Rationale
At St George Preschool we believe that maintaining high expectations for children’s learning and behaviour is integral to enabling all children to make the best possible progress. It is a primary aim of our Preschool that every member of the preschool community feels valued and respected, and that each person is treated fairly and well. We are a caring community, whose values are built on mutual trust and empathy. This policy is designed to support the way in which all members of the school can live and learn together collaboratively, in an environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure. This policy is agreed in line with the school’s Safeguarding practices and procedures.
This policy applies to all children and adults in the preschool and underpins the school vision.
Aims of the Policy
To encourage a calm, purposeful and happy learning environment within the school, where everyone feels safe and secure, furthermore:
Additional understanding and delivery of behaviour in the Preschool:
To foster mutual respect and understanding; To enable children to become successful learners; To develop good social skills; To promote emotional well-being; To enhance children’s self-esteem, confidence and resilience; To provide consistency and structure; To encourage children to recognise and respect the rights of others regardless of religion, culture, sexual or physical differences. This also includes property; To understand British Values; To understand Saint George International School and Preschool Values; To develop children’s self-discipline and self-control; To encourage ownership of behaviour and accountability; To enable effective learning and teaching in order to raise standards; To ensure that rewards and agreements are used consistently throughout the school. Main scope:
Children of the preschool, teachers, parents (including carers) should understand the Golden Rules within our preschool’s environment. These should be on display in every classroom, and around the school to understand the values of life while at SGP.
Objectives
For all members of the preschool community to be treated with respect and to have a responsibility to treat others the way we expect to be treated; All members to have the right to learn in a positive environment and have a responsibility to allow others to learn without interference, within one’s own ability; To build communities in classes, year groups and across the Preschool through Circle Time sessions; To teach children about feelings and emotions and how these can be affected by the behaviour of others; To provide children with the skills to rebuild relationships after conflict has occurred; To provide targeted support for those children who find it difficult to conform to behavioural expectations. Roles and responsibilities of all staff
To listen; To lead by example, e.g. treating children with respect; To deal with any behaviour issues in a calm and controlled manner; To be consistent in dealing with children; To be aware of the long-term expectations; To have high expectations of children’s behaviour; To promote high expectations of behaviour within the community; To meet the educational, social, emotional and behavioural needs of children. Dress Code
All children in the Preschool are required to wear the preschool uniform from 1st of September until 30th of June. It is the responsibility of all parents to ensure that children are dressed appropriately and in accordance to the weather, bearing in mind that according to the EYFS Curriculum, the children will be visiting the outdoors several times a day, regardless of the weather. All children should have two complete and labelled sets of changing clothes (preschool uniform – academic period; casual clothes non-academic period). Hair accessories must be considered and fit for purpose, including headbands, bobbles, scrunchie, ribbons and hair slides; there must be no extreme styles and no outlandish patterns for boys.
Promoting Positive Behaviour through the EYFS and Cambridge Primary Interenational curriculum and learning
We believe in an appropriately structured curriculum, in addition to quality first teaching that ensures effective engagement in learning, and contributes to good behaviour by children. Through planning for the needs of individual children, encouraging active involvement of children in their own learning, and providing structured feedback, we will help to avoid the alienation and disaffection of children which can lie at the root of poor behaviour.
Promoting Positive Behaviour in the classroom
The Cambridge Primary International curriculum, within the Frist and Second Preparatory Grades (Year 1 and Year 2 respectively)uses a positive behaviour approach. Badges in SHKOLO (the school and preschool platform) are used to encourage positive behaviour. These approaches are integrated early in to school life to ensure that there is allowable transition from the Preschool to Primary – as well as to foster an understanding of what is and is not acceptable. Transition from the preschool to the main school is important and this helps to underpin values.
Classroom management and teaching methods influence children’s behaviour. The classroom environment gives clear messages to the children about the extent to which they and their efforts are valued. Relationships between teacher and child, strategies for encouraging good behaviour, layout of furniture, access to resources and classroom displays all have a bearing on the way children behave. Classrooms should be organised to develop independence and personal initiative. Displays should develop self-esteem and raise aspirations through demonstrating the value of every individual’s contribution. The EYFS curriculum of learning through play, helps children to maintain valued and positive relationships with each other and adults in the classroom through open questioning. Cambridge Curriculum material, as well as the Bulgarian pedagogy, following through on this and are designed to encourage and be part of something meaningful to the children; displaying learning, ownership and achievement also help to facilitate reward and positivity.
Teachers are to:
Maintain respect and their responsibilities through positive feedback and encouragement; Build positive relationships with children is the foundation of good behaviour management; Promote positive behaviour management; Reduce stress and anxiety; Provide consistency for all; Increase the chances of success; Help to maintain positive changes in behaviour; Improve the self-esteem of the children. As professionals teachers are to encourage appropriate behaviour with the positive reinforcement of expected behaviours, focusing on achievements i.e. catching children getting it right. It is important that all staff find the opportunity to praise good or improved behaviour, whether or not the child is in the teacher’s class. Praise should be frequent, consistent and appropriate. High levels of praise are important when establishing new behaviours. At St George Preschool we use a variety of strategies to encourage positive behaviour.
These ‘encouragements’ are rewarded in a positive manner, through green badges in Shkolo for all children in the preschool as well as with House Points for Year 1 and Year 2 children, aiming at ensuring that , the children understand that working together as a team, as well as a child working independently, helps to support every child’s academic learning, and supporting the community at St George International School & Preschool.
Such examples of feedback are listed below:
Verbal feedback; Proximity praise; Non-verbal signs e.g. thumbs up, smile; Written comments; Showing and sharing pupil’s work; Sharing achievements with other members of staff; Use of personal behaviour plans (this should be evidenced in teacher’s planning) Application of the School’s behaviour ladder. Teachers actively show respect for their children by:
Commenting on the behaviour without criticising the child and being aware of the effects of positive body language; being aware of the effects of negative body language – avoid pointing and respect personal space, as children absorb emotion extremely well; Never holding grudges and by being prepared to give children a fresh start after any incident; Remembering the basics which are so important – use of child’s first name, using polite language, etc.; Never shouting Never grabbing and physically moving a child; Never restraining a child against their will At the beginning of each school year a classroom code is negotiated and displayed prominently within the learning space.
The classroom code is positively phrased and reflects:
Respect for selves; Respect for others; Respect for property. Rewards
All areas throughout the preschool display positive behaviour. Procedures for dealing with incidents of positive as well as negative or disruptive behaviour, both in the classroom and at playtimes must be reasoned, well thought out and explained to the children, often in its most simplistic manner, but in more specific detail, if applicable and necessary. This is to ensure that all preschool staff are able to take a consistent and fair approach and for children to know what this approach is.
Examples of rewards used at St George Preschool in order to promote positive behaviour include:
Praise – public and private; Children being congratulated for using Golden Rules; Showing British Values as well as School Values and being praised for this; Collecting Green Badges and House Points; Teacher led awards that run-in line with the school’s core values; Positive comments to parents/carers – SHKOLO and school made resources; Opportunities for greater responsibilities; Opportunities for children to participate in a chosen activity; School rewards; Other incentives at the teacher’s prerogative which promote positive behaviour. Negative or disruptive behaviour is a way of communicating. Understanding what a child is trying to communicate through their behaviour helps staff to respond in a firm but non-punitive way by not being provoked or discouraged. If the child can sense that their feelings are understood, this can help the situation. The adult needs to ask themselves: “Given what I know about this child and their situation and/or level of development, what is their behaviour telling me? And what is the best course of action?” (see appendix 1 for more information).
At St George International School & Preschool we recognise the need to promote calm communication within a crisis, however in certain situations communication will only cause more distress and the sensible thing to do is to offer reassurance and quietly listen. Communication may be more appropriate after the crisis has passed.
In accordance with the DfE’s Behaviour in Schools Guidance (2024) teachers have, amongst other things:
Statutory authority to communicate with pupils whose behaviour is unacceptable, who break the school rules or fail to follow reasonable instructions. This power applies to all paid staff with responsibility for children e.g. teaching assistant, school nurses.
Teachers can advise politely, remind and remain calm; therefore, reminding children any time the child is in school or elsewhere under the charge of the teacher, including school trips of their conduct.
Teachers can also correct children in certain circumstances when a child’s misbehaviour occurs outside school (trips, events);
Teachers can confiscate children’s property and give it back to them when appropriate, or directly to the parents when required.
Where appropriate, a specific and individually tailored behaviour management programme can be put into place which is managed and monitored by the preschool’s leadership team, and the preschool’s pastoral support (school psychologist, learning support or other).
If a child does not behave in an appropriate way, their continued unacceptable actions within the school will be directed to the appropriate person, including the senior management team, and in extreme cases the Head of Preschool.
It is vitally important that children know they can “turn their behaviour around” and that they can “earn behaviour back”, as well as being actively and rewarded for such. All children
It should be noted that teachers must look to develop their own strategies to behaviour (supported with Appendix 1), and understand clearly what their expectations of the children are. Teachers must be consistent with their behaviour, approaches and ensure that their approaches are not:
Biased; Emotionally led; Look to harming any child’s value or self-worth; Overly critical and reactive; Unprofessional and against the teaching standards; Break the school’s values, and its code of conduct. In the extreme situations, permanent exclusion from school may be necessary. If this is deemed essential, then the follow actions may occur:
Consultation through the CEO; Managed move to another school in accordance with the Bulgarian Authority’s laws protocol; Teachers providing documented evidence and feedback (including recorded dates, times incidents, and more) must be given for permanent exclusion; Any exclusion is seen as a last resort after all other attempts to modify behaviour, and; adjustments within the organisation to meet the needs of the child, have failed. If a decision is taken to exclude a child, to secure the well-being and entitlement of other children and staff in school, this will be carried out in accordance with DfE guidelines and the Bulgarian Ministry’s protocol/law. This should be seen as the absolute and last resort, and in agreement with all academics, learning support, psychologist and any other persons (including external agencies) for the benefit of the child.
Lunch and Break Times
All staff to record incidents, or incidents of a serious nature i.e. accidents or infringements of the agreed rules. Report to the class teacher, and a member of MMT, or SMT if absolutely necessary.
Racial Equality
Staff at St George Preschool consider ways in which aspects of the curriculum can be used to represent cultural diversity, and reflect our changing community. They ensure that all children are supported where appropriate in their learning of behaviour management strategies.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Behaviour throughout the preschool will be monitored by all staff. It is essential that staff are open minded and understand that each day is a new day in a child’s life. In the case of recurrent poor behaviour, a record may be kept. This is to enable St George International School & Preschool to identify patterns or triggers in behaviour and help the child to modify their behaviour in future. This may be achieved through the involvement of the school’s psychologist and learning support.
Behaviour management is the responsibility of all adults in the school community. Where necessary and appropriate, additional support will be provided to individuals to enable the continued promotion of positive behaviour.
