Saint Paul’s Primary
Behaviour and Discipline Policy
Revised Jan 2007
General Aim
To promote positive attitudes, in all pupils attending St. Paul’s, towards
discipline and to foster respect for themselves, consideration for others
and pride in their surroundings.
We hope that these attitudes will lead our pupils to grow into responsible
adults.
Praise and encouragement should be to the fore,
giving a feeling of value and self-respect and respect
for others.
All of the rules normally associated with the smooth running of a school,
ensuring safety and harmony can be condensed into 2 positive statements.
These statements then are our school rules:
We will respect and take care of everyone in the
school.
We will respect and take care of our own and
other people’s property.
Promoting Positive Behaviour should be a priority for all working
in St. Paul’s Primary.
Children should be consistently encouraged to behave positively
and show respect to others at all times
“Respect” can be simply defined as “treating someone the way you
want them to treat you”
1
Community Events and Religious Observance
Whole school or department assemblies will take place as
part of a rolling programme of community events i.e. attending
mass, hymn practices and assemblies on a weekly basis.
These community gatherings will be used to: 1.Highlight and reward achievement of individuals, groups,
classes or the school as a whole.
2.Allow class groups to present evidence of their ongoing
class work to the wider school community.
3.Listen to children’s ideas, comments, questions.
4.To worship and pray together.
5.Consolidate lessons taught by staff on personal and social
development, anti bullying, inclusion, community activities.
6.Inform children of coming events and discuss school
activities.
.
Thus raising awareness of what is happening in the community and
the part we each play. It is hoped that a sense of community and
belonging will arise from these meetings.
This belonging is further enhanced by the fact that our children are
encouraged to talk and think about the school as being theirs, belonging
to them.
Basic Expectations
These arise from our school rule statements.
1. Respect is vital – this is a two way process. Politeness and
courtesy should be shown at all times.
2. Bells should be responded to promptly.
3. Litter should be placed in the receptacles provided.
4. Children should play in the yard only.
5. Each member of staff is responsible for ensuring good order in
class, in corridors and open areas with their respective classes.
6. Good classroom management is an essential factor in
maintaining good order.
7. Classes should never be left unattended. If it is necessary for the
teacher to leave the class another adult should take their place
temporarily.
8. Children should not be placed unsupervised outside of a
classroom.
2
Sanctions
1.Appropriate verbal reprimand
2.Appropriate punishment exercise.
3.Playtime / lunchtime detention (never end on to the school day).
4.Incidents of indiscipline, lack of application should be recorded
(for future reference i.e. a pattern), in a behaviour log.
5.Children may be deprived of “treats” e.g. outings, shows,
sporting competitions, but not from anything connected with the
curriculum they are following
Rewards
Good behaviour, application and endeavour must always be, encouraged
acknowledged and rewarded.
1.Each class and teacher run their own points rewards system.
2.There is also a whole school points system with class winners at the end
of each term and also an annual winner. Prizes for this system will be
purchased via the School Fund Account.
3.Teachers are encouraged to send children to visit the head teacher /
deputy head teacher in order to highlight and have their efforts rewarded.
Counselling
When children are referred to the Head Teacher / Deputy Head Teacher
they will administer sanctions / rewards as appropriate i.e. certificate, pat
on the back, words of praise, school pen, photograph, warning,
punishment exercise, detention, contact with parents, exclusion.
Sanctions / punishments will be accompanied by a counselling session –
talking through the incident(s), why they reacted in a certain way, how
they feel about it now and what can now be done. This would be directly
linked to our school rules i.e. encouraging care and respect.
Children may be sent to the school office to help defuse a situation that
has arisen in class. Since communication is often limited at this point of
the referral it would be helpful if some indication was given regarding
how the situation should be handled by the Head Teacher / Deputy Head
Teacher.
Teacher and Head Teacher/Deputy Head Teacher should meet at the
earliest available time that day to discuss the incident and appropriate
sanctions.
Teacher Attitudes
We expect pupils to be polite and show respect to all adults.
Pupils expect teachers to be fair in their dealings with them. We are their
role models.
3
Promoting Positive Behaviour
If children are repeatedly misbehaving in school, is it because of
their attitude or ours?
Do we :Show favouritism?
Share our time equally?
Seek out the quiet pupils?
Act fairly and consistently?
Show respect to all pupils?
Ridicule or belittle pupils?
Make a good effort to comment on their work?
Thank pupils for being helpful and polite?
As professionals we should ask ourselves honestly, “Did I contribute to
that incident, confrontation, could I have dealt with it differently”, and act
accordingly.
Appropriate Curriculum
Are our children’s attitudes to school, work and behaviour affected by
how we teach? Yes!
In evaluating what is happening in our classrooms we must ask ourselves
what we can do to improve the learning environment we provide for our
pupils. Are we meeting individuals’ needs? Are we involving our
children in active learning activity? Are we using Teaching for Effective
Learning strategies to stimulate and involve our children by involving
them more in their work The use of Formative Assessment strategies
should also contribute to our children developing more positive attitudes
by raising their feelings of self-esteem and self-worth.
Absence / Late coming
Persistent late coming or regular absence greatly affects a child’s level of
achievement/ attainment and thus their attitude to school and their
behaviour therein. It is vital that these areas are monitored and steps taken
to discover the reason for a child’s late coming or absence.
(late coming should be marked with n “L” in the register)
A child’s attendance will be investigated after the third absence i.e. am,
pm, am, if a reason has not already been intimated to the school by the
child’s parent or carer. An attendance card will be issued if contact
cannot be made with parents or carers.
Children returning without an explanatory note should be issued with a
parent contact letter (unless the parent has already contacted the school)
4
Parental Involvement
Parents will always be involved where a pattern of indiscipline, lack of
application or a “change” in a child’s normal behaviour is noted as having
altered.
We rely heavily on parental support; we are partners in educating our
children.
Teachers and parents must accept that they have the same goal in sight
i.e. the successful formation of their charges, and work together to this
end.
We must present an open welcoming ethos, not just to pupils but also to
the parents, giving them the confidence to meet with staff as equal
partners in developing our children .
Pupils must see teachers and parents working together, they must view
the attitudes / standards of the school and the home as being the same, to
avoid / reduce the possibility of conflict
Pupils must view teachers and parents as working together so as not to
create opportunities for conflict and mistrust.
It is equally as important that parents view teachers as valued
professionals assisting them in their work with our children.
5
Saint Paul’s (Wh) Primary
Behaviour Log
Name…………………… Class…….. Session….……
Date
Description of Incident / behaviour (short notes)
6
7
8