Behaviour & wellbeing
Behaviour Principles
We believe that understanding and valuing the uniqueness of each student, including their strengths, struggles and methods of communication and engagement is integral to reducing incidences of distressed and negative behaviour and to promoting positive behaviours. We therefore adopt a positive, collaborative and solution-focused approach to behaviour management within our school. We approach the management of behaviour in a positive non-confrontational way, supported through learning and environmental structures and routines.
We realise our values through our approach to:
Engagement
High levels of engagement with students, families, staff, professionals and the community.
Environments
Enabling environments that are inclusive, accessible, inspirational and promote wellbeing.
Experiences
Aspirational and quality experiences that spark learning, value equal opportunities and celebrate difference and diversity.
Engagement
We aim to foster high levels of engagement with staff, families, professionals and the community. We work closely with parents, carers and other agencies to provide consistency of approach and shared expectation. We provide a well-trained staff team that has specific knowledge of specialised strategies to support and manage dysregulated and distressed behaviours that can occur.
Environments
We strive to provide enabling environments that are inclusive, accessible, inspirational and promote wellbeing. ysregulated and distressed behaviours often occur as a result of unmet needs or barriers in terms of emotional and communication needs and so our low-arousal classrooms and communication rich classrooms are designed support regulation, engagement, communication, and learning. We approach the management of behaviour in a positive non-confrontational way, supported through learning and environmental structures and routines.
Experiences
We acknowledge that in order to achieve positive behaviours for learning, students need to be motivated and engaged and so our curriculum is designed to provide aspirational and quality experiences that spark learning, value equal opportunities and celebrate difference and diversity.
Trauma-informed
As part of our commitment as a Trauma, Informed, Attachment Aware School (TIAAS) we ensure that our classrooms and wider school environment support trauma-informed practice, neuro-diversity and sensory integration needs. We recognise the needs for students to take movement and sensory breaks and some students will have specific plans for sensory integration. We work closely with Occupational Therapists and physios to develop these plans.
Student voice
We are a UNICEF Rights Respecting school and so prioritise the voice and experience of the student and strive to overcome barriers, where special educational needs (SEN) can make this hard to capture.
We aim to teach our students strategies to manage their own behaviour. We provide individualised visual and sensory supports to support self-and co-regulation, and choice making and we aim to teach emotional literacy to all students at appropriately differentiated levels.
Total Communication
We recognise all behaviour as a form of communication. We therefore reflect on what the behaviour might be communicating and seek to teach the student a more appropriate and functional way to communicate their need. We use a host of approaches to increase opportunities for our students to communicate their wants and needs; this incorporates gesture, objects of reference, symbols, photos, Makaton signing and communication books and aids.
Team Teach
Team Teach is nationally recognised training with the aim ‘To provide an accredited training framework designed to focus on positive behaviour support approaches, with an emphasis on de-escalation, risk and restraint reduction’. Home - Team Teach
We ensure that all school staff working directly with students have completed a minimum basic 2-day Team Teach course, and maintain their accreditation with a refresher course annually.
In addition, the school employs 2 staff as Team Teach Tutors who deliver training, ensure we are kept-up-to-date and compliant, as well as offering advice and support to colleagues.