental consent. However, we do always inform our parents when a detention is to occur outside of the usual working day.

Our Trust schools have the authority to use reflection or isolation rooms as a disciplinary sanction and often as a way of avoiding fixed-term exclusion.

All schools will ensure that time spent in any such room is used as constructively as possible and that students are allowed to eat, drink, and use the toilet.

4.13 Exclusion (including reintegration) Please refer to Suspension and Exclusion Policy for further detail about fixed term suspensions and/or permanent exclusion.

Our Trust Schools work tremendously hard to avoid fixed term (short term) and permanent exclusions. At times, however, it can be necessary to address a more serious matter.

Our Schools comply with the law, current DfE guidance and communicate with families as clearly as possible.

At times, we may use internal exclusion or short-term placements in other schools to avoid a fixed term exclusion. If this is to happen, schools will make clear the arrangements.

All our schools work with other local schools to facilitate managed moves as an alternative to permanent exclusion.

Managed moves should be done only in exceptional circumstances, for example, serious one-off incidents to avoid a permanent exclusion.

Managed moves from school will be overseen by the Headteacher and will follow local authority agreed Behaviour and Attendance Collaborative (BAC) when working with other schools and Trusts.

For students where there are long-standing concerns about behaviour the school will ensure that a robust assessment of needs has been undertaken prior to any decision to move a child.

Where the child is identified as suffering from trauma/ACEs or has been identified with SEND the school will first work closely with parents and carers and external agencies and use the enhanced provision and expertise on-site and across the Trust to meet identified needs.

Trust schools may use off-site provision and alternative provision (AP) to improve the behaviour and engagement of students where there is not an offer that can meet the student’s needs within the school.

We expect our schools to ensure that:

• Any move off-site is communicated to parents / carers.
• Where an external alternative provider is used, checks to ensure the suitability are undertaken to ensure safe working practice and a curriculum offer that meets the needs and aspirations of the student.
• Have in place arrangements to ensure that the attendance of students is closely monitored.
• Safeguarding of student’s accessing off-site provision is monitored through regular visits.
• APs are DfE registered if being used and where an AP may be in an application stage for registration, that thorough checks of adults (DBS) are conducted and reviewed.
• There are regular meetings to review the progress of learners and reintegration into school. We see regular as at least once per half term.

Beckfoot Trust recognises its legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to prevent students with a protected characteristic from being at a disadvantage. Consequently, our approach to challenging behaviour may be differentiated to cater to the needs of vulnerable students and learners with SEND.

We recognise that traumatic events, also known as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), can have many profound effects on childhood development. We work to ensure that our approach to promote positive behaviour and self-regulation considers the impact that a child’s experience may have on their behaviour.

Where concerns, around a student exhibiting challenging behaviour are identified, the SENDCO in school will assess the student to determine whether they have any underlying needs that are not currently being met.

Where necessary, school will seek support and advice from specialist teachers, an educational psychologist, medical/health practitioners and/or others, to identify or support specific needs.

When acute needs are identified in a student, SENDCOs liaise with external agencies and plan support programmes for that child. We will work with parents to create the plan and review it on a regular basis.

To ensure a smooth transition to the next year, students have transition sessions with their new teacher(s). In addition, staff members hold transition meetings.

To ensure behaviour is continually monitored and the right support is in place, information related to student behaviour issues may be transferred to relevant staff at the start of the term or year. Information on behaviour issues may also be shared with new settings for those students transferring to other schools.

4.18 Liaison with Parents/Carers and External Agencies Our Trust schools work in close partnership with parents/carers, communicating expectations, recognising effort and achievement and intervening to support behaviour to improve where needed.

All schools have in place a home-school agreement that sets out the duties and responsibilities of our three-way partnership.

Trust schools work actively within local partnerships (Local Authority Partnership, Behaviour and Attendance Collaboration, Fair Access Protocol: LAP, BAC, FAP).

Beckfoot Trust staff are provided with training on managing behaviour, including, where it is appropriate, in the proper use of restraint, as part of their induction process.

Approaches to behaviour management is reviewed regularly in schools and forms part of continuing professional development.

6.0 Review of Policy The Trust Behaviour Policy will be reviewed with Headteachers annually. At each review, the policy will be approved by the Trust Board.