OUR BELIEFS ABOUT BEHAVIOUR
At Blackpool Gateway Academy, we are committed to the emotional and mental health and wellbeing of our staff, pupils and parents/carers. We work towards this in all aspects of school life roviding an ethos, environment and curriculum which promotes, teaches and supports emotional regulation and positive mental health of the whole school community. We believe that nurture and trauma informed practice should be at the heart of every child’s education. The atmosphere of school and the classroom climate is facilitated by the adults within the room. We believe children respond better to support, encouragement and reward rather than punitive measures.
In our school we wholeheartedly believe that effective education and nurture begins with a trusting and d nurturing relationship between staff and pupils. We implement this by ensuring every child has access to an emotionally available adult.
Key Principles to Gateway’s 8 Key Approaches
We all have a responsibility to create a safe, caring and happy learning environment built upon strong relationships. The key principles below uphold the eight main aspects of the policy.
Being fair is not about everyone getting the same (equality) but about everyone
getting what they need (equity).
All behaviour is a form of communication.
Taking a non-judgemental, curious and empathic attitude towards behaviour.
We encourage all adults in school to respond in a way that focuses on the feelings and emotions that mi might drive a behaviour, rather than the behaviour itself. A child with difficulties needs to be regarded as v vulnerable rather than troublesome and we all have a duty to explore this vulnerability and provide appropriate support.
Putting relationships first
Promoting strong relationships between staff, pupils, parents/carers and the wider community which are built on connection, inclusion, respect and value for all.
8 Key Aspects of our Relationship and Regulation Policy
- Building and maintaining positive relationships
- Three simple expectations
- Consistent use of language
- Positive recognition
- Curriculum offer
- Emotional Coaching
- Restorative and problem solving approaches
- Graduated Response
Maintaining clear boundaries and expectations around behaviour.
In order for children to feel secure, their environments need to be high in nurture and structure with predictable routines, expectations and responses to behaviour. These must be in place and modelled appropriately within the context of a safe and caring school environment. Natural consequences and rewards which can follow certain behaviours should be made explicit, without the need to enforce ‘sanctions’ that can shame and ostracise the young person from their peers, school community and family, leading to potentially more negative behaviour.
Understanding that all behaviours are not a matter of ‘choice’
Not all factors linked to behaviour of a pupil are within their control. Therefore, the language of choice (eg ‘good choice/bad choice’ is not always helpful).
Behaviour must always be viewed systematically and within the context of
important relationships for example look at the relational damage or affect rather than an internal problem.
Encouraging parental involvement is crucial when addressing and planning support for a child’s social, emotional or mental health needs.
It is everyone’s responsibility to respond to and provide for the emotional well being of a child.
INTENT
“Learning today for a brighter tomorrow…”
Aims
- To encourage a calm, purposeful and happy learning environment within our school.
- To nurture positive, caring attitudes towards everyone, where achievements at all levels are celebrated and valued
- To provide opportunities for children to develop their independence, self-regulation strategies and a sense of responsibility towards themselves and others
- To develop a consistent approach for promoting communication throughout the school, as we recognise that all behaviour is a form of communication.
- To ensure that all children are clear of the expectations within our school
- To establish a coherent and fair reward system that acknowledges and celebrates achievements.
- To establish procedures which address any concerns regarding pupil’s wellbeing which may be being demonstrated through disruptive behaviours.
- To raise self-esteem and teach positive behaviour through the content and delivery of the curriculum.
- To effectively manage incidents of bullying, sexism, racism and any other prejudice if and when they occur.
GATEWAY’S CORE VALUES
The school has six core values which ensure a consistent, fair, calm and productive environment to enable the children to learn in a nurturing and positive atmosphere. Our core values are displayed in every classroom and all communal areas around school. These are known as Gateway’s Core Values.
Excellence - Always trying to be the best you can be in all areas of school life.
Respect - This means having respect for yourself, others and school property. It also means being polite and using your manners throughout the school day.
Ambition - To have hopes and dreams for the future and knowing the strategies of how to get there.
Resilience - The ability to bounce back from challenges and to keep trying to achieve your goals.
Pride - To have a feeling of self-worth and to take pleasure in your appearance and the presentation of your work.
Integrity - To be treated and to treat others fairly and honestly.
In addition, class teachers may set appropriate and specific rules for individual classes. As a school we recognise the need to reward good choices in behaviour. It is instilled in our children from an early age that they have a choice in how they behave. We use a positive approach in encouraging good attitudes by rewarding and praising appropriate behaviour.
IMPLEMENTATION
At Gateway we pride ourselves on developing strong and supportive relationships with parents and carers. We ensure our processes of communicating to parents are two-ways through being proactive and positive rather than reactionary and punitive approaches to building positive relationships in school. Building and maintaining trusting relationships with children and each other is an expectation for all staff at Gateway. Here are the non-negotiable systems we have in place to promote and uphold positive relationships in school.
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IMPACT
By using this system consistently, across school and in all key stages, behaviour is being managed more effectively in class. Class based staff are empowered and take ownership and pride of good behaviour in class. This whole school approach allows for all children and staff to develop a cohesive approach to whole school behaviour patterns with no surprises.
Class Dojo Points
The school operates the Class Dojo system in positive behaviours and attitudes. Dojo points are awarded for a range of things. Each child may be awarded 1 Dojo point for modelling one of our core values and house points are also awarded for demonstrating our CARE values.
Children have the opportunity to redeem their points termly in a variety of ways and half termly house prizes are allocated too to the house with the highest points total.
Positive praise
Within our school we use positive praise to acknowledge good behaviour, to encourage repetition, and communicate the school community’s expectations and values to all pupils. Using positive recognition provides an opportunity for all staff to reinforce the school’s culture and ethos. This may take the form of public and individual praise or speaking with parents. The same process may also be used for verbal reprimand to remind children of the expectations of behaviour.
Speaking with Parents/Carers
Parents/Carers may receive texts or postcards home for positive behaviours/attitude or good work. They may also be contacted via Class Dojo, telephone or in person at the end of the day to discuss their child’s behaviour.
Certificates
Children are identified by class teachers and support staff to receive award certificates for their achievements including academics, behaviour, effort and attitude. We celebrate in our achievers assembly fortnightly.
Chimp Corner
Based on the work by Prof Steve Peters, we have developed a break out space in each classroom which we call Chimp Corner.
This enables children to learn the skills of self-regulation, walking away and positive mind 
management.
A child using a chimp corner is seen as a positive step and children are rewarded accordingly for having the self-regulation that they need some time out.
In addition, PSHE and nurture sessions are conducted around this text which details the different areas of the brain which help children understand and manage their emotions, thinking and behaviour. In addition, each classroom has Chimp Mascots which are used for role play and further intervention work.
These systems are becoming embedded at Gateway and have already had significant impact with children who have SEMH/SEND and also with children who may have experienced trauma. In addition this has also promoted values of empathy amongst their peers and had increased a culture of peer support which is woven into each session.
Within our Chimp Corners we also have Zones of Regulation posters which children refer to when discussing which zone they are in and how they can move to a different zone. This helps children to articulate how they are feeing and recognise the strategies which help them to change how they feel/ to calm down.
Restorative Justice
At Gateway we practise restorative justice and conflict resolution. This is taught through the PSHE curriculum when looking at relationships. We also encourage restorative justice with any 1:1 fallings out and these meetings are facilitated by an available adult. We practise restorative justice in quiet spaces so this may take place during break and lunchtimes so children have time to reflect and process the event and receive nurture and support for any behaviour.