Positive Discipline
Positive Discipline is centred on three very simple concepts:
- that all young people enjoy been effectively rewarding for their effort;
- that most young people need clear guidelines in terms of what constitutes acceptable behaviour; and
- that effective communication between teachers, parents/carers and students is essential for effective schools.
The Student Planner
Central to our success is the Student Planner. This forms the centre of communication between school and parents/carers. No personalising of the Student Planner is permitted and lost or damaged planners need to be replaced at a cost of £5.00. The Planner will be brought to school each day with identified sanctions for students who forget or lose the Planner.
Rewards
Each week positive recognition of student achievement will be placed in the top right hand page of the Student Planner. For all students this will be done in the form of subject specific stamps which will recognise good, very good and excellent performance. All teaching and non-teaching staff will operate within this system with three stamps leading to subject credits which in turn lead to a system of achievement certificate. The targets will be explained in Positive Discipline sessions.
Students throughout Key Stages 3 and 4 will know whether they are on target to fulfil academic achievements as the year progresses. For all students, target levels are as follows:
Christmas Holiday Bronze
Easter Holiday Silver
Summer Holiday Gold
Where students achieve ahead or beyond these levels then it can be assumed that academic progress will be accelerated. Where these targets are not met, then parents/carers and students can assume that academic potential is not being fulfilled.
Additionally, each form group will be attached to a member of the Senior Leadership Team so that, each week, there is an opportunity to refer students for praise to a Senior Teacher as and when the opportunity arises. Positive student performance will also be rewarded in three other ways:
- the sending of ‘departmental postcards’ each term to students who display particularly high levels of commitment;
- the continuation and expansion of major awards ceremonies at the end of the academic year;
- the linking of other rewards such as trips, tokens and sports tickets to academic performance.
Sanctions
At times, of course, we have to recognise and accept that young people will not behave or work in a manner which is acceptable. Where misdemeanours are minor or are a result of carelessness it is likely that only a clear ‘verbal warning’ will be issued. It is expected that this will be a sufficient prompt for most students to return to working acceptably.
Where misdemeanours are more serious or are persistent in nature, then comments will be placed in the Student Planner. Such comments will result in the loss of Form Tutor Credit for that week and, if a number of negative comments accumulate over a half term, a full School Detention will follow.
Where student behaviour is particularly disruptive or when three School Detentions in any one subject have been acquired, a period of Isolation will automatically follow.
Isolation
Isolation is an extremely serious sanction. The Isolation Room has a functional and purposeful environment with a bank of work which covers every curriculum area.
Students will be ‘isolated’ in the fullest sense of the word. A shorter lunch break will be taken and at no time will the isolated student be allowed to socialise with other students. The room will be fully supervised at all times.
The duration of the day in the Isolation Room will be from 8.50am to 3.25pm. All students who are placed in Isolation must bring their set books and equipment for that day. Students placed in Isolation must return the parental slip to the supervising member of staff in Isolation.
A student who is late to Isolation, (arriving after 9am), without a good reason will repeat the full day at the earliest opportunity. A student who is absent during the course of an Isolation session, and does not produce a formal medical note, will repeat the full period of Isolation.
The level of commitment displayed by the student will be recorded on the Isolation Record Sheets at the end of each period with the student’s performance being monitored at the end of each school day. A student who works satisfactorily or better will rejoin mainstream education, although a record of the period of Isolation will be kept in the student’s personal file. It may also be worth noting once again, that this sanction, as will any sanction, can be reached through a gradual process of continued unacceptable behaviour or through the committing of a misdemeanour which is considered sufficiently serious to warrant such an immediate sanction.
At Key Stage 3, if a student reaches Isolation largely as a result of misdemeanours connected with homework and equipment, they will serve a one day period of Isolation. For Key Stage 4 students and students in Lower School whose misdemeanours are largely behavioural, the first period will be for two days. Students who continue to under-perform will work through two further periods of three to four days.
On emerging from a final period of Isolation, students will be place on a Behaviour Contract. The persistent breaking of the contract will automatically result in a fixed term or permanent exclusion.
Only in extreme circumstances of persistently disruptive behaviour will the Headteacher consider the option of fixed term exclusion.
IT IS ESSENTIAL TO POINT OUT, HOWEVER, THAT WE EXPECT VERY FEW STUDENTS TO BE DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN ENJOYING WORKING WELL AT SCHOOL AND RECEIVING THE REWARDS AND BENEFITS THAT GO WITH SUCH AN APPROACH.
As parents/carers, you will be support us by regularly reviewing and signing your child’s planner, by encouraging positive performance and by challenging under-performance as you feel appropriate. Furthermore, please do all in your power to ensure that your son/daughter/ward is in correct uniform at the start of the school day. Any student who arrives in school without correct uniform will not be allowed into lessons and will be placed in Isolation. It is also worth mentioning at this point that, if parents/carers are permitting students to have facial or ear piercings, then these should be carried out at the beginning of the next summer holiday so that they can be removed during the school day. Feel free to contact the school through the Student Planner at any time.
