Behaviour Management Policy
Introduction
Our pre-school believes that children flourish best when they know how they are expected to behave and should be free to play and learn without fear of being hurt or unfairly restricted by anyone else.We aim to provide an environment in which there is acceptable behaviour and where children learn to respect themselves, other people and their environment. Back to top
Methods
· We require all staff, volunteers and visitors to provide a positive model of behaviour by treating children, parents and one and other with friendliness, care and courtesy.· We require all staff and volunteers to use positive strategies for handling any conflict by helping children find solutions in ways which are appropriate for the children?s ages and stages of development ? for example distraction, praise and reward.
· We familiarise new staff and volunteers with the pre-school?s behaviour policy and its rules for behaviour.
· We expect all members of the pre-school ? children, parents, staff and volunteers ? to keep to the rules, requiring these to be applied consistently.
· We praise and endorse desirable behaviour such as kindness and willingness to share.
· We avoid creating situations in which children receive adult attention only in return for undesirable behaviour.
· We recognise that codes for interacting with other people vary between cultures and require staff to be aware of ? and respect ? those used by members of the pre-school.
· When children behave in unacceptable ways, we help them to see what was wrong and how to cope more appropriately.
· We never send children out of the room by themselves.
· We never use physical punishment, such as smacking or shaking. Children are never threatened with these.
· We do not use techniques intended to single out and humiliate individual children.
· We only use physical restraint, such as holding, to prevent physical injury or serious damage to property. Details of such an event would be recorded [what happened, action taken by whom, and names of witnesses]
· In cases of serious misbehaviour, such as racial abuse, we make clear immediately the unacceptability of the behaviour and attitudes, by means of explanations rather than personal blame.
· We handle children?s unacceptable behaviour in ways which are appropriate to their ages and stage of development ? for example by distraction, discussion or by withdrawing the child from the situation.
· We work in partnership with the parents, to address recurring unacceptable behaviour, using objective records to help us to understand the cause and to jointly decide how to respond appropriately. Back to top
Bullying
Bullying involves the persistent physical or verbal abuse of another child or children. We take bullying very seriously.If a child bullies another child or children:
· We intervene to stop the child harming the other child or children;
· We explain to the child doing the bullying why her/his behaviour is inappropriate;
· We give reassurance to the child or children who have been bullied;
· We help the child who has done the bullying to say sorry for her/his actions;
· We make sure that children who bully receive praise when they display acceptable behaviour;
· We do not label children who bully;
· When children bully, we share what has happened with their parents and work out with them a plan for handling the child?s behaviour; and
· When children have been bullied, we share what has happened with their parents, explaining that the child who did the bullying is being helped to adopt more acceptable ways of behaving. Back to top