BEHAVIOUR POLICY
An atmosphere of care and respect in which known rules provide a secure framework for everyone’s activities, will help children build up positive patterns of behaviour.
As a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, St. Francis Pre-School Playgroup believes that children and adults flourish best in an ordered environment in which everyone knows what is expected of them and children are free to develop their play and learning without fear of being hurt or hindered by anyone else.
Bullying by anyone, children, staff or other adults is unacceptable at any time. We aim to work towards a situation in which children can develop self-discipline in an atmosphere of mutual respect and encouragement. All children involved in incidents of bullying need support and strategies for self-help. Bullying is defined as persistent behaviour (either verbal, physical or other forms of intimidation) which aims to hurt, intimidate or persecute another person(s) by an individual or group of people.
In order to achieve this:
Rules governing the conduct of the group and the behaviour of the children are discussed and agreed within the group and explained to all newcomers, both adults and children. (Children are told in advance, for example, that the sand stays in the sand tray).
All adults present in the group are responsible for ensuring that the rules are applied consistently, so that the children have the security of knowing what to expect and can build up useful habits of behaviour.
All adults are aware that their own friendliness, care and courtesy provide a positive model for the children.
Care is taken to praise and endorse behaviour which the group sees as desirable, such as kindness and willingness to share, so that there is no risk of children receiving adult attention only in return for undesirable behaviour.
When children behave in unacceptable ways:
Physical punishment, such as smacking or shaking, is never used, nor is it ever threatened by members of staff or parents/carers.
Children are never sent out of the room by themselves.
Techniques intended to single out and humiliate individuals, such as the “naughty chair”, are never used.
Children who are seen to misbehave are given one-to-one adult support in seeing what was wrong and in working towards a better pattern.
Where appropriate this might be achieved by a period of “time out” with an adult.
In cases of serious misbehaviour, such as racial or other abuse, the unacceptability of the behaviour and attitudes is made clear immediately, but by means of explanations rather than personal blame.
In any case of misbehaviour, it is always clear to the child/ren in question that it is the behaviour and not the child which is unwelcome.
Adults do not shout or raise their voices in a threatening way. There is no swearing.
Adults are aware of, and respect, varying cultural expectations regarding interactions between people.
Adult handling of behaviour problems is developmentally appropriate, respecting individual children’s level of understanding and maturity.
Adults will be aware that some kinds of behaviour may arise from a child’s special needs.
Recurring problems will be tackled by the whole pre-school, in partnership with the child’s parents/carers.
Adults will be aware that some kinds of behaviour may arise from a child’s special needs. In this case attention to the Special Educational Needs Policy will be used.
Although cases of bullying are extremely rare, the staff are aware that it exists.
When problems arise staff work together with children and parents. Children are helped through role-play and circle time to discuss their behaviour, and action to stop instances of bullying is acted upon immediately.
Incident Record
All incidents, no matter how small, need to be recorded accurately in the Accident/Incident Book. This must be signed by a member of staff who witnessed the incident as well as the parent/carer.
Our main aim is always to offer a child opportunities to take responsibility for their behaviour, suggest ways to improve and celebrate their achievements. Children should be helped to understand the consequences of their actions and make a genuine apology to those who have been hurt by their actions. By these means, we work towards a situation in which children can develop self-discipline and self-esteem in an atmosphere of mutual respect and encouragement.
