Behaviour policy

Our setting will support all children including those displaying
personal social, emotional difficulties.

Positive behaviour is located within the context of the development of children’s personal, social and emotional skills and well-being. A key person who understands children’s needs, their levels of development, personal characteristics, and specific circumstances, supports this development. This ensures children’s individual needs are understood and supported.

We appreciate and understand the need to:

Encourage a calm, purposeful and happy atmosphere conducive to good learning

Settling into a new environment is an emotional transition for young children especially as they learn to develop and master complex skills needed to communicate, negotiate and socialise with their peers. Skills such as turn taking and sharing often instigate minor conflicts between children as they struggle to deal with powerful emotions and feelings. During minor disputes, educators help children to reflect and regulate their actions and, in most instances, children learn how to resolve minor disputes themselves. However, some incidents are influenced by factors, requiring a strategic approach especially if the behaviour causes harm or distress to the child or others. These situations are managed by the SENCO/key person/educators using a stepped approach which aims to resolve the issue and/or avoid the behaviour escalating and causing further harm.

This is an unsettling time for young children. Educators are alert to the emotional well-being of children who may be affected by the disruption to their normal routine. Where a child’s behaviour gives cause for concern, educators take into consideration the many factors that may be affecting them. This is done in partnership with the child’s parents/carers and the principles of this procedure are adhered to.

The setting manager/SENCO will

• ensure that all new staff attend training on behaviour management
• help staff to implement procedure Promoting positive behaviour in their everyday practice
• advise staff on how to address behaviour issues and how to access expert advice if needed

Rewards and sanctions

Children need consistent messages, clear boundaries and guidance to intrinsically manage their behaviour through self-reflection and control.

Rewards such as excessive praise and stickers may provide immediate results for the adult but do not teach a child how to act when a ‘prize’ is not being given or provide the skills to manage situations and emotions themselves. Instead, a child is taught to be ‘compliant’ and respond to meet adult expectations to obtain a reward (or for fear of a sanction). If used the type of rewards and their functions must be carefully considered.

Children are never labelled, criticised, humiliated, punished or shouted at. If a child is distressed or causing harm to others, it may help to remove them from the immediate environment where the incident occurred to support co regulation. If appropriate, the educator can use this time to help the child reflect on what has
happened. Physical punishment of any kind is never used or threatened which could adversely affect a child’s well-being. If educators become aware that another person has given corporal punishment to a child, they follow the Safeguarding policy. Physical intervention to safeguard a child/children must be carried out as per the guidance in this procedure.

Step 1

• The setting manager, SENCO and other relevant staff members are knowledgeable with this behaviour policy.
• Unwanted behaviours are addressed using an agreed and consistently applied approach to deescalate situations
• Behaviours that result in concern for the child and/or others must be discussed by the key person, SENCO/setting manager. During the meeting the key person must use their all-round knowledge of the child and family to share any known influencing factors such as a new baby in the family, child and/or
  parental illness, underlying additional needs to help place the child’s behaviour into context. Appropriate adjustments to practice must be agreed within the setting. If relevant, a risk assessment should be carried out.
• If the adjustments are successful and the challenging behaviour does not reoccur, or cause concern then normal monitoring can resume.

Step 2

• If the behaviour remains a concern, then the Manager/SENCo must liaise with the parents to try to discover possible reasons for the behaviour and to agree next steps. If relevant and appropriate the views of the child must be sought and considered to help identify a cause.
• If a cause for the behaviour is not known or only occurs whilst in the setting, then the setting manager/SENCO) must suggest using a focused intervention approach to identifying a trigger for the behaviour such as the ABCC approach, i.e. Antecedents – what happened before; Behaviour – what was the behaviour observed; Consequences – what happened after the event, Communication – what was the child trying to communicate.
• If a trigger is identified, then the SENCo and key person must meet with the parents to plan support for the child through a graduated approach via SEN support.
• Aggressive behaviour by children towards other children will result in an educator intervening immediately to stop the behaviour and prevent escalation using the agreed initial intervention approach. If the behaviour has been significant or may have a detrimental effect on the child, the parents of the
  victim of the behaviour and the parents of the perpetrator must be informed. If the setting has applied a physical intervention, they must follow the guidance as set out below. The designated person completes an incident form and contact Ofsted if appropriate. A record of discussions is recorded, and parents are
  asked to sign.
• Parents must be informed on the same day or as soon as reasonably practicable.
• Parents must also be asked to sign risk assessments where the risk assessment relates to managing the behaviour of a specific child.
• If relevant, actions for dealing with the behaviour at home are agreed with parents and incorporated into the action plan. Other staff are informed of the agreed interventions and help implement the actions. The plan must be monitored and reviewed regularly by the key person/Manager/SENCO until
  improvement is noticed.

Step 3

If despite applying initial intervention to deescalate situations and focused interventions to identify triggers the child’s behaviour continues to occur and/or is of significant concern, the Manager/SENCO invites the parents to a meeting to discuss external referral and next steps for supporting the child. It may be agreed
that the setting request support from the Early Help team and/or other specialist services such as the Early Years Inclusion Advisor. This will help address most developmental or welfare concerns. If the behaviour is part of other welfare concerns that include a concern that the child may be suffering or likely to suffer
significant harm, safeguarding procedures must be followed immediately (See Safeguarding policy online, in folder and on the parents board).

• Advice provided by external agencies is incorporated in the My Support Plan and regular multi-disciplinary meetings held to review the child’s progress.
• If a review determines a statutory assessment may be needed then all relevant documentation must be collected in preparation for an Education Health and Care Assessment which may lead onto an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Corporal Punishment and Physical Intervention Refer to the Statutory Framework 3.54

Physical handling

We use the principle of applying reasonable minimal force and handling in proportion to the situation. Staff use as little force as necessary to maintain safety. This intervention should only be used for as short a period as possible to keep the child safe and maintain well-being by aiming for:

• keeping the child’s safety and well-being paramount
• a calm, gentle but firm approach and application of the intervention
• never restricting the child’s ability to breathe
• no gap between theirs or the child’s body
• keeping the adults back as straight as possible
• avoiding close head-to-head positioning to avoid injury to the child and themselves (head butting)
• only holding the child by their ‘long’ bones to avoid grasping at the child’s joints where pain and damage are most likely to occur
• avoiding lifting the child unless necessary
• reassuring the child and talking about what has happened
• only applying a physical intervention on a disabled child if training or preferred method is provided from a reputable external source e.g. British Institute of Learning Disabilities www.bild.org.uk/

Risks

There are risks associated with any physical intervention and handling of a child. The younger and more vulnerable a child may be, the greater risk to the child of using physical intervention towards them. However, there are also risks to children associated with not intervening physically; for instance, if an educator did not take hold of a child by the wrist, they may have run into the path of a fast-moving car.

Before intervening physically to protect a child from immediate harm an educator needs to decision make in a split second, considering the following factors. This is described as dynamic risk assessment.

• What is the immediate risk to this child if I do not intervene now?
• What might the risks be if I do intervene? If this was my child, what would I want someone looking after them to do in this situation?
• What is the minimum level of intervention that will be effective here? How can I do this as gently as possible for as short a time as possible and how am I going to manage myself to stay calm?

Recording

Any instance of danger to themselves or others and physical intervention is used, this is fully recorded immediately and reported to the designated person as soon as possible on an incident reporting form, ensuring that it is clearly stated when and how parents were informed (on the same day or as soon as reasonably possible). Parents are asked to sign a copy of the form which is then kept on the child’s file. The designated person decides who will notify the parent and when, ensuring that the parent signs to say they have been notified. An individual risk assessment should be completed after any physical intervention with a child which considers the risks and likelihood of such behaviour re-occurring and how this will be managed. The risk assessment should be agreed and signed by parents.

Temporary suspension (fixed term)

Any decision to temporarily suspend a child must be carefully considered lawful, reasonable and fair. If despite following the stepped approach for behaviour it is necessary to temporarily suspend a child, for no more than five days, on the grounds of health and safety, the following steps are followed.

• The setting manager and trustees have a meeting to discuss the potential temporary suspension, and this is minuted; the request must detail the reason why the child must be suspended and the length of time of the proposed suspension.
• If the trustees approve, the parents must be invited to a meeting to discuss next steps. Parents are invited to bring a representative along. Notes must be taken at the meeting and shared later with the parents. The meeting must aim for a positive outcome for the child and not to suspend.
• If no acceptable alternative to suspension is found then the setting manager must give both verbal and written notice of time related suspension to the parent, meanwhile the setting manager must ensure that continued resolution is sought, and suitable adjustments are in place for the child’s return.

Supporting children with SEND

Supporting every child is at the heart of everything we do at Pre-School. The child’s needs and specific leaning styles will enable the key person/Manager/SENCO to support them to reach their full potential. To support positive behaviour, we will:

• Create a bond with the child and discover what the like to do and what are their favourite things. We will then use this to help co-regulate the child if their behaviour becomes challenging.
• Have a now and next board available along with visual and audio aids to support the child through transitions
• Converse with parents to discover how they support the child when challenging behaviour arises and use a consistent approach at home/setting.
• Have regular My Support Plans with parents, setting and other multi-agencies to create a holistic approach to supporting the child.

If this support isn’t successful:

• The child’s space may be temporarily removed for a fixed time.
• The setting manager sends a written/e-mailed invite to the parents, a local authority representative and any relevant external agencies to attend a review meeting. Each attendee must be made aware that the meeting is to avoid the situation escalating further and to find a positive solution.
• After the meeting the setting manager continues to maintain weekly contact with the parents and local authority to seek a solution.
• Suitable arrangements offer the parent continued support and advice during the suspension. The setting manager reviews the situation fortnightly and provides the trustees with a monthly update.

Withdrawal of child’s space at Pre-School

In some exceptional circumstances a child space may be cancelled due to:

• a termination of their childcare and early education agreement as explained in the settings terms and conditions.
• if despite applying a range of interventions (including reasonable adjustments), the setting has been unable to adequately meet the child’s needs or cannot protect the health, safety and well-being of the child and/or others.

Challenging unwanted behaviour from adults in the setting

We do not tolerate behaviour demonstrating dislike, prejudice, discriminatory attitudes or action towards any individual/group.

Allegations of discriminatory remarks or behaviour made in the setting by any adult will be taken seriously. The perpetrator will be asked to stop the behaviour and failure to do so may result in the adult being asked to leave the premises. Where a parent makes discriminatory or prejudice remarks or uses threatening
words or behaviour to staff at any time, or other persons while on the premises, this is recorded on the child’s file and is reported to the setting manager. The procedure is explained, and the parent is asked to comply while on the premises. An ‘escalatory’ approach will be taken with those who continue to exhibit this
behaviour. The second stage comprises a letter to the parent requesting them to sign a written agreement not to make discriminatory remarks or behave in discriminatory or prejudice ways; the third stage may be considering withdrawing the child’s place.