Little Saplings Pre School - Behaviour Management

Behaviour Management Policy

We believe 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. We aim to work towards a situation in which children can develop self-discipline and self-esteem in an atmosphere of mutual respect and encouragement.

In order to achieve this:

Rules governing the conduct of the group and the expected behaviour of the children will be discussed and agreed within the pre-school and explained to all newcomers, both children and adults.
All adults in the pre-school will ensure that the behavioural expectations are applied consistently, so that children have the security of knowing what to expect and can build up useful habits of behaviour.
All adults in the Pre-School will ensure that children are free to develop and learn confidently, without fear of verbal or physical ridicule, abuse, harassment or bullying, this will also include any racially motivated comments/actions from either adults or other children.
All adults will try to provide a positive model for the children with regard to friendliness, care and courtesy.
Adults in the pre-school will praise and endorse desirable behaviour such as kindness and willingness to share. This may be marked by the award of an appropriate sticker.
We will take positive steps to avoid a situation in which children receive adult attention only in return for undesirable behaviour.

When children behave in unacceptable ways:

Adults in the pre-school will make themselves aware of, and respect, a range of cultural expectations regarding interactions between people.
Adults will be aware that some kinds of behaviour may arise from a child’s special needs.
Children who misbehave will be given one-to-one adult support in seeing what was wrong and 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 will be made clear immediately, but by means of explanations rather than personal blame.
In any case of misbehaviour, it will always be made clear to the child or children in question that it is the behaviour and not the child that is unwelcome.
Any behaviour problems will be handled in a developmentally appropriate fashion, respecting individual children’s level of understanding and maturity.
Techniques intended to single out and humiliate individual children such as the “naughty chair” will not be used.
Physical punishment, such as smacking or shaking, will be neither used nor threatened, or allowed against any child, by any adult, whilst on the premises.
Physical intervention by staff will only occur to prevent physical injury to the child, other children, adults or serious damage to property or in what would be regarded as exceptional circumstances. These interventions will be recorded and advised to the parents on the same day. See control/restraint addendum at end of policy.
Children will never be sent out of the room by themselves.
Adults will not shout, or raise their voices in a threatening way.

Anti- bullying

We view bullying as a very serious issue. All staff, parents and children will be made aware that bullying will not be tolerated in the setting and we will make every effort to make sure that bullying is dealt with appropriately.

Aims

The aim of the anti-bullying element of the policy is to clarify for all members of the setting that bullying is unacceptable. All children should feel safe in all areas of the pre-school at all times. We aim to encourage a climate of positive support in the pre-school which encourages children to realise that they do not have to tolerate bullying and, indeed, they must inform someone if they are being bullied. Children must be confident in the knowledge that they will be listened to and believed and that action will be taken which is prompt but sensitive to others.

The pre-school will endeavour to deal with bullying issues in the following way:

Assess the nature of the bullying
Encourage children who are being bullied or who have witnessed bullying to tell an adult.
Increase staff awareness of the issue.
Discuss with children in a group the importance of acceptable behaviour towards each other.
Reward children for positive behaviour.
Keep accurate and detailed records of all reported bullying incidents.

In most cases, bullying behaviour can be addressed according to our behaviour management policy. Where bullying behaviour persists, more serious actions may have to be taken through suspension and exclusion.

When children continue to behave inappropriately

Adults understand that there is always a cause for a child’s undesirable behaviour. Where this behaviour is frequent, a behaviour log may be implemented to ascertain the cause and determine strategies specific to the child’s needs.
Persistent unacceptable behaviour from a child will result in parents/carers receiving initial verbal reports and discussion over possible strategies. Should the behaviour persist then we will (with parental consent) look to outside agencies for support and advice. This will be followed by a formal meeting to discuss their findings, with the outcomes confirmed in writing.
As a last resort, the preschool has the right to suspend or permanently exclude a child in the event of persistent and un-resolvable behaviour and/or lack of parental engagement in achieving this.
Only in the event of an extremely serious or dangerous incident, (e.g. actions resulting in professional medical attention being required; actions resulting in other child or adult needing to go home; wilful, malicious or dangerous behaviour resulting in damage to the environment/setting) will a child be suspended with immediate effect. In such circumstances, parent/carers will be contacted immediately and asked to collect their child.
In the event of a suspension, the Leader will arrange a meeting with the parent/carers to discuss the incident and decide if it is possible for the child to return to the preschool.

Should a child display a high frequency of unacceptable behaviour, within a days attendance, then parents/carers may be contacted to collect their child immediately, but this exclusion will only apply to the specific day.

Control/Restraint addendum

The education act 1997 affirms that where necessary, reasonable force may be used to control or restrain children.

There are a wide variety of situations in which reasonable force might be appropriate or necessary to control or restrain a child. They will fall into the following three categories;

a) Where action is necessary in self defence or because there is imminent risk of injury.

b) Where there is a developing risk of injury or significant damage to property.

c) Where a child is behaving in a way that is compromising good order and discipline.

Examples of situations that might fall into these categories are.

A child attacks a member of staff or another child.
Children are fighting
A child is engaged in or is on the verge of committing deliberate damage or vandalism to property.
A child is causing or at risk of causing injury by accident, rough play or by misuse of dangerous materials or objects.
A child is running in a way in which he/she might have or cause accident likely to injure him/herself or others.
A child is behaving in a way that disrupts the rest of the children.
Where the control or restraint of a child is necessary any force used must be the minimum necessary to achieve the desired result.

Processes

All regular teaching staff are authorised to use physical restraint.

It may be necessary for staff to

Lead a child by the hand or arm.
Shepherd a child away by placing a hand in the centre of the back.
In exceptional circumstances (e.g. where there is an immediate risk of injury for example in preventing a child running into the road, hitting someone or throwing something) more restrictive holds may be necessary.

Staff should not act in a way that might be likely to cause injury and should avoid any contact that might be considered indecent.

Any occasion where physical intervention has been used, will be advised to the parents on the same day, and this will also be recorded in the incident book.

NB Some physical contact may be necessary to demonstrate an activity, administer first aide, clean, respond too or comfort a distressed child. In such circumstances staff should use their professional judgement.

Our designated Behaviour Management Co-Ordinator is Gayle Johnston