Promoting Positive Behaviour

Promoting Positive Behaviour through Attachment Informed Practice

“It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.”

At Kellands School and nursery, we are committed to promoting positive behaviour by promoting attachment led, trauma informed approaches to support our children and young people. At Kellands School we promote emotional wellbeing and mental health as an overarching attainment strategy and create a learning environment which takes account of the whole child and their mental, emotional and psychological readiness to learn. Marcus (2016) argues that to close the attainment gap, we must first put the child at the centre and ensure that we meet the child’s individual needs.

Promoting Positive Behaviour Policy 2022-2023.docx

Please read/download the Promoting Positive Behaviour policy.

Children’s Needs

In order to promote positive behaviour it is important that all adults in the Kellands School community understand children’s basic needs.

These are:

• To be loved
• To feel secure and know clearly what is expected of them
• To be valued
• To have a balance of activities – active/passive; communicating/reflecting; taught skills/exploratory work; independent/collaborative
• To have help to develop relationships
• To develop self-awareness and a knowledge of the world outside of themselves
• To have creative experiences, access to the outdoors and time for reflection
• To be fully involved in their education

OUR VALUES

Our Kellands values (Kind, Respectful and Responsible) were established by our community, and we show commitment to these values by putting relationships at the heart of all we do.

Our Kellands values are extended by a further six Wellbeing values (Achieving, Active, Nurturing, Inclusive, Safe and Healthy) in line with the Scottish Government’s ‘Getting it right for every child’ (GIRFEC) approach to supporting children and young people.

Our values ensure that each child is:

Kind and respectful, developing compassion, humility, and integrity.

Responsible, gaining the confidence and leadership skills to succeed in a dynamic and global world, developing independence and agency.

Achieving and active, becoming a resilient, enthusiastic and curious learner actively engaged in purposeful learning, in order to flourish as an individual and contribute meaningfully to society.

Nurturing and inclusive, feeling supported and listened to themselves as well as being respectful of the needs of others to develop open-mindedness, within and beyond our community.

Safe and healthy, securing the knowledge to grow physically, socially and emotionally, in pursuit of happiness and fulfilment.

Our community feel supported and listened to; we can share concerns and talk openly in a positive and nurturing environment. Our school is open, friendly, and welcoming, reinforcing a sense of belonging in the community.

As a moral compass, our values guide us from day-to-day in our learning, thinking and decision-making. They underpin our approaches to supporting children model expected behaviours.

Be Kind: we look out for one another, we listen to each other, we are thoughtful and practice good manners, we show encouragement, we care and have empathy for others.

Be Respectful: we listen when others speak, we respect other people’s feelings, we use appropriate language, we co-operate in play and learning tasks, we look after the property of other learners and the school.

Be Responsible: we arrive at school on time, we choose appropriate behaviour at all times, we move around the school in a safe manner, we make sure we follow instructions, we are ready to learn.

INFORMED PRACTICE

Our practice is informed by current research into the “biology of attainment” (Zeedyk, 2017) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (Anda and Felitti, et al, 1998). Research by Blodgett (2012) concluded that ACEs have a powerful effect on a child’s readiness to learn, uncovering a correlation between the number of ACEs experienced with a child’s attendance, attainment and achievement, behaviour and relationship.

Our school values reflect our current knowledge and understanding of this. Our goal is to help children understand what their bodies’ biological responses are when they are amid overwhelming stress, to give them the tools and strategies to override their tendencies to enter fight, flight or freeze mode and instead support them responding logically, thoughtfully, and intentionally to the reality they’re facing. When we start to think of children’s misbehaviours as an attempt to manage intensity, it gives us a broader and more understandable focus to work with.

The trauma associated with experiences of neglect, violence and relationship disruption is extremely detrimental to the lives of children and young people. It undermines their self-confidence and eats away at their self-esteem. It can make them feel worthless and unlovable. It reinforces their vulnerability and the strength of their fear, shame and sadness can overwhelm them. Eventually, they can become disconnected or seem out of touch from their feelings. At Kellands School, we have made a conscious decision to remove the use of behaviour charts to avoid a public display and shaming of children having difficulty making good choices or displaying desired behaviours.

ALL BEHAVIOUR IS COMMUNICATION

Our reactions to children’s behaviours affect our relationships with those children. The more we are cognisant of our thoughts, emotions, and triggers, the better prepared we’ll be to understand our tendencies and patterns of action. Our own self-awareness will prepare us to make healthy choices instead of taking regrettable actions. The overall goal for us is to act with integrity, to be consistent and reliable, and to remain logical and regulated in times of stress. By remaining in control of our own emotions, we are modelling appropriate ways to manage stress. In doing so, we are providing a key component of a trauma-sensitive learning environment. Our children need this from us.

At Kellands School we appreciate that learning to identify and regulate emotions is a big job, especially for young children.

In order to develop this our children learn the ‘Zones of Regulation’ (Kuypers, 2011) which is a model to help children identify their feelings, identify which ‘zone’ they belong to and allow them to regulate their own feelings and behaviours.

We describe these zones using the colours; blue, green, yellow and red in the Early Years and as ‘Running Slow,’ ‘Good to Go’, ‘Caution’ and ‘STOP’ through First and Second Level. We teach our children how to read their body’s signals, detect triggers, read social context, and consider how to help themselves. We teach our children that there is no bad zone to be in and that it is ok to be in any one zone.

As a staff we have participated and continue to engage with a wide range of professional learning activities to further develop our knowledge and understanding of ways in which we implement and build upon the concept of “All Behaviour is Communication”, as outlined in the Nurture Principles (Holmes and Boyd, 1999).

At Kellands School and nursery, our policy and procedures are based upon the following principles:

•Connect – Focus on Relationships

•Protect – Promote Safety and Trustworthiness

•Respect – Engage in Choice and Collaboration

•Redirect (Teach and Reinforce) – Encourage Skill-Building and Competence

The above principles underpin our 5 Pillars of Practice at Kellands School.

At Kellands School, all adults will strive to achieve this by aiming to:

1. Always Empower, Never Disempower
Avoid battles for power with children. Children who have experienced trauma often seek to control their environment to protect themselves, and their behaviour will generally deteriorate when they feel more helpless. Classroom discipline is necessary, but should be done in a way that is respectful, consistent, and non-threatening.

2. Provide Unconditional Positive Regard
As consistently caring adults, our staff have the opportunity to help children build trust and form relationships and we strive to respond with unconditional positive regard.

3. Maintain High Expectations
Set and enforce limits in a consistent way. Maintain the same high expectations of a child who has experienced trauma as you do for their peers.

4. Check Assumptions, Observe, and Question
Trauma can affect any child and can manifest in many different ways. Realise when you are making assumptions, and instead, talk with the child and ask questions. Make observations about the child’s behaviours and be fully engaged in listening to his/her response.

5. Be a Relationship Coach
Modelling our values and principles with children and in the interactions between staff provides children with first-hand experiences upon which to model their behaviour.

6. Provide Guided Opportunities for Helpful Participation
Model, foster, and support ongoing peer “helping” interactions. Our PSW/I and P teacher can also support with this.

In our classrooms we will:

• Act as good role models
• Value all children
• Focus on and emphasise the positive
• Listen to and take children’s problems seriously
• Show compassion
• Communicate with and support colleagues in meeting children’s needs
• Have a good sense of humour
• Create an environment of respect.
• Give the child opportunities to make choices. Give children an opportunity to have a sense of agency and control in their own lives. Create structures within which children can make choices during their day.
• Talk about safety and what steps you will take to help the child be and feel safe.
• Connect the child to the appropriate resources and people.
• Have a predictable environment with clear expectations for behaviour
• Have structure during the class day, try not to deviate from it often. Staff will provide “cool down” time and space for the child that is not described as discipline.
• Establish a quiet, safe place in the class area for children to go when they are feeling overwhelmed. It should be a comfortable space away from others, with comfortable furniture, blankets and pillows.
• Throughout the school we will try to develop a safe area and/or safe person the child can access if a situation is stressful or threatening.
• Have some sensory materials for children, such as a small rubber ball they can squeeze, stuffed animals, pillows with different types of fabric, pipe cleaners, rocks, crystals, play doh or clay, paper for scribbling, colour markers/pencils, puzzles, etc.
• Recognise early warning signs and flag these to the child in a range of ways – verbal and nonverbal. For example, observe and note physical arousal cues i.e. foot tapping, fist clenching, body tensing.

Restorative Approaches and Consequences

Children need to be held accountable for respecting themselves and others, but not by being shamed into submission. Most children who are acting out have experienced shame and have a low self-image. Instead, we need to show them a window into a different way of managing how they handle their emotion. Helping children gain awareness of their stress response and teaching them positive ways to respond to stress are key steps that help them deal with all kinds of challenges. As adults, we are responsible both for providing safety and for maintaining expectations.

Kohn (1993) warns of the dangers of adopting a purely behaviourist approach, which Kohn (1993) refers to as “sticks or carrots”, when children are only presented with two options, rewards or punishments. Therefore, we have decided to use restorative practices rather than punitive measures. However, this does not mean that there are not consequences for behaviours which impact upon others. Children will be accountable for their actions towards others and will participate in restorative conversations to repair relationships with their peers and adults, when these have been ruptured. When we believe that we are being heard and understood, we are far more inclined to engage in a healthy conversation that leads to a positive resolution. We all need to be validated and reassured in some way—to be able to process our feelings of stress and frustration and know that others understand what we are experiencing.

After a successful repair, the resolution can truly happen. Resolution means coming to terms with what happened and collaborating to find alternative ways of acting to prevent future disruptions of the same type. This process involves addressing the questions:

• How do we keep this from happening again?
• What can we do differently to ensure that this will not happen again?
• Are there other people we need to involve so that they, too, can know how we hope to act differently?

If it is felt that a restorative conversation is not an appropriate response to behaviours displayed then the following may be considered:

• Telephone conversation with parents
• Meeting with child and staff member involved (HT to support)
• Meeting with child and parents (initially with class teacher and then HT)
• Refer to HT using behaviour monitoring record
• Target sheet to promote positive behaviour
• Promoting Positive Behaviour risk assessment
• Mediation with peers (may require more than one session)
• Support with targeted interventions
• Alternative playtime plan
• Multi Agency support sought if necessary
• Internal exclusion if unable to repair relationships and still possible risk to self and others.

Partnership with parents to promote positive behaviour and attachment

To support the school in meeting the needs of their children, parents should:

• Contribute to, be aware of and support Promoting Positive Behaviour.
• In partnership with the school, address and resolve issues, as it is important that children see us working together.
• Trust the school to investigate fairly and inform you when undesirable behaviour has occurred.
• Support their children to be Kind, Respectful and Responsible.
• Support the Zones of Regulation as a common language with their children to identify and regulate emotions.
• Recognise that we are all working towards the same goal.

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