Responding to Behaviour 

All children will make incorrect behaviour choices during their time at school and it is the adults’ duty to support them in developing the behaviours that they need to become socially competent members of a community. 

At Green Oaks we use stepped consequences and agreed scripts to support children in managing their behaviour.

At all points we ensure that the children know that they are supported and that we care about them and their behaviour whilst reinforcing our school rules.

At Oakwood and Greenfields we teach the children that we care about them and their learning.  Therefore, there is the expectation that learning time that is lost through wrong behaviour choices is compensated for.  This ensures the child does not have gaps in their learning or fall behind their peers.

We do this by:

• Offering catch up time at a mutually convenient time. This may be during a break time or at another agreed point in the day and is supported by an adult.
• Working with parents to enable missed work to be completed at home.

A Restorative Approach

At Green Oaks we use restorative practice to help children take responsibility for their behaviour, learn from their actions and help them to repair any harm done.

Restorative practice is a problem solving approach to wrongdoing that identifies the harm done, who is accountable, and how best to repair this harm.  Anyone who has caused harm or who has been affected by the behaviour is involved in the process.  With this approach there is the understanding that when wrong is done, we need to work with those involved to help them take responsibility for their behaviour, to learn from the incident and to take what  action is required to repair  the harm. 

A restorative approach may be used at an individual, group, class or year group level and will involve working through the following key questions:

• What happened?
• What were you thinking at the time? How were you feeling?
• What have your thoughts been since? How are you feeling now?
• Who has been harmed? How?
• What needs to happen to repair the harm?
• What needs to happen next and in the future?

A restorative approach also allows the voices of those harmed to be heard and to give their thoughts on what has happened and what they would like to happen to repair the harm done.  Any child who has been harmed by another will be listened to and given physical and emotional support as and when needed.

Working in Partnership

Children are more likely to understand these rules if there is consistency in expectations between home and school.

It is therefore important that your child learns to respect rules, routines and boundaries at home as well as at school.  This needs to be because it is your expectation as a parent not just because ‘Your teacher says you must …’  Sometimes it is difficult to manage a child’s behaviour at home and you may feel that you have exhausted all the tips and tricks that you have been given.  If this is the case please do not feel that you have to manage alone – we are here to help.  The school has strong partnerships with the Educational Psychology Service, Primary Behaviour Support and the School Nurse.  All of whom are able to offer support, help and advice.  If you would like support, at any time, please speak to either the Executive Headteacher, Head of School or your child’s teacher and we will be happy to help.  Similarly, if we feel that your child is finding it difficult to manage their feelings and behaviour at school, we will contact you to discuss the extra support that may be needed at school and at home.