Behaviour
‘Behaviour in school is exemplary.’ (Ofsted)
Our aim is to create a system which is fair and consistent and which establishes a safe, orderly and positive learning environment in which both children and staff can flourish – so that children and teachers can learn together to achieve all that they can, meeting our vision…’With God all things are possible.’
We encourage children to take responsibility for their own actions which take account of mutual respect, good manners and show consideration for others. Staff are excellent role models and pupils have clear expectations which supports them to behave well.
We believe that a partnership with parents and carers is essential in promoting high standards of work and behaviour amongst children and we will endeavour to keep parents regularly informed about their child’s progress.
Rewards & Sanctions
We believe that high standards of work and behaviour should be celebrated and encouraged through a system of positive rewards for our children. At Benedict Biscop C.E. Academy, we look for every opportunity to celebrate success and achievement, rewarding good behaviour, high attendance, effort, progress, academic achievement and successes beyond our school curriculum.
Pupil voice is really important to us, and our Rights Knights have fed into developing our systems of rewards currently in place. Children, on a weekly basis, can receive ‘Rainbow Award Certificates’, which are celebrated in the weekly celebration element of our Friday Community Worship – where parents are specifically invited, on the week of their child’s award, to attend and join in the celebration with the rest of our worshiping community. This is also shared with our wider community through our Facebook page. These awards celebrate excellence, hard work, dedication and improvement across our full curriculum.
On a weekly basis, pupils are also entered in to our ‘Roll of Honour Book’, an award where we recognise how our pupils are demonstrating Christian Values throughout the week. Pupils names are read out in Friday worship and our community celebrate together.
Across all year groups, pupils are given a ‘House Team’. This encourages the children to develop a team identity through a collaborative approach to positive behaviour. Any staff member is able to reward pupils with ‘House Points’ throughout the school day, which are added to the class team notice board. At the end of each week, House Captains collect the totals from each class and the running total is shared in our Friday worship. At the end of each half term, the house team with the highest total receives and ‘house treat’/team building session.
Rights Respecting
Article 28 from the united Nations Convention On The Rights Of The child states: Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights.
We are a Rights Respecting School (UNICEF) and promote Restorative Practice which enables us to become citizens for the future, with strong sense of personal wellbeing. We advocate that every child has a right to learn and every member of our community has the right to be respected.
The school has chosen to follow the principles of Restorative Practice in order to develop greater “pupil voice” and a greater self responsibility for managing our own feelings and personal behaviour. We believe this will give our children the language and self confidence to challenge behaviour and advocate for their rights and the rights of others in a proactive and appropriate manner.
These are the rights we have in our Academy:
- Pupils right to learn
- Teachers right to teach
- Everybody’s right to safety (physical and psychological)
- Everybody’s right to dignity and respect
To ensure that our rights are met, we have 4 simple and clear rules that guide our pupils across the school:
- Be kind
- Keep hands and feet to yourself
- Listen
- Follow instructions
In addition, in every classroom at the start of the year, the children feed into and negotiate their own specific class rules, giving them a voice and ownership. Children also discuss the consequences which may arise if they choose not to follow the rules. We use the language of choice to encourage the children to understand that they are responsible for their own actions and the impact this has on other children in the school.
“Behaviour is courteous and thoughtful, showing a real awareness of the needs and rights of others.” (Ofsted 2012)
We recognise that sometimes pupils may not choose certain behaviours and we understand that children can express their needs through their behaviour and that develop of children depends on having certain needs met.
We are pleased at Benedict Biscop C.E. Academy and Northern Lights Learning Trust to therefore be developing as a THRIVE Trust. This means that together we are working to create a culture where everyone can thrive emotionally and socially across the Trust.
Within school, and across the Trust, key practitioners have been trained with the knowledge and skills to support pupils effectively through the THRIVE approach. The THRIVE approach is a therapeutic technique to help support pupils with their social and emotional development. The approach helps staff to understand children’s needs as shown by their behaviour. We are then able to provide bespoke interventions and support to meet developing needs.
