Midlothian
Professional Practice Paper April 2011
PROMOTING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND BEHAVIOUR
Issued by: Director, Education and Children’s Services
1. INTRODUCTION.
1.1 These guidelines reflect the key policy drivers of the Scottish Government with regard to ;•
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1.2
Getting it Right for Every Child
Curriculum for Excellence
Included, Engaged and Involved
Education Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act (2004 and 2009)
Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (2009)
Building Curriculum for Excellence through Positive Relationships Behaviour (June 2010).
Early Years Framework (2009)
Equally Well (2008)
They also reflect Midlothian’s policy and strategy of “Education for All: Getting It Right For
Every Child through Equalities and A Curriculum for Excellence” which confirms that
children and young people, irrespective of their needs, behaviour or background, have a right
to be:
Safe, Healthy, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Respected, Responsible and Included
in order to become effective contributors, successful learners, confident individuals,
responsible citizens.
Education for All and Getting It Right for Every Child through Equalities and A Curriculum
for Excellence cannot be delivered without good relationships and positive behaviour. A
positive ethos and a climate of mutual respect and trust are essential factors in creating a
positive learning environment. The aim of this Strategy reflected in these guidelines, is to
develop staff skills in building and maintaining positive relationships and behaviour.
2 PROMOTING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND BEHAVIOUR POLICY
2.1
Head Teachers and managers within Education and Children’s Services should refer to this
guidance on Promoting Positive Relationships and Behaviour to inform their management
and leadership roles and responsibilities.
2.2
The rationale underpinning this guidance is that when children and young people are
nurtured, guided and encouraged, they can learn to respond appropriately in a variety of
social and educational settings and develop positive relationships. They can then achieve
healthy emotional growth and learn the necessary social and interpersonal skills that enable
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them to succeed. A positive ethos and climate of mutual respect and trust are essential factors
in creating a positive learning environment.
2.3
All Head Teachers and managers within Education and Children’s Services should refer to
the National Training Programme on Emotional Well Being to provide all staff with a broad
overview of what influences positive mental health and well-being and how we can best
promote this in ourselves and the children and young people we work with. Developing
health and well-being across learning is a responsibility for all. All staff should be proactive
in promoting positive behaviour in the classroom, across the school and in the wider learning
community. Developing positive relationships lies at the heart of our strategy for improving
behaviour, preventing bullying, reducing exclusion, improving learning and teaching and so
raising levels of attainment and achievement for all.
2.4
It is acknowledged that some children and young people present challenges to their
families, schools and communities, at times in relation to their social and emotional needs
and associated behaviours. There is therefore a need for variety in the ways in which
support is provided to address the barriers to their learning. Research clearly shows that by
focusing on building positive relationships and by setting a positive and inclusive ethos in
schools, many issues can be avoided and their effects reduced.
2.5
Midlothian recognises its responsibilities for promoting the social and emotional health and
well being of all children, young people and staff and is committed to supporting schools and
promoting best practice by encouraging whole school approaches in line with the
recommendations of the Scottish Government and supported by the National Positive
Behaviour Team as set out in the publication Building Curriculum for Excellence through
Positive Relationships and Behaviour. (June 2010)
2.6
Restorative approaches should be the permeating and underpinning set of values and
principles for improving relationships and promoting positive behaviour across all schools in
Midlothian. Restorative Approaches in an educational context are defined as restoring good
relationships when there has been conflict or harm and developing school ethos, policies and
procedures to reduce the possibility of such conflict and harm arising. The approach is
complementary to other recent developments such as Solution Oriented approaches.
2.7
Key principles of Restorative Approaches are;
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2.8
Fostering social relationships in a school community of mutual engagement.
Being responsible and accountable for one’s own actions and their impact on others.
Respecting other people, their views and feelings.
Empathising with the feelings of others.
Being fair.
Being committed to equitable processes.
Restorative Approaches can:
• Manage the varied expectations of behaviour standards which inevitably exist among all
school staff.
• Help develop a whole school positive ethos.
• Encourage members of the school community to effectively resolve and learn from
conflict in a way which maintains relationships, or terminates them in a positive way.
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• Support any necessary sanctions by processes of learning and reconciliation.
2.9
Restorative Approaches can be used at different levels in school:
• As prevention – to promote positive relationships within the whole school community.
• As response- repairing when difficulties arise.
• As part of support and intervention for more long term and persistent difficulties.
3. BUILDING CAPACITY
3.1
Midlothian Council is committed to working in partnership with schools to assist them in
building their capacity to provide high quality inclusive education for all, achieved through a
focus on positive relationships.
3.2
Support is provided on a staged basis with a strong focus on whole school approaches within
Midlothian Assessment and Planning Staged System (MAPSS). MAPSS provides schools,
parents, children and young people, support services and other agencies with a system for
identification, assessment, planning and review for children who require additional support of
any kind.
Support and Intervention for any child/young person experiencing difficulties should follow
the principle of the least intrusive intervention necessary to support them. In Midlothian there
are 3 levels of support and intervention.
1. Assessment and planning within the classroom with access to school based advice and
support.
2. Assessment and planning within the school, with direct school-based advice and support
and access to external agency advice and support.
3. Assessment and planning involving direct advice and support from external agencies.
All steps at the current level of intervention should have been considered before moving to
the next level.
3.3
Midlothian, in partnership with the National Positive Behaviour Team have developed a
range of training and supports available to schools to enable them to build capacity to meet
the requirements of MAPSS and the needs of their pupils. These range from approaches
aimed at the whole school to develop ethos, culture and values, through to more targeted
support for children and young people at Level 3 of MAPSS. These approaches include:
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Restorative Approaches
Towards Emotional and Social Health and Well-Being
Building Positive Relationships, Training for Support Staff
Team Teach
Solution Oriented Approaches
We Can and Must Do Better
Being Cool in School (Primary), What’s Going On? (Secondary)
Behaviour Support Toolkit
Inclusive Education in Primary Schools (Barnardos)
Nurture Groups
See Appendix for more detailed information on each of the above. From August 2010,
Team teach will be Midlothian’s preferred approach in regard to Positive Handling
Strategies in our Specialist Provisiona.
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4.1
4.2
ACCESSING TRAINING
All training can be accessed through the Bookit system. Schools and pre-school requesting
training will require to have identified relevant development priorities in their School
Improvement Plan. Access to training is dependent on the availability of trainers. The
Authority will maintain an overview and prioritise requests according to need.
Since 2001 Midlothian has been committed to the roll out of Restorative Approaches to all
secondary schools Three Secondary Schools have already embarked on the journey towards
becoming Restorative Schools.
Further information on training can be accessed by contacting Donald Ewing, Lynne Grant or
John Thomson
DONALD MACKAY
Director, Education and Children’s Services
April 2011
Contact Person: John Thomson ASN Manager Fairfield House Tel 0131 271 3598
Paper Circulated to: All Head Teachers, Children and Families Service Managers, Partnership
Centres, School Group Managers, Integrated Children’s Services, Teacher Unions, HMIe District
Inspector
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GUIDELINES ON IMPROVING RELATIONSHIPS, PROMOTING POSITIVE
BEHAVIOUR
APPENDIX A
AVAILABLE TRAINING OPTIONS
Approach
Restorative
Approaches
Solution Oriented
Approaches
Towards Emotional
and Social Health and
well Being
Team Teach
(Foundation)
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Outline of Approach
Restorative Practices
is an approach which
fosters relationships,
encourages
responsibility and
accountability for
one’s own actions and
their impact on others.
Aims of Training
To encourage
members of the school
or service community
to effectively resolve
and learn from
conflict in a way
which maintains
relationships in a
consistent, structured
way.
To train staff in key
skills of RP.
Solution Oriented
To introduce
Thinking and
participants to the
Approaches have been principles and practice
gradually developing
of SOA.
in many areas of
To give experience of
Professional Practice. and practice in the
Applications can
range of skills and
range from individual way of thinking which
underpins SOA.
work, to classroom
management, to
To train facilitators to
managing meetings, to support the
planning and to
development of SOA
within the service
organisational
change..
setting
This course aims to
To increase staff
bring practitioners
confidence and
together to look at
understanding around
what influences
mental health and
positive mental health explain why what we
and emotional well
do makes a difference.
being and how we can
best promote it in
ourselves and the
children and young
people we work with.
Nationally accredited To develop an
via Team teach, this
understanding of the
covers a range of
holistic approach of
topics surrounding
Team Teach. To
Behaviour
enable services to
Management. It
develop acceptable
promotes the least
and authorised
intrusive positive
responses to
handling strategy and disruptive, disturbing,
Time Commitment
1x full day (Whole School) +
6hrs1xCAT
or twilight (whole staff)+ 3x
CATS/twilights for Facilitator
and SMT training.
Flexible.
The programme can be delivered
sequentially – 1 day, or in 2 x1
half days or through compact
sessions.
It can also be accessed for
specific features e.g. resilience,
mindset, child development.
6 hrs
We Can and Must Do
Better (Looked After
Children)
Being Cool in School
Behaviour Support
Toolkit
Inclusive Education in
the Primary School:
Supporting Children
with Social,
Emotional and
Behavioural
Difficulties
Nurture Groups
( in schools with the
highest levels of
deprivation on the
Scottish Index of
Multiple Deprivation )
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a continuum of
gradual, graded
techniques with an
emphasis and
preference for the use
of verbal, non verbal
de-escalation
strategies.
A comprehensive
Training programme
which examines the
particular challenges
facing Looked After
Children.
angry and aggressive
behaviours in a
manner that maintains
positive relationships
and encourages safety
for all.
The new training
materials are designed
for both self study and
tutored training
courses and relate to
the Scottish
Government
publication Looked
After Children and
Young People: We
Can and Must Do
Better (2007)
A programme
The training aims to
developed by Fife
familiarise staff with
Council which aims to the programme and
teach interpersonal
give sufficient
skills in a systematic
information and
and progressive way
experience to be able
while developing
to implement and
informed attitudes and deliver the
promoting personal
programme.
responsibility.
A free online resource Training can be
to support staff in
requested.
schools to manage and
provide support to
children and young
people.
A pack developed by
Training can be
Barnardos, reflecting
requested.
the work they do to
support mainstream
schools and developed
to support mainstream
staff.
Flexible
2 hours per stage.
CAT Session/ Twilight
2xCAT Sessions/Twilights.