Behaviour Management

Millfield Pre-school (MPS) believes that children flourish best when they know how they are expected to behave and should be free to play and learn without fear of being hurt or unfairly restricted by anyone else.

MPS aims to provide an environment in which there is acceptable behaviour and where children learn to respect themselves, other people and their environment.

a. All practitioners have responsibility for issues concerning behaviour. We have a Behaviour Management Officer, Tracy Gray, and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinating Officer (SENCO), Jane Knight.

b. All staff are required to:

i. Keep themselves up to date with legislation, research and thinking on handling children’s behaviour.

ii. Access relevant sources of expertise on handling children’s behaviour.

iii. Complete relevant in-service training concerning handling children’s behaviour. Records of training are maintained.

c. Practitioners, volunteers and students are required to display positive models of behaviour by treating children, parents/carers and each other with friendliness, care and courtesy.

d. Practitioners, volunteers and students are to be consistent in their application of positive strategies for handling any conflict. Distraction, praise and reward (appropriate to the child’s age and stage of development) are employed as methods to assist children in finding solutions.

e. MPS familarises new staff and volunteers with the Behaviour Management Policy and Rules for Behaviour. All members of MPS (children, staff, parents/carers, volunteers and students) are to abide by these rules.

f. We praise and endorse desirable behaviour (such as kindness and willingness to share).

g. Children receive adult attention, irrespective of their behaviour.

h. MPS recognises that methods of interacting with other people vary between cultures. All members of MPS are to respect and be aware of this.

i. When children behave in unacceptable ways, we help them to see what was wrong and how to cope and behave more appropriately.

j. Children are never sent from the room by themselves.

k. Physical punishment (actual or threatened), such as smacking or shaking, is never used.

l. We do not employ techniques intended to single out and humiliate individual children.

m. MPS only uses physical restraint (such as holding) to prevent physical injury to children or adults and/or serious damage to property. Details of such an event (what happened, what action was taken and by whom and the names of witnesses) are brought to the attention of the Lead Practitioner/Manager or Senior Assistant and recorded in the Incident Book. The parent/carer concerned is informed by the Lead Practitioner/Manager or Senior Assistant on the same day and is required to sign the Incident Book to indicate that she/he has been informed.

n. In cases of serious misbehaviour (such as racial or other abuse), the unacceptability of the behaviour and attitude is immediately made clear by means of explanations, rather than by personal blame.

o. We do not shout or raise our voices in a threatening way when responding to children’s behaviour.

p. We handle children’s unacceptable behaviour in ways which are appropriate to their age and stages of development, e.g. distraction, discussions, or by withdrawing the child from the situation.

q. MPS works in partnership with children’s parents/carers. Parents/carers are regularly informed about their child’s behaviour by the staff. This includes addressing recurring unacceptable behaviour using observation records (to help us understand the cause) and to decide jointly how to respond appropriately.

r. Discriminatory comments, behaviour, prejudice from and against parents/carers, staff and children are not tolerated.

Bullying involves the persistent physical or verbal abuse of another child or children. MPS takes bullying very seriously.

a. We intervene to stop the child harming others.

b. We explain to the bullying child why their behaviour is inappropriate.

c. We give reassurance to the bullied child or children.

d. We help the bullying child to apologise for their actions.

e. We ensure that bullying children receive praise when they display acceptable behaviour.

f. When children bully, we discuss what has occurred with their parents/carers and jointly devise a plan of action for handling the child’s behaviour.

g. When children have been bullied, we share what has happened with their parents/carers, explaining that the bullying child is being helped to adopt more acceptable ways of behaviour.