Wimborne First School & Nursery

Behaviour/Anti-Bullying

It is a primary aim of Wimborne First School and Nursery that every member of the school community feels valued and respected, and that each person is treated fairly and well. We are a caring community, whose values are built on mutual trust and respect for all. The school’s behaviour and relationship policies are therefore designed to support the way in which all members of the school can work together in a supportive way. It aims to promote an environment in which everyone feels happy, safe and secure. 

At Wimborne First School we have a whole school policy for behaviour so that all members of the school community - teachers, support staff, play leaders, parents, children, volunteers, external visitors - use a common positive approach to children with simple rules, rewards and consequences that everyone can understand.

We have a set of school rules that we expect everyone within our school community to live and learn by.  Our school rules are;

Be Safe

Be Kind

Be Respectful

The children are taught about their behaviour through role modelling and explicitly taught sessions in line with our Behaviour Curriculum (see a copy of our Behaviour Curriculum below).  The children are taught to recognise and regulate their behaviour with an increasing awareness of the vocabulary that can be used to articulate their emotions.

The school expects every member of the school community to behave in a considerate and respectful way towards others. We treat all children fairly and apply this behaviour policy in a consistent way.

Our behaviour and relationships policies aim to help children grow in a safe and secure environment, and to become positive, responsible and increasingly independent members of the school community.

The school recognises and promotes good behaviour, as it believes that this will develop an ethos of kindness and cooperation. This policy is designed to encourage good behaviour, rather than merely deter anti-social behaviour.

"Behaviour Management is the responsibility of all staff at Wimborne First School"

Positive Approaches to behaviour at Wimborne First School and Nursery

We aim to become and therapeutic and trauma informed school.  We aim to take an approach to behaviour that priorities the prosocial feelings of everyone within our school community.  We aim for our practice to be, therapeutically healthy and trauma informed, with a focus on building a child’s independence and enabling them to thrive. 

We intend to create a safe environment for our children physically, mentally and emotionally.  We are dedicated to:

• Physical Safety
• Mental Health and Well-being
• Emotional Well-being

Positive Praise       

Frequent praise and positive responses from the staff are powerful tools to motivate and enthuse pupils. Praising good behaviour creates a positive atmosphere in a school and as a result pupils are less inclined to be disruptive. 

Verbal praise

This goes a long way.  How you speak to children and give them praise can be very powerful.  Some children like praise in front of the class, other children like a quiet word so they are not embarrassed.  We strive at WFSN to get to know the children and give them praise in an appropriate way that suits them.

Class Charters    

Each class has a 'Classroom Charter' which are created by the children at the beginning of the year for use in the classroom.  These are regularly referred to and children are reminded about the class rules and routines.  

House points

At the start of each year all children are sorted into one of our ‘Houses’.

Throughout the year the children can then be rewarded with a ‘House Point’ for showing positive prosocial behaviour, demonstrating a ‘Learning Ranger’ behaviour, following school rules and class charters.  They will collet their house points in their individual classes and these will then get added on a weekly basis to the whole school house point collection tubes.  At the end of each half term all of the points will be totalled and the house with the most points will win a reward for their efforts.  The reward will be decided upon with the winning house.

Sticker Charts     

The pupils in all year groups will receive stickers for a variety of different reasons relating to their work and effort in school. Once a child receives 20 stickers they will be awarded with a bronze certificate from the Headteacher, 40 stickers, a silver, 60 stickers gold, 80 stickers a special award and then 100 stickers will be a platinum award. As the children collect their stickers, they can bank their amounts and save them up to shop in the Headteachers reward shop. The children can choose something small or save their points to get something bigger.  They absolutely love this and it is a great incentive for rewarding good behaviour in school.          

Class Rewards        

Each class has a reward system e.g., marbles in a jar, feathers on a duck.  This is linked to their class and key stage.  Once they have achieved 20 feathers on a duck then the entire class get a treat.  The aim of this reward is to encourage teamwork in the class as everybody has to work together to receive the rewards.  The motivating factor is within reason the class can choose the reward.  This can be anything from some time at the play park, pyjamas and a DVD, outdoor sports and games.  

Assembly      

We use every opportunity to praise the children for desirable behaviour.  In daily assemblies we look to see which class/year group has entered the hall quietly and who has shown the most respect and demonstrated good listening throughout the assembly.  The winners are then awarded with 5 minutes extra play.  We also have a weekly assembly called 'Celebration assembly’ which enables staff to award special certificates for pupils who have, in some way, worked hard or behaved in an exemplary manner.  These certificates are sent home to be kept.  A strong emphasis on praise, respect for the individual child, and positive reinforcement, is our method of promoting a happy and well-behaved school.

At WFSN we aim to maintain a positive culture in school which reflects on values and supports children to engage positively with their learning.  On the occasions where behaviour does not meet our agreed expectations then all children know there will be consequences.  In every classroom our school rules poster is displayed, sharing with the class the rewards and consequences that will occur due to positive or undesirable behaviour.  Below are some of the examples of responses to undesirable behaviour;

• A verbal reminder of rules and expectations
• A verbal warning and the child told they will have time in with an adult if the behaviour continues.
• The child will have 5 minutes of ‘time in’ with a familiar adult to talk about the behaviour.  They will be given some thinking time before talking through what has happened with an adult and how they could do things differently in the future.   
• Missing playtime/lunchtime play
• Going to see their Year Group Leader
• Going to see a member of the Senior Leadership team
• Parents may be contacted and the child sent home

At Wimborne First School, we strive for excellent behaviour. We aim to create a positive atmosphere in and out of school so the children develop mutual respect for each other and for equipment and school resources.

At Wimborne First School we are committed to providing a warm, caring and safe environment for all our children so that they can learn and play in a relaxed and secure environment. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in school. We take all incidents of bullying seriously. Dealing with, and ways to stamp out bullying are considered by the whole school on an annual basis as part of the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum and our Behaviour curriculum.  This takes place in the Autumn Term and national anti-bullying week is incorporated into this work. Children are taught not to stand by if they think bullying is happening but always to tell a member of staff. We teach the children that if they are worried about something then they need to share their worry with a trusted adult.   

What is Bullying?       

Bullying is a deliberate, persistent action by an individual or group which hurts other people either physically or emotionally.

Bullying can take different forms: Physical Emotional Attacking e.g. hitting, spitting, name calling, biting, stealing, criticising, damaging belongings, taunting, hiding belongings, blackmailing etc. 

Children are taught to recognise when bullying is occurring and also to consider what is not bullying. The occasional falling out with friends, disagreements etc can be the cause of some name calling or unkind actions. Developing skills to deal with this part of life is addressed through the ‘Jigsaw’ PSHE scheme and through talking things through with children when it happens. Bullying is something done repeatedly and on purpose to intimidate, belittle, isolate or otherwise hurt the intended victim.

Racism in line with our Racial Equality policy states that we will not tolerate any form of racism.  Any racist incident will be dealt with and reported to Dorset County Council.

Everyone in school is aware that some children with learning difficulties or other disabilities, or in difficult social circumstances may be especially vulnerable to bullying and we are particularly vigilant in these circumstances.

Wimborne First School's Approach to Tackling Bullying     
The school takes all allegations and incidents of bullying seriously and will respond calmly and consistently to ascertain the facts. School will help and support any children who have been bullied and will work with the bully to help them change their behaviour. School will involve all parents concerned, being sensitive to the nature of all issues involved.

Wimborne First School recognises the following strategy as being effective in dealing with bullying: 

• Talk with the child - When the teacher finds out that bullying has occurred they begin by talking to the child about their feelings. They do not question them about specific details, but need to know who was involved. 
• Meet with the people involved  - The teacher arranges to meet with the group of children who have been involved. This will include some children who were present, but did not participate in the bullying. A group of six to eight seems to work best. 
• Explain the problem  - They are told about the way the child is feeling now. At no time does the teacher discuss details or specific incidents. It is important not to allocate blame to the individuals or the group. 
• Share Responsibility - The teacher does not apportion blame but states they know that the group can do something about it, something to help. 
• Ask the group for their ideas - Each member of the group is encouraged to suggest a way in which the bullied child could be helped to feel happier. The teacher gives some positive responses but does not go on to extract a promise of improved behaviour. 
• Leave it up to them - The teacher concludes the meeting by passing responsibility to the group to solve the problem. They arrange to meet with them again a week later to see how things are going. 
• Meet them again - About a week later the teacher discusses with each child, including the bullied how things have been going. This allows the teacher to monitor the bullying and keeps the children involved in the process.
   

As a school, we take bullying and its impact seriously. Pupils and parents should be assured that known incidents of bullying will be responded to and it will not be tolerated at Wimborne First School and Nursery.  

Bullying will not be tolerated.

The ethos of our school fosters high expectations of outstanding behaviour and we will consistently challenge any behaviour that falls below this.