Behaviour & Rewards Policy - Including Exclusion September 2020 (Review - July 2021) - Dene Academy

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Behaviour & Rewards Policy
         Including Exclusion

             September 2020
          (Review - July 2021)

               Dene Academy is part of
   Advance Learning Partnership Multi Academy Trust
Introduction

Behaviour in schools is inseparable from academic achievement, safety, welfare and well-being, and
all other aspects of learning. It is the key to all other aims, and therefore crucial.

At Dene Academy, positive behaviour management and a restorative approach is used to promote
outstanding behaviour for learning that enables all students to achieve their full potential in a safe
and calm environment.

Objectives:

    1. Ensure that Dene Academy, is a safe and supportive environment for all staff and students;

    2. Ensure that all members of the school community are shown respect and show respect for
       others

    3. Endeavour to ensure that all members of the school community feel safe and are not subject
       to physical or verbal abuse, aggression or harassment both on, and outside of the school site;

    4. Encourage a positive approach to behaviour by modeling the expected standards and
       rewarding good behaviour;

    5. Ensure that the environment, curriculum and other factors within the school's control are
       monitored to ensure the promotion of good behaviour and ensure that where behaviour falls
       short of accepted standards, procedures are followed and sanctions are applied fairly and
       consistently.

Rewarding Good Behaviour

At Dene Academy we believe that good behavior is best promoted and developed by drawing
attention to, and rewarding, well‐behaved students. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, which
includes:

        •     The awarding of praise points on Class Charts
        •     Specific acknowledgement in school sources such as 20/20, our digital signage or via social
              media.
        •     Individual praise – e.g. in private; in assembly; in class.
        •     Awarding of prizes.
        •     Praise postcards sent home every half term.
        •     Presentation of Achievement Certificates.
        •     Access to termly reward trips run by our House Champions.

Rewarding good behaviour on Class Charts

Dene Academy uses Class Charts to record positive aspects of behaviour using a stepped praise
system. Students receive a P1 for arriving to lessons on time and ready to learn. A P2 for progress/good
work and finally a P3 for outstanding contribution in the lesson. This information is shared with home
through an app and with students via their tutor. Positive Class Charts points are used to determine
rewards such as students of the week, tutor of the week and termly reward trips.
Good News Postcards

These postcards are issued via Progress Leaders and Heads of Year.

    Examples of how students gain good news postcards:

    •   Consistently making outstanding verbal contributions to lessons
    •   Consistently making outstanding written contributions to lessons
    •   Consistently producing exceptional pieces of work of any kind
    •   Outstanding endeavour or effort within a lesson
    •   Consistently treating people with respect
    •   Consistently caring for the school environment
    •   Consistently demonstrating initiative
    •   Consistently taking part in out of hours learning
    •   Representing the school at a level beyond the ordinary
    •   Displaying a caring attitude for members of the school community

Student of the Week Award

Each week the students with the most praise points or who have made the most improvement over
the week in each year group are identified by the Progress Leaders. A letter is sent home and the
students name is circulated to staff for additional praise. Students of the week are also displayed on
the digital signage in school.

Reward Trips

At the end of each term the following two factors are taken in to consideration to determine whether
or not a student is entitled to attend a reward trip.

    •   Attendance
    •   Behaviour Points

Reward trips are categorised in to bronze, silver and gold.

Restorative Approaches

Dene Academy is committed to a ‘Restorative Approach’ of behaviour management, which focuses on
the harm caused rather than the rules broken. It shows equal concern and commitment to all those
involved by allowing all the chance to have a say in what happens. We recognise that the school is a
community and its members have a responsibility to each other.

Unsatisfactory Behaviour

Whilst actively encouraging and rewarding good behaviour, Dene Academy’s Behaviour Policy makes
clear that unsatisfactory behaviour will not be ignored or tolerated. Boundaries are made clear and
sanctions are applied when students willfully ignore the rules of conduct.
Typical features of poor behaviour include students:

        •     Talking unnecessarily or chatting.
        •     Calling out without permission.
        •     Being slow to start work or follow instructions.
        •     Showing a lack of respect for each other and staff.
        •     Name calling of other students.

Unsatisfactory behaviour recorded on Class Charts

Class Charts is also used to record negative aspects of behaviour using a stepped consequence system
ranging from a C1 to a C3. The pastoral team will review behaviours daily and if a student is displaying
inappropriate behaviour or having difficulties throughout the curriculum on a consistent basis they
will implement further action in line with this policy.

Parents also have access to their child’s class charts account. This can be checked online or via the
class charts app.

After School Detention

Detention is important to ensure good order and discipline and, by choosing to send their child to
Dene Academy, parents are agreeing with the use of detention as a sanction.

When a detention is issued a 30-minute detention is automatically set for the same day and
parents/carers will be notified via the Class Charts App by 1.45pm. Any notification after this time
will result in the student sitting their detention the following day.

Parents are responsible for the safe transport home of their child following detention.

Punctuality

If a student is late for school then parents will be notified via the Class Charts App. If a student is late
twice in the same week without a good reason then they will automatically receive an after school
detention.

If lateness persists, parents will be asked to attend a meeting.
Six Stage Procedure

At Dene Academy we have a six stage procedure for students whose behaviour may fall below the
standard expected. At each stage the school will deploy a range of interventions and support aimed
at improving behaviour to acceptable standards.

The school reserves the right to ‘bypass’ any stage or stages should a student’s behaviour be deemed
serious enough to warrant such a move.

* denotes what MUST happen at each stage

 STAGE 1: Classroom Teacher                                                Responsibility

 Positive reinforcement*                                                   Class Teacher
 Building positive relationships through:*
                                   • Learning names
                                   • Offering 1:1 support
                                   • Giving the student responsibilities   Class Teacher
                                   • Making time to listen
                                   • Frequent communication
                                   • Giving the student a compliment
 Restorative conversations*                                                Class Teacher

 A change of seating arrangements                                          Class Teacher
 Contact with parents*                                                     Class Teacher
 Logging behaviour on Class Charts through the stepped praise and
 consequence system, including removal from lessons and a
 subsequent same day detention (C3). This must be accompanied by a
 restorative meeting after school and a phone call home to explain the
                                                                       Class Teacher
 behaviour incident*

 (Any detention issued after 1:45pm will result in the student being
 removed from the lesson but sitting the detention the following ).
 Daily monitoring of C3’s, restorative conversations and phone calls
                                                                     Subject Leader
 home within their subject*

 Conversation with student about Class Charts logs*                        Tutor

 STAGE 2: Classroom teacher/Subject Leader                                 Responsibility
 Referral to Subject Leader*                                               Class Teacher
 Contact with Parents*                                                     Subject Leader

 SL Parental meeting                                                       Subject Leader
 Departmental Report issued                                                Subject Leader
 Discussion about teaching groups/sets                                     Subject Leader
STAGE 3: Subject Leader/Progress Leader                              Responsibility
Daily monitoring and conversation with student about Class Charts*   Tutor
Meet with PL to discuss concerns*                                    Subject Leader

PL conversation with student*                                        Progress Leader
Discuss temporary removal from subject                               Progress/Subject Leader
PL Parental meeting*                                                 Progress Leader
Behaviour monitored on Class Charts with concerns, interventions and
                                                                     Progress Leader
support strategies discussed at weekly pastoral meeting*
Restorative meeting                                                  Class Teacher/SL/PL
Direction to school clubs                                            Progress Leader

Further support strategies inc:
                                  •   Support from SENCO             Progress/Year Leader
                                  •   Allocation of staff mentor

STAGE 4: Progress Leader/Year Leader                                 Responsibility
Temporary removal from subject (work provided by classroom teacher) Progress/Subject Leader
Move teaching/tutor group                                            Year/Subject Leader
YL Parental meeting*                                                 Year Leader
Daily behaviour report* (Reviewed at weekly Pastoral meeting)        Year Leader
AHT letter home*                                                     AHT
Discussion around:*
                                  •   FTE
                                  •   Student Support Plan           Year Leader/RL
                                  •   Respite Placement
                                  •   Referral to Behaviour Panel

Further support strategies inc:
                                  •   School Counsellor
                                  •   Referral to behaviour panel
                                                                     Year Leader
                                  •   CAHMS
                                  •   EWEL Team
                                  •   Continued support from SENCO
STAGE 5: Year Leader/Assistant Headteacher                                  Responsibility
 AHT Parental meeting*                                                       Year Leader/AHT
 Student Support Plan* (Targets set and reviewed at during fortnightly
                                                                       Year Leader
 parental meeting)
 Referral to Behaviour panel for AP*                                         RL/AHT
 Internal Seclusion                                                          Year Leader/AHT
 Respite placement                                                           RL/AHT
 FTE with appropriate reintegration strategies                               Year Leader/AHT

 STAGE 6: AHT/Headteacher/Governors                                          Responsibility
 Alternative Provision                                                       RL
 Managed Move                                                                RL/AHT
 Permanent exclusion meeting                                                 HT/AHT
 Governors permanent exclusion meeting                                       Governors/HT

Learning Support Unit (LSU)

The LSU is where students who breach school rules will be educated separately. All work is provided
for the students in the centre, although they can complete individual work if required by their teacher.

Students will complete the day in silence and will be scored from 1-4 each lesson, 1 being excellent, 4
unsatisfactory. Students who do not score 1 or 2 for all lessons will repeat the day. Any serious
breaches of behaviour will result a Fixed Term Exclusion (FTE) with a parental meeting arranged on
return.

A member of staff who sends a student to the LSU will meet with the student at the end of the day for
a restorative conversation where it will be made clear what they did wrong, why it disrupted the
learning and what needs to be done differently next lesson. This conversation is designed to be an
opportunity to rebuild the relationship with the student and not be used as a further sanction. To
allow this to take place students sent to the LSU are required to stay in school until 3.15pm.

Fixed Term Exclusion (FTE)

Depending on the nature of the behaviour incident, a student may receive a FTE. Following an
appropriate investigation, if a student is found to have committed a breach of school rules which the
Head Teacher deems appropriate to warrant a FTE, parents/carers will be informed on the day of the
incident and a letter sent to the parent/carer within 24 hours.

On return from a FTE, parents/carers must attend a re-integration meeting where the students’
behaviour is discussed and the appropriate actions agreed.

The governors of the school must review any FTE’s that would result in a pupil being excluded for more
than 15 days in any one term.
Behaviours which may warrant fixed term exclusion include:

    •   Physical assault against student
        Such as fighting/violent behaviour/wounding/obstruction and jostling or similar behaviours.

    •   Physical assault against adult
        Such as violent behaviour/wounding/obstruction and jostling or similar behaviours.

    •   Verbal abuse / threatening behaviour against student
        Such as threatened violence/aggressive behaviour/swearing/homophobic abuse and
        harassment/verbal intimidation/carrying an offensive weapon/endangering the health of
        students or similar behaviours.

    •   Verbal abuse / threatening behaviour against adult
        Such as threatened violence/aggressive behaviour/swearing/homophobic abuse and
        harassment/verbal intimidation/carrying an offensive weapon/endangering the health of
        adult members of the school community or its visitors or similar behaviours.

    •   Bullying
        Such as verbal bullying/physical bullying/homophobic/transphobic             bullying/racist
        bullying/cyber bullying or similar behaviours.

    •   Racist abuse
        Such as racist taunting and harassment/derogatory racist statements/swearing that can be
        attributed to racist characteristics/racist bullying/racist graffiti or similar behaviours

    •   Damage
        Includes damage to school or personal property belonging to any member of the school
        community/vandalism/arson/graffiti or similar behaviours.

    •   Theft
        Such as stealing school property/stealing personal property (student or adult)/stealing from
        local shops on a school outing/selling and dealing in stolen property or similar behaviours.

    •   Persistent disruptive behaviour
        Repeated disruption to the education of other students – despite the application of
        appropriate intervention strategies and a hierarchy of sanctions such as challenging
        behaviour/disobedience by repeated refusal to accept the authority of staff /persistent
        violation of school rules/bringing the school into disrepute or similar behaviours.

    •   False allegations
        Making false and/or malicious allegations towards another member of the school community.

The above list is not exhaustive.
Permanent Exclusion

Serious breaches of school rules and circumstances where allowing the student to remain in school
would seriously harm the education or welfare of the student or others in the school, may result in
a permanent exclusion. In cases of this nature, a suitable amount of time will be given to fully
investigate the breach and to allow the Head Teacher to carefully consider their decision based on
this. If, following an investigation, a student is found to have committed a breach to school rules
which warrants a permanent exclusion, parents/carers must be verbally informed on the day of the
incident with a letter sent to the parent/carer within 24 hours. In cases where additional evidence
comes to light a fixed term exclusion may be converted to a permanent exclusion. In these cases,
the parent of the child must be contacted in writing informing them of the permanent exclusion
within 24 hours of this evidence coming to light.

Students with SEND

Students with a statement or with particular educational needs are expected to follow the Academy’s
Behaviour Policy and comply with all sanctions. Where behaviour is incurring a risk of exclusion, all
appropriate support agencies will be contacted and every reasonable step will be made to ensure the
needs of the student is being supported. Fixed term and permanent exclusion, however, is still a
possibility if serious misbehaviour occurs.

On return to school from a Fixed Term Exclusion, students identified as having SEND will receive
additional support with the reintegration process.

SEND students will undertake a Social Communication Program consisting of six dedicated 30 minute
sessions, the intention of which is to explore in more depth how the student understands the chain of
events that led to the exclusion and the steps that can be taken to make positive progress in the future.

With oversight from the SENCO, identified support staff will facilitate the sessions, at the end of which
there will be a record of the student progress and certificate of completion.

The “Talkabout for Teenagers” program will be used and contains material appropriately designed for
students with SEND.

Looked After Children

Exclusion for children in care should be an absolute last resort. It is vital that schools and social workers
work together in partnership with other professionals and try every practicable means to maintain
these students in school and only exclude in the most exceptional circumstances. Before excluding,
schools, in conjunction with the local authority, should first consider alternative options for supporting
the child or young person in care. No child in care should be excluded from a school without discussion
with the local authority to ensure that there is suitable alternative provision available elsewhere.

Although the Education and Inspections Act 2006 only requires full time education to be provided
from the sixth day of exclusion, such a break in education will have an impact on the education of
children in care. To ensure there is minimal disruption to their education where a child or young
person in care is excluded, it is the Government’s view that schools and local authorities as appropriate
should arrange alternative provision from the first day of the exclusion.
Searching and confiscation

Following guidance set out by the Education and Inspections Act 2006, our members of staff are
authorised to use confiscation as a disciplinary sanction if it is lawful. This means that staff may
confiscate or seize items in the possession of students that are illegal, or banned by the school. It is
our first priority to ensure that students are in a safe and secure environment when they are in our
care, and any items that may jeopardise the safety of other students or themselves will be taken off
students without notice.

A teacher or someone who has lawful control of the child can search a student with their permission
to look for any item that the school’s rules say must not be brought into the school. The Head Teacher
and other members of staff authorised by them have the power to search a student without the
student’s consent if they suspect they are in possession of ‘prohibited items’. Prohibited items that
can be searched for without consent include:

            •   knives or weapons
            •   alcohol
            •   illegal drugs
            •   stolen items
            •   tobacco and cigarette papers (Any cigarettes confiscated in school will be destroyed)
            •   fireworks
            •   pornographic images
            •   articles that have been or could be used to commit an offence or cause harm.

The Education Act 2011 allows for staff seizing an electronic device to examine any data or files on the
device if they think there is good reason to do so. These data or files may be erased before returning
the item if they believe there is good reason to do this.

School Uniform and Dress Code

All students are expected to wear correct school uniform at all times. We ask all parents who send
their children to our school for their support of the school uniform policy. We believe that parents
have a duty to send their children to school correctly dressed and ready for their daily schoolwork.
Parents should ensure that their child has the correct uniform, and that it is clean and in good repair.
Parents / Carers / Students should note that students who persistently fail to comply with the policy
will be monitored and escalated through our Consequence System on the basis of their defiance.

See our school website for our uniform policy.

Smoking

No student will smoke on the Dene Academy site or when dressed in the uniform of the school. If a
student smokes or chooses to associate with smokers the consequences will be as outlined below:

        •   Smoking/associating with smokers will lead to a detention.
        •   Refusal to hand over smoking paraphernalia when asked will lead to a FTE.
        •   All tobacco and related paraphernalia will be destroyed.

(Note: ‘Smoking’ is defined to include any tobacco based products and also e-cigarettes.)
Mobile Communication Devices (Phones/Tablets etc.)

These are not allowed to be used in school at any time and should be switched off and placed in bags
or inside pockets.

            •   If a phone/tablet is seen then students will receive a simple instruction to put it away.
                If a student refuses or the phone/device are seen again a detention will be issued.
            •   The same applies to headphones. Headphones are not to be worn around the neck or
                within eyesight in school.

Truancy / Walking out of school without permission

Students who walk off site without permission will complete a day in the LSU on their return. Parents
will be contacted immediately to let them know that their child has left the premises. Parents are
required to attend a meeting with their child and pastoral staff the following day.

Regulating Students’ Conduct Outside of the School Premises

Teachers have a statutory power to discipline students for misbehaving outside the school premises.
The Headteacher may choose to discipline a student for:

•   any misbehaviour when the child is
        o taking part in any school organised or school related activity
        o travelling to or from school
        o wearing school uniform or is, in some other way, identifiable as a student at the school
•   misbehaviour at any time that
        o could have repercussions for the orderly running of the school
        o poses a threat to another student or member of staff
        o could adversely affect the reputation of the school.

Use of reasonable force

Section 93 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 enables school staff to use such force as is
reasonable in the circumstances to prevent a student from doing, or continuing to do, any of the
following:

    •   Committing any offence (or, for a student under the age of criminal responsibility, what would
        be an offence for an older student);
    •   Causing personal injury to, or damage to the property of, any student (including him or
        herself); or
    •   Prejudicing the maintenance of good order and discipline at the school or among any students
        receiving education at the school, whether during a teaching session or otherwise.

Dene Academy does not encourage the use of force and it will be used very rarely in special
circumstances. There is no definition of when it is reasonable to use force, and every situation will
have to be judged by the person in charge at that time. The degree of force used should be the
minimum needed to achieve the desired result.

All staff at Dene Academy have the authority to use force when reasonable, and this extends to any
other person whom the Head Teacher has given the responsibility to be in charge or in control of the
students.
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