UNIT 06 - Global Edulink

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UNIT 06

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Course: Level 3 Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools (QCF)

Unit 06: Promote children and young people’s positive behaviour Unit Introduction

1 This unit introduces the learner to the ways in which behaviour management is approached in schools, and includes topics such as strategies for promoting positive behaviour, as well as how to manage challenging behaviour, and how to assess the risks around it. It offers ways in which learners can approach behaviour support in order to benefit pupils, and how to assess challenging behaviour and its impact.

Learning outcomes:

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Understand policies and procedures for promoting children and young people’s positive behaviour

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Be able to promote positive behaviour

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Be able to manage inappropriate behaviour

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Be able to respond to challenging behaviour

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Be able to contribute to reviews of behaviour and behaviour policies

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1.1

Summarise the policies and procedures of the setting relevant to promoting children and young people’s positive behaviour Behaviour management starts with the group as a whole, providing boundaries for all the children within a class, so that the situation is fair right from the start. This means that no-one is singled out straight away, and it is made clear that all pupils are expected to behave in an appropriate way. The definition of 'appropriate behaviour' is made clear, and the understanding of the children can be checked, to ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them.

This boundary-setting is achieved partly through the school's policies and procedures that are then made available in either paper or booklet form, or are posted on the web, and signposted to all children and their parents. It is also conveyed through discussions in class and other ways of drawing children's attention to the rules.

Promoting desired behaviour

The underpinning policy: behaviour policy

The most obvious policy that deals with behaviour at school is the behaviour policy. This is a set of measures that are designed to promote positive behaviour, stop bullying before it starts, and to make sure that pupils complete any work that is assigned to them. The outcome of any behaviour policy is to ensure some form of regulation of pupil conduct. It is as well to note that the behaviour policy is not the only one that deals with the promotion of positive behaviour. Other policies that have an impact on behaviour management include anti-bullying policies, and health and safety, amongst others.

Behaviour policies also designate the powers of discipline held by teachers, and in fact, any member of paid staff at a school. In this way, they ensure appropriate staff development is available (including courses and other methods of training around behaviour management), and that staff are adequately supported in applying discipline when it is needed.

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Behaviour policies are expected to ensure a consistent approach to the way in which behaviour is managed at school, so that no-one is confused or unsure about what is and is not acceptable behaviour. They are an enabler of strong leadership at school, and of good classroom management, thus promoting a positive learning environment for all.

This link takes you to government guidelines on behaviour policies in schools, and tells you what is expected of them, and what should be included.

This link is an example behaviour policy in use in a UK primary school at the present time.

Policies and procedures relevant to promoting positive behaviour in schools.

School rules and codes of conduct

School rules are a simple and effective way of ensuring a code of conduct in school. Using positive language, school rules are usually a short list of expected behaviours. Positive language is where you describe something in terms of what you do want, as opposed to what you don't want.

For example: if you want children to respect each other when talking, the school rules might say:

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"I will listen carefully to others and will wait my turn before speaking", rather than "Do not interrupt or talk over other people".

Sometimes school rules use phrases that are somewhat meaningless, especially to younger children, such as 'I will treat others with consideration'. When this type of phrase is needed in order to convey a wide topic in a concise way, it may be sensible to ensure there is some kind of exemplification added, so that children can relate better to it. For example 'I will treat others with consideration, by listening to what they have to say, and responding in a polite way'.

Attendance

Attendance policies define the different types of non-attendance - authorised and unauthorised - and describe the positive ways in which the school promotes good attendance. Most of those methods will be things that the school and its staff do in order to monitor attendance, identify unauthorised absences, and to work with parents and carers to improve poor attendance.

Some schools may also carry out a reward scheme around attendance, although this may not be considered to be in line with inclusion policies, particularly where a child has been absent many times through illness.

This link is an example of a UK primary school attendance policy.

Schools are required to report repeated absences to the local education authority, and where children have been repeatedly absent through illness, evidence must be provided, in the form of a doctor's note or other official paperwork.

Discouraging undesirable behaviour

Sanctions (and rewards)

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Sanctions are generally a threatened penalty or a penalty for disobeying a rule, and these are normally listed in a policy called 'Rewards and Sanctions'.

Rewards are where positive behaviour and achievement is recognised in a way that is meaningful to children.

This link is an example Rewards and Sanctions policy in a UK primary school.

It is really important that both sanctions and rewards are meaningful to the children. This means that sanctions should threaten to curtail or remove something that a child considers to be valuable, such as time at break time, time doing something fun in class, or removal from the class for a short period.

Rewards include things like verbal praise from teachers, wall displays that show off children's work, and the utilisation of reward systems, both in class, and school wide, so that pupils can see that not only do they benefit from good behaviour, but that other people appreciate it too.

Preventing bullying

Anti-bullying policies are a way in which rules that specifically apply to bullying situations can be clearly laid out so that there is no ambiguity. One of the biggest problems of bullying at school is its insidious nature, and how clever bullies can be at hiding their behaviour. By clearly defining the types of behaviour that are unacceptable and that denote bullying, a school then has a base point from which to identify it when it happens, and to deal with it both directly, and indirectly through parents and carers.

This link is an example of an anti-bullying policy in a UK primary school.

Conflict resolution

When it comes to dealing with conflict and behaviour that is considered 'inappropriate', primary schools tend to include the information on the main

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behavioural policy. In fact, the avoidance of situations that create conflict, and of inappropriate behaviour is often stated to be the aim of the behaviour policy, as per this example from a UK primary school.

The details of conflict avoidance and resolution should include the ways in which staff will promote positive behaviour, such as by providing clear instructions and guidance, and helping to develop children's self-esteem, and the types of approaches that will be used by staff to handle difficult or challenging behaviour.

There are specialist courses that staff can go on if they feel that they need further training and guidance around conflict prevention and resolution, and if you feel you need this, you should speak to your line manager to see if the school's training budget will cover it.

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1. 2

Evaluate how the policies and procedures of the setting support children and young people to: a) feel safe b) make a positive contribution c) develop social and emotional skills d) understand expectations and limits In order to evaluate your school's policies and procedures around the above elements, you should look at your school's policies and procedures, think about how they work in relation to the children you work with, and draw a conclusion based on your observations.

To do this, it is easiest if you create a simple chart that can inform your answer. Simply list the expectations above down one side of the chart, and beside each one provide two or three examples from the policies at your school that demonstrate the expectations.

Ask yourself whether or not those policy examples stand up in practice, and how successful they are. If you can remember an example of when they were used, that will be able to inform your knowledge better.

Draw your conclusion based on whether or not you know they work, rather than just how they should work in theory.

Using a chart or table in this way is useful because it means you put the thinking to the test before you start to write about it.

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How policies link with practice.

Helping children feel safe

Although there are many actions that a school does in order to ensure safety for children, most of those will be unknown to the pupils themselves. These kinds of thing include security policies, signing-in protocols, attendance registers and similar.

However, many children worry about bullying, particularly if they have been picked on in the past, and bullying is a big reason why children may not feel safe at school. Although a lot of bullying manifests as emotional violence, physical violence can also be possible, even at primary schools, and emotional torment can, in extreme cases, lead to a child self-harming or attempting suicide, especially if it continues unchecked.

One way in which a school may be able to approach helping children feel safe is by having a clear anti-bullying policy that promises things like:

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• When a bullying incident is reported by a child, a member of staff will take time out of their day to discuss the incident with both parties and to establish the whole story, including the point of view of children who witnessed the incident but were not directly involved.

• To keep the victim informed of any developments, to inform parents of both parties, and to establish the different responsibilities of everyone involved.

• To complete an incident form and to monitor the situation going forward.

• To offer strategies to children and parents around cyber bullying, as this is an out-of-school situation that can escalate into frightening scenarios.

By showing children that they care about all parties, that they are interested in understanding why bullying and similar situations take place, and by aiming to build self-esteem for all pupils, teachers and support staff can really add to a child's feeling of safety in and around school.

Health and safety policies can also work towards children feeling safe, and these should encourage discussion around aspects of safety, so that children are empowered to identify potentially unsafe situations for themselves and to take evasive action.

School rules and codes of conduct are also good sources for children to understand safety and to help them feel safe. The idea is that if everyone behaves the way the rules ask of them, everyone should therefore feel safe. By establishing the types of activity or approach that promotes respect and thoughtfulness towards others, many children should be able to feel more safe in the long run.

Assisting children to make a positive contribution to school and to their own learning

Even children who have behavioural difficulties, or who are prone to over-stimulation, can make a positive contribution to their own education and their experiences at school. Understanding the source or basis of the reason why they behave the way they do is crucial to managing difficult behaviour. There are no 'bad' children; only

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difficult and challenging behaviour.

Ways in which policies and procedures may help all pupils make a positive contribution to school and their own learning might be found in the behaviour policy, the code of conduct, and the rewards and sanctions policy.

For example, the philosophy of rewarding positive behaviour has been built out of direct evidence that doing so reinforces the good behaviour and enables a child to continue to behave in this way. Negative behaviour, on the other hand, may be ignored if it is not harming other pupils. The reason for this is because often children act in challenging or negative ways because subconsciously they are looking for attention. Even negative attention is preferable to no attention. So refusing to attend to bad behaviour and consistently rewarding good actions can be very successful.

Many behaviour policies discuss this type of philosophy, and advise teachers and staff to be consistent in their application of it. That is, when the situation becomes more stressful, and negative or anti-social behaviour continues, the teacher or support staff should not abandon the strategy of rewarding positive behaviour and ignoring the unwanted actions, unless the negative behaviour begins to infringe on the safety and security of other pupils.

Similarly, offering rewards for work completed, work done well, special projects, helping others, and so on, can work very well in terms of encouraging positive contributions.

Codes of conduct and school rules may also have helpful statements that access group pride, and encourage children to act for the greater good of the group. These might include statements like: "I will always try my best and work as hard as I can at school."

Supporting children in developing their social and emotional skills

Most of the time, when we think about how to support children to develop their social and emotional skills, we think of helping them communicate and interact with each

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other better. We might encourage group and team work, or ask some pupils to help other children in some way.

However, because children's social skills still have a long way to go when they are in primary school, and the way they handle their emotions are often instinctive, rather than mindful, their difficulties in these areas can sometimes lead to unnecessary conflicts that can then escalate.

Anti-bullying strategies often therefore include the kinds of approaches that help children to develop these skills in a way that is beneficial for them and those around them. These might include things like helping them to recognise the triggers that lead to bullying incidents and fall-outs between pupils and how to avoid these.

Teaching them what is expected of them in specific situations can also help, and helping them identify when they should apologise - and supporting them to do so - can also improve their social skills. If these types of suggestion are present in your school's anti-bullying policy, they demonstrate a commitment by your school to help children develop their social and emotional skills.

Additional policies and procedures that may also include social and emotional development are likely to include the school rules/code of conduct. For example, a rule that promotes respect for others to be demonstrated through listening and waiting in turn to speak, is one that encourages positive social skills.

Helping children understand expectations and limits

When it comes to what they can and cannot do, many children push the boundaries to see how far they can really go. By establishing acceptable and clear boundaries, it is possible to identify when a child has gone too far - but better than that, it is possible for the children themselves to identify this.

It is well-established that children who know and understand what is expected of them are more likely to behave in the right way. This is one reason that having a set of school rules can be beneficial for them. What do your school's rules or code of

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conduct say in regards to this? An example might be: "I will act and play fair with other children".

Some schools set up a peer mentoring scheme to be used in the playground. This is where a group of children whose behaviour is known to be of a high standard can be trained to support other pupils and to continue to demonstrate good and positive behaviour.

Behaviour policies often mention the usefulness of establishing clear communication between staff and children, and giving them one-step instructions and encouragement, in order to promote better behaviour. The aimed-for result should be a caring and effective learning environment

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1.3

Explain the benefits of all staff consistently and fairly applying boundaries and rules for children and young people’s behaviour in accordance with the policies and procedures of the setting

Consistency is an important word when it comes to behaviour management. Boundaries and rules should be agreed through the development of policies and procedures, and enforced by all staff in the same way, with the same sort of approach.

This is because if there was any question over the validity of boundaries, or if some people thought they were one thing, and others thought they were something else, it would be very hard for the children themselves to remain within the rules. It would be very unfair to sanction children who did not understand the rules or who could not understand them because they were conflicting.

For example, a conflict could present itself if one teacher believes that no children should play in a particular area of the playing field that has been designated as a nature patch, but another believes that his 'classroom monitors' are grown-up enough to spend playtime collecting beetles in a jar in the nature patch.

There are numerous benefits for all staff in a school consistently applying fair boundaries and rules for behaviour.

Better response from children

Children are better able to understand what the boundaries are, if they are applied in a consistent and fair manner. Potentially risky situations can therefore be prevented from occurring, so safety is improved.

For example, if on Monday, some Year 6 pupils are allowed to play quite a rough game of 'tag' during break time; however, on Tuesday, they develop the game into 'British bulldogs' (which involves lots of people running in a line towards a single person) and include younger children in the game - who might more easily get hurt -

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they are likely to be told they cannot play games like that. However, at this point, the boundaries are unclear.

Why was the game of 'tag' acceptable, but the 'British bulldogs' game not? In the second game, the younger children are more at risk, the game is more rough than the original game of tag, and the playground starts looking like a scene from a riot.

In order to make the behaviour management consistent and more clear, the game of 'tag' would have to be stopped in the first place.

Benefits of a consistent approach to behaviour.

Did you know?

All staff should be equally respected

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It doesn't matter if the member of staff is a teacher or a dinner lady (midday supervisor), if there is a metered and consistent tier of sanctions and rewards, and if each and every member of staff is trained and empowered to use those, children will understand that no matter who is telling them, they must follow what is being said.

Pupils are therefore also more likely to respond in a positive way, especially if they know what to expect. This is why there is usually a 'sanctions and rewards' policy, so that children and their parents know and understand the consequences of negative behaviour, regardless of who enforces them.

It is also important that staff members treat each other with respect; status is important, even in a primary school, and if children believe that a particular member of staff has less power than the others, it may be difficult for that person to maintain discipline and respect from the pupils.

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2.1

Explain the benefits of actively promoting positive aspects of behaviour There are far more benefits to the active promotion of positive behaviour, than there are to the idea of punishment for negative behaviour. Just for starters, a punishment tends to come after something has been done. The promotion of positive behaviour is a preventative measure that is done all the time (when done well and consistently) and has no negative connotations, will not damage a child's self-worth and well-being in the way that punishment can, and has benefits for the whole group; it does not affect just one child.

Benefits of positive behaviour.

Create a positive learning environment for all

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When the boundaries are clear and communicated well, all the children in a class will understand what they are and what is expected of pupils. This means that there is less opportunity for accidental misbehaving, and it can sometimes mean that peer pressure assists with ensuring positive behaviours. If, for example, the whole class is working on group projects, and one child is acting up for some reason, his or her classmates in the group who are enjoying the project might ask the other pupil to stop messing about.

Classes that have fewer disruptions are better places for everyone to learn, because they are quieter and less traumatic overall.

Working towards rewards is always more beneficial than working to avoid punishment, or working but for no real understanding of the reward. Children don't always appreciate the gift that is learning and education for all, and may need related rewards in order to affix a kind of value to working hard at school.

Improve self-esteem and self-worth It is often observed that children who 'act up' at school are those who subconsciously desire attention, and that even negative attention is better than none. Children who crave and seek attention are sometimes those who are less happy, or who have poorer self-esteem.

An aspect of promoting positive behaviour means noticing good behaviour and praising it. This positive reinforcement means that children are more likely to choose to behave as desired, in order to be praised further and to continue to receive that attention.

The opposite angle of praising good behaviour is ignoring negative behaviour. This may sometimes be frustrating to other children in the class who are disturbed by a child who is behaving in a negative way, but should be stuck to by staff, because in ignoring it, and then praising positive efforts by the same child, there is an opportunity to lift that child's self-worth, and improve the behaviour long term.

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Promotes independence and responsibility

School really does help develop children's maturity, and it can do this by allocating small amounts of responsibility and giving them guided independence, as appropriate for each individual child. Independence is really important for children, because as they grow into adults, they will need to be able to do things by and for themselves. By encouraging positive behaviour, and helping them remain within the boundaries (by making the rules clear and enforcing them positively and consistently), this independence can be fostered in a healthy environment, where pupils want to do things for themselves, and actively work to remain within the boundaries so that they can reap the benefits that come with greater responsibility and independence.

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2.2

Demonstrate ways of establishing ground rules with children and young people which underpin appropriate behaviour and respect for others It might seem simple enough to have a list of school rules, print them off, and ensure that every pupil has a 'take home' copy. However, getting ground rules into the working memories of pupils sometimes need to be worked on a little more than that. In fact, it is far more effective if the school rules are discussed with the children in a class, and better yet, if they are asked what they feel the boundaries should be, and what should be considered ground rules. The first reason for this is that the discussion itself helps them remember the rules better. The second reason is that if the children themselves have come up with the rules, they tend to take greater ownership and responsibility for maintaining the rules.

There are a few really effective ways to establish ground rules, particularly around respect for others and appropriate behaviour. Your school may use others beyond what is listed below, and those may also be very effective.

Establishing ground rules.

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Class discussion

A great way to engage pupils around rule making and boundaries is to establish rules for the class. By asking them what they think is important when it comes to appropriate behaviour and the way that they should be expected to treat others, pupils are more likely to 'buy-in' to their own ideas, and to therefore comply.

Role play and drama

Feelings and emotions, and work on self-esteem, are interesting areas that children can explore through role plays. If you were to present a situation where someone said something hurtful to someone else, and then asked the class how they would feel, you might get a few shouted out responses. However, by then setting up a dramatic situation and asking them to act out how they would feel and therefore behave, the teacher has a good chance of cementing the knowledge in their minds. Linking it back to the school rules, or the class rules, is a relatively easy step at this point.

Group and pair work to improve cooperation

Small-group work and working in pairs is a method that enables cooperation between children. It is best if they already get along, however. Teamwork is something that has a huge amount of emphasis in the adult world of work, and starting children early with this kind of cooperation can only be beneficial for them.

Any disputes that arise in small groups should always be mediated fairly, and teaching moments taken advantage of, because again, it is the experiential learning that takes place outside of the subject that is being directly taught, that can be of extra value.

Telling stories and discussing the moral of the story afterwards

Story-telling has long been a mainstay of teaching and learning, and it is no less effective in this modern age. Stories with morals or other types of teaching points are not merely relegated to Bible stories, and children's books tend to incorporate

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learning within them. Discussing the point of the story afterwards helps children start to understand the ideas behind reading comprehension, and again, works to cement the teaching points that the story incorporates.

Provide opportunities for children to take responsibilities

Children often love to help others, or to do something good for their own world, and this leads directly into responsibility taking, which is highly beneficial for their burgeoning independence. Giving them little jobs, such as tidying up the classroom, litter picking across the playground and playing field, and looking after the Nature Patch, or a little garden, can all contribute to these things. Understanding the need to care for their environment, and the amount of work that goes into making places look nice is best done in an experiential way, so they can appreciate those things more readily.

Modelling behaviour

If all teaching and support staff treat each other and the pupils with respect and consideration, by accepting all contributions as equally worthy, and by utilising strong active listening and communication skills, children can see and copy the behaviours around them. In fact, if staff do not follow these types of guidelines, they are likely to find that pupils still copy the behaviours, so it is clear which kinds of behaviour it is preferable for staff to use in all circumstances.

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2.3

Demonstrate strategies for promoting positive behaviour according to the policies and procedures of the setting The first thing you should do when beginning a new job in a school, is ensure that you have access to all the policies, particularly the behaviour policy and any related ones such as the rewards and sanctions policy, and the anti-bullying policy. Some schools incorporate all the different types of policy around behaviour into one document; others split them down into the various areas of behaviour concern.

The teacher you work with may have set ways that they use in the promotion of positive behaviour, but if you have new ideas that you have learned, you should share those with the teacher at the planning stage, because all strategies that work have value.

Some ideas are set below, but you should look to the strategies that you already use in order to demonstrate them.

Fairness at all times

Children are often very tuned into the idea of what is and is not fair, and can be very sensitive and uneasy about unfairness. Some areas that you may be able to easily demonstrate include giving fair credit when it is due, so that pupils who behave in an exemplary fashion are encouraged, and so that they are then more likely to repeat the good behaviour.

You should always be prepared to listen and understand all sides of a story, particularly if you are called on to mediate a dispute. Sometimes children who behave badly may be struggling in other areas of life, such as at home, and seeking to understand the root causes of behaviour is a good idea.

You should also remember that all tasks that are given to pupils should be possible for them to complete successfully. If children are set up to fail, or if a task is not well-thought-out enough, the consequence may be that they disengage from learning altogether, and stop trying. Success - and a healthy understanding of failure - is a crucial aspect of academic and practical learning.

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Strategies for positive behaviour.

Clarity in every way

Instructions to children should always be clear and straightforward. This may seem like an overly simplistic method to call a 'strategy' but it is far more successful to deliver one instruction at a time to children who are listening, than it is to attempt to tell them several things that you need them to do, while they are still doing something else.

As they mature and get a little older, they may be able to process two or three instructions in a row, but younger children should really only be given one at a time to ensure success.

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Additionally, it is a good communication strategy to check understanding, either by asking questions, or by asking one or two children in the class to repeat back to you what they have been asked to do.

Use reward systems

Reward systems tend to engage children because they are incentivised towards success. Rewards have to be meaningful to them, so simple star merits, or happy face stamps on an everyday basis can be at least as successful - if not more so - as end of year prizes. Short-term rewards keep the motivation flowing where long-term rewards may seem like a very long way away, particularly for younger children.

Rewards systems are usually covered in a school's policy, and there will be specific methods that are listed and used school-wide, so you should always ensure that you follow what the policy says, and do not deviate with your own ideas unless agreed with the teacher.

Engagement opportunities

As mentioned earlier, children love to have small responsibilities, and these are really good for their development. As well as asking them to do small jobs towards improving their immediate environment, many schools also operate school councils, where a group of pupils who represent all the children in the school are given the opportunity to input into issues that affect them, and to bring the child perspective to adult concerns. This type of engagement gives those who belong to the council ownership over the decisions that are made in collaboration with the school board, and in addition, those children who do not belong to the school council may respect it and what it decides because they know that those decisions were made and agreed with them in mind.

Modelling best behaviour

Again, modelling behaviour comes up as a strategy in nearly every aspect of behaviour management. Children pick up on subtle aspects of behaviour as much as they notice shouting or violent actions, and for this reason, if you say you are going to do something, you should always ensure that you do. Children are particularly

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sensitive to the feeling of being let down, and because you are in a unique and powerful position of being able to influence their behaviour, you must follow through on promises and suggestions.

You should always treat everyone with the same respect that you want the children to use, no matter how badly your day is going, and remain professional and mindful at all times. They will see, and they will copy, however subconsciously that happens, so you must be aware of how influential your own behaviour is to them.

Always follow the policies and procedures at school - they have been developed and agreed through a number of checking procedures, and are there as a reference. If you do not know what to do in a given situation, you can check the relevant policy. If you feel that something should have been added to the policy, or that something is missing, you are in a position where you can request that to be taken into account the next time the policy is updated.

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1.4

Demonstrate realistic, consistent and supportive responses to children and young people’s behaviour Realism, consistency, and support are the mainstays of managing children's behaviour. Being able to identify areas of your practice at school where you demonstrate your understanding of these things will help to cement it in place in your mind.

Realistic responses

When thinking about whether or not your responses to children are realistic, it may be helpful to think of it in terms of 'reasonable', rather than realistic. For example, if you know that some of the children in your class tire towards the end of the day, it may be unrealistic to expect them to complete more complex tasks at that time. It may therefore be unrealistic and unreasonable to be cross when they don't complete them.

It is worth noting that in most cases of behaviour management, becoming cross is neither realistic nor reasonable; as adults, support staff and teachers are in a strong position to demonstrate best behaviour practice, and to reinforce good behaviours. Becoming cross is a sign that you are not in control of the situation, and as an empowered adult, if you find this emotional response takes place more than rarely, you may wish to look into new strategies to help.

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Responses to behaviour.

Consistent responses

Policies are there for a reason. Lots of reasons. One of them is that they provide a streamlined and consistent plan to approach behaviour management for all staff in a school. Always stay in line with the policies, always follow the guidelines, and observe how the teacher responds - and do so in a similar way.

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Children feel safer and more secure when they know what is happening, and what is going to happen. This is one reason why policies often state the order in which sanctions and rewards will be delivered. They act as a kind of 'language' that the children understand. For example, if they get a question right in an end of week pop quiz, they may get a smiley face. If, however, they complete a folder of work on a project, they may get a certificate of approval or similar, or their work may be displayed on the wall in assembly.

The work done elicits a pattern or framework of responses that are designed to fit the achievement or difficulty that the child has experienced. In the same way, negative behaviour should be proportionately dealt with.

One thing worth noting is that it is not helpful to reprimand a child for doing something and then the next time you see them do it, allow it to continue. Even if it is inconvenient, you must be consistent or they will become confused and unsure as they continue to push at boundaries.

Supportive responses

There is always a reason why children behave the way they do. If they consistently exhibit negative or anti-social behaviour, there may be something going on in the child's life that causes them to do this. This can especially apply if a child who used to behave well suddenly displays challenging or difficult behaviour.

Difficult home lives, medical conditions, tiredness, and transitions are among many things that cause children behave in unwanted and negative ways. If you regard children's behaviour as ways in which they do in fact communicate, you may find that the process of behaviour management becomes more easily understandable. It is far more useful to look at the long-term patterns of behaviour rather than isolated incidents, because as communication, these reveal much more information.

One area that can be highly controversial is in the anti-bullying work that many schools do. In investigating claims of bullying, support staff and teachers should ensure that they are as supportive to the bully as they are to the victim. This is because bullies are often children who have some abiding problems, either due to their own health conditions, family set ups, or other factors. This type of support may not be valued by the families of bullying victims, but nonetheless, it is important to treat everyone fairly, consistently, and supportively.

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2.5

Provide an effective role model for the standards of behaviour expected of children, young people and adults within the setting You should be aware by now, of the importance of your own behaviour, when approaching behaviour management in a school. How you treat others will be learned by the children you support, as quickly and easily as they learn taught information.

Given that consistency is also hugely important, there must be a correlation between how you behave to children and how you do so with adults, because where there is a disparity, this can cause confusion for the children around you.

Building a trusting relationship with children is reliant on consistent and fair patterns of behaviour from yourself. When a person's responses are different depending on the time of day, the mood they are in, and the status of any personal problems they may have, this can make them hard to predict, and therefore difficult to trust.

An effective role model.

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Did you know?

Some aspects of role modelling that you can take into account are below.

Be fair and reasonable at all times By always listening to children and checking back your understanding of the situation or story, you lay the basis for fair and reasonable behaviour. When presented with negative behaviour, by asking reasonable questions, reminding them -or asking them to remind you - of the rules, and asking them why they have done something unwanted, you give them a chance to explain their point of view. However, just as importantly, that should give you the opportunity to explain the wider view, and to discuss with them the reasons why there are particular rules in place.

Establish rules and boundaries

Rules and boundaries should be established when you start an activity with children. It is often good just to have one or two rules that should be followed, such as 'when one person is talking, everyone else should listen quietly and take their turn in speaking'. The small number of rules means that the children will be better able to be successful when they attempt to follow them.

Always say what you mean

Empty threats are a good way to lose the respect of the children and young people you support. An empty threat is one made that you have little or no intention of carrying out. Children are very quick to pick up on whether or not the threat you have made is empty, and when they do realise it, you may not be able to maintain control of the situation.

Therefore you should continue to follow policy guidelines, to apply sanctions and rewards according to the policy, in the specified order, and avoid making threats of any kind. The children know what to expect for their behaviour because the policy should explicitly say, and any deviation away from it is uncharted territory, which will be capitalised upon by disruptive pupils.

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Demonstrate respect for children's ideas When children see that their ideas and views are respected, their self-esteem and self-worth grows. By asking for their input, and finding a way to carry out their ideas, you assign value to the things they think and say. Even if their ideas are difficult to carry out, you may be able to use problem-solving techniques to find better or different ways to carry them out.

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3.1

Demonstrate strategies for minimising disruption through inappropriate behaviour of children and young people There are so many strategies out there that are designed to minimise disruption due to inappropriate behaviour, and you will most likely utilise only a small percentage of these. However, when you find a particular strategy that seems to work really well, you should make a note of it in your reflective journal, or in some way that helps you remember it.

Preventative strategies.

Preventative measures

The preventative measures that you are likely to find most useful have largely been covered already in this unit. Preventative refers to the early nature of the intervention, where you establish rules and boundaries, including acceptable ways to speak with and to approach other people, their belongings, and the environment around the children.

Other preventative measures may include seating children away from others who are known to often distract them, and seating them near children who are more likely to

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behave correctly.

If you know that certain pieces of equipment are likely to cause a distraction, or that children are likely to fiddle with them instead of engaging with the class, unless they are about to be used, it is a good measure to simply remove them from reach or sight until needed.

Many of the measures used to minimise disruption begin with the creation and regular review of the behaviour policy, and its dissemination amongst pupils and their families. The more information passed around about what the school expects from its pupils, the more likely they are to comply. Peer pressure is also made stronger where policies are well used, because when other children know that certain behaviours are not desired, they may influence a child who is behaving in such a way.

The sanctions and rewards policy is especially important, because it makes it very clear to parents, children, and staff, as to the order in which sanctions and rewards can be expected.

Non-verbal behaviour management

Children are very good at picking up on subtle signs, even when they are in mid-flow, so there is much of behaviour management that can be achieved without speaking a word about it.

For example, if a child causes a disruption, simply using eye contact with them to let them know that they have been seen by an adult, and that it is understood that they are misbehaving, can be enough to stop them from continuing.

Another non-verbal strategy is simply using your own presence to stop the behaviour. Teaching and classroom assistants are particularly useful in this respect. Because your role may often involve you floating round the classroom from group to group or child to child, you may find that you are in a more convenient position to move closer to the seat of the disruption and therefore to discourage it. This can be achieved by sitting next to the child who is misbehaving, or by joining the group that is larking around.

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3.2

Demonstrate strategies for managing inappropriate behaviour according to the policies and procedures of the setting When inappropriate behaviour does take place, it may be linked to conflict between children, or it may be behaviour that is triggered by something specific. Most policies are quite detailed, and are likely to list the strategies for managing inappropriate behaviour in the sanctions section.

Types of strategy listed in policies and procedures

You should read the policy, and identify the strategies and measures that are used when inappropriate behaviour takes place, and then think about how you use those in your daily work.

For example, one strategy may simply be to catch the eye of the child who has begun to misbehave. This is a preventative measure, as it may only work while the behaviour is still at a low level.

If that doesn't work, taking the child to one side or outside the classroom very briefly, for a private discussion, may be the next step.

If the behaviour continues, or escalates, it may then be necessary to reprimand the child verbally, to emphasise that the behaviour is unacceptable, and to remind the pupil of what they should be doing at this point. However, remember that we 'love the child, hate the behaviour', so if you want to comment on the situation, make sure that you refer to the behaviour, rather than to the child. For example, 'Snot is disgusting, Charlie, that's why we don't flick snot at other children' instead of 'Charlie you are disgusting. Please don't flick snot at other children.'

The next stage, should there be no let up, might be to remove any privileges that the pupil has, or to remove the child from the situation altogether, such as a 'time out', or to move them to a new seat nearer the teacher.

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Managing inappropriate behaviour.

Teaching moments linked to conflict

Conflicts between children in schools is fairly common, as there are many personalities with different backgrounds and expectations thrown together into one melting pot. However, by using good active listening skills to get the full story from both sides, and good communication skills to explain to the children why their behaviour is not desirable, there may be an opportunity to demonstrate problem-solving skills to them.

Asking them to help you solve their problem, by listening to your thoughts on the situation, and agreeing to follow your suggestions, can help them see the value in problem solving, and will set them up for learning how to deal with their own problems.

Confrontation is not usually necessary when it comes to intervening in disruptive or negative behaviour. In fact, confrontation is more likely to escalate most situations, so to calm it down it is best to approach with a mindful attitude. One thing that is useful to remember is that the earlier you intervene in the situation, the easier it will probably be to deal with.

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Triggered behaviour

Some children display difficult or challenging behaviour in response to specific triggers. For example, an autistic child may be terribly sensitive to the flickers of overhead fluorescent lighting; this may over-stimulate the pupil, and lead to some form of inappropriate behaviour.

Knowing the children well and understanding the triggers mean that you and your colleagues will be better able to plan around the problem - in this case it would be to avoid the fluorescent lighting where possible, and where not possible, to perhaps move the child to a quiet part of the classroom that isn't affected by the lights prior to the lights being switched on, or even to have a different type of lighting scheme fitted.

Ongoing challenging or inappropriate behaviour

Where a child continues to display inappropriate and undesirable behaviour, despite interventions from teachers, support staff, the head teacher, and parents, there may be a need for an individual behaviour support plan. This will need professional observations of the behaviour, behavioural assessments, and careful monitoring, often via the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). This will also be detailed in the behaviour policy.

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3.3

Apply rules and boundaries consistently and fairly, according to the age, needs and abilities of children and young people Children have differing needs, depending on their emotional maturity, their stage of physical, psychological and intellectual development, and where they are with their social development.

What this means is that although rules and boundaries have to be applied fairly and consistently at all times, what works for one age group may not work for another; and what works for one child in a class, may not work for one of his classmates.

This may seem like a confusing state of affairs, but it is not so difficult to understand!

Rules and boundaries.

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Age

How old, and how mature the child is, has an impact on the types of behaviour they display, and also on how they respond to rules, boundaries, sanctions, and rewards. What may be suitable for handling a 2-year-old's tantrums - which is usually considered normal behaviour for this age group - may not be appropriate for handling a tantrum by an 8-year-old, not least because the underlying cause is likely to be different.

Younger children may 'misbehave' because they have forgotten what they are supposed to be doing, or what is expected of them. It would therefore be inappropriate to sanction them for forgetting, and better to simply remind them what is expected.

Older children who display behaviour more often seen in younger children, such as tantrums, biting, or similar, may have an underlying emotional issue, whether related to a slower development in that area, or to do with something going on in their lives. Transitions are tough times for kids, and they are likely to go through quite a lot of these as they move up the school. These things need consideration when applying rules and boundaries.

At any age, however, ensuring that all the children know what is expected of them and their behaviour, and the reasons behind those expectations, is at least half the battle.

Needs

The needs that children have, apart from the basic needs of security, safety, health, and sleep, are largely linked to the way in which they develop on social, emotional, and physical levels.

Children who develop less quickly than some of their peers, or who have disabilities of some kind, may have less well-developed self-esteem, and this can sometimes lead to disengagement with group work, or with school altogether. Loss of self-esteem or social withdrawal can affect a child's social development, including their

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ability to interact successfully with other pupils, and this can again lead to conflict and further withdrawal, both outcomes of which could be considered inappropriate behaviour. How well developed a child is in social and emotional areas, and whether or not they are suffering some kind of loss in one or other of those areas, should always be considered before you deal with a situation.

On the other hand, some children mature a lot more quickly than others, and this may lead to emotional unfulfilled needs, such as a burgeoning sexuality, or more or less energy than their peers. It may also mean that they feel they need to act differently around their friends, taking the lead, and talking back to the teacher. Applying sanctions fairly, and ensuring that as soon as you see the child behaving better, you praise them for it, are both important factors to add to any response.

Abilities

Children are not a homogeneous group, and even within the same age group, will have differing abilities with regards to school work and the school environment. Some will be less able to remember the instructions for a task, or even to remember the rules around behaviour. Sometimes they may become frustrated with a task because they do not fully understand what is required of them, and this may lead to challenging behaviour. In all of these cases, sanctioning them may not be an appropriate or fair response, and their abilities should always be taken into account.

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3.4

Provide support for colleagues to deal with inappropriate behaviour of children and young people Dealing with inappropriate behaviour is not easy for everyone, and therefore seeing yourself as part of the wider school community, which includes teachers, other support staff, and even parents and pupils, means that you can also see yourself as part of a team.

Managing inappropriate behaviour - and here, in case you are not clear on the definition, we mean the types of behaviour that conflict with the values and beliefs of the setting and of the wider society - is therefore a team effort, where all members of staff must support each other in order to be effective.

How to support colleagues in dealing with inappropriate behaviour.

Consistency

One way in which this support manifests, is in ensuring that the way in which you manage behaviour is similar or the same as the way other staff do. This is underpinned by the behaviour policy, which, as you have already learned, usually

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contains a scale of management methods that are considered acceptable and fair. You can also observe the way your colleagues manage behaviour, in order to ensure that you are sticking to the same methods.

Where you observe that your colleagues are not consistent, either with specific aspects of the policy, or with the way in which methods are applied, it may be helpful for you to ask them about it. However, this could require tact, as they may have deviated from agreed sanctions because they had difficulty in using them, or there may be another reason.

Where you have observed inconsistent application of sanctions, and subsequently noticed that the sanctioned children are more difficult to deal with, it may be sensible to speak to your line manager about what you have observed, as this may make the children's behaviour easier to understand, and allow staff a new, consistent tack to take around the management of it.

Observation

Good teamwork is often at least partially reliant on good observation. If you are in a position to observe another member of staff managing behaviour, you may be able to see if their efforts are successful. If you can see that they need help, you should step in to assist, but not before checking whether or not they feel they need the assistance.

If they do not need the help, or if they believe they do not need the help, you should stand by rather than step in, because to ignore their response would undermine them in front of the children they are managing, and may make the situation worse for them.

Situations can escalate, and if you see this happen, you may be able to step in and ask again whether or not help is needed. Similarly, you may be able to go for assistance from someone more experienced.

Immediate response Managing behaviour requires an immediate response in most cases, because to fail to respond could lead to escalation of a situation, or repeat situations later on. It may sometimes be necessary for you to think on your feet, and occasionally you will be asked to help a colleague to manage the behaviour of some of the pupils.

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3.5

Explain the sorts of behaviour or discipline problems that should be referred to others and to whom these should be referred Knowing when you need support in handling and managing behaviour is an important aspect of this skill. Most people will find that at some point in their work with children and young people, some types of challenging behaviour need greater support and more information.

Sometimes it is enough just to ask someone else working with you to assist; however, there are a few areas of behaviour that may need someone with slightly more specialist experience in this area.

Supporting staff.

Behaviour and discipline problems

Situations where you are not in control

These may include situations where the child is behaving inappropriately to their age, for example, a 10-year-old who has a huge tantrum, or a child in Year 3 who is hurting others, or biting, or similar. These types of situation may start out with the

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child or children not doing as you ask them, but can soon escalate with the wrong kind of behaviour management methods. Unpredictable behaviour can be very hard to manage, and this may also escalate if not handled correctly.

Situations where a child is harming others or putting others in danger

Behaviour management has a strong health and safety focus, because inappropriate behaviour can often be unsafe. Where a child threatens to harm someone else, or goes ahead and does so, or if their actions clearly put other children and adults at risk, you should immediately request assistance from someone more experienced.

Situations where a child threatens to harm themselves, or does so

Self-harming is done in a variety of ways, from head banging during a tantrum - often seen in very young children - to secret (or not so secret) cutting. Rather than handling this type of situation alone, you should request assistance immediately.

Situations that involve bullying

If you are notified that someone has been bullied by another child, you should follow the anti-bullying policy. An effective anti-bullying policy will require staff to team up in order to investigate and adequately support both the accused and the victim.

Did you know? A lot of work has been done around the link between inappropriate and challenging behaviour and difficulties in communicating, particularly in the areas of learning and physical disability. The idea that challenging behaviour can be seen as a form of communication has been particularly utilised in research that seeks to understand autism and other communication disorders where challenging behaviour is seen often, but the same theories and ideas can be applied to typical children who may have underlying or hidden social and emotional issues.

Support from other areas of school

Because you are a member of the school community, you can draw on the expertise of your colleagues and ask for assistance with particular types of behaviour management that you have had difficulty, including all of those mentioned above.

Particularly useful people include more experienced members of staff, and teachers, especially if they have worked with children who displayed similar behaviours before. These people will also be more easily accessible than some of the professionals mentioned below.

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Senior members of staff, such as year heads, the head teacher, or deputies, may also be able to advise you.

Your school's SENCO is also a very useful person to ask about behaviour management, as they may have a number of techniques that are in line with the school policy, but which you may not have considered.

Support from other professionals

Health staff

Children who regularly display the above types of behaviour may be in need of greater support. This may come in the form of healthcare staff, such as health visitors, and paediatricians. Sometimes a previously unknown disability or impairment may result in difficult and challenging behaviour due to the frustration that the child has in handling it, and health staff may be able to identify the problem and help the child deal with it.

Mental health staff

Children with behavioural difficulties may have underlying mental health problems, and these may also impact on their education. Where appropriate, they can be referred to an educational psychologist, who may assess them and monitor their progress and advise on how best to approach certain situations with them.

They could also be referred to a mental health unit for assessment, and may be seen by a psychiatrist, or be referred for play therapy and further assessment.

Local education authority (LEA)

Most LEAs run a team that is specialist in behavioural problems. These may include workers who can observe classes and children at school on request, and offer suggestions and methods to assist with managing the behaviour.

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4.1

Recognise patterns and triggers which may lead to inappropriate behavioural responses and take action to pre-empt, divert or diffuse potential flash points It is well recognised that children react to situations and stimuli in different ways and that depending on the child, their well-being, their developmental stage, and any conditions or impairments that they have, that response may be more or less inappropriate.

It is really important to remember that nothing happens in isolation. There is usually a reason behind the behaviour, however difficult that may be to see. Behaviour problems do not tend to be one-offs; they are more likely to be a pattern, and this realisation can make it easier for you to understand the behaviour. Remembering that it is a type of communication for those who are not empowered to express themselves (either because they cannot express their emotions or difficulty with something adquately, or because they do not feel that they are allowed to), does help with this thinking.

Knowing the pupils is key to understanding their behaviours, but at the same time, you should apply some of your reflective thinking skills to any situation where a child regularly behaves inappropriately. Once you have a good understanding of what happens, when it happens, and the possible reasons behind it, you will be better able to make the right decisions when it comes to pre-empting the behaviour, or diffusing it.

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Identify triggers for challenging behaviour.

Questions to help you recognise patterns and triggers

1. What is the specific behaviour that has caused concern?

2. When does the behaviour take place? Ask yourself in which situations does the behaviour take place, and in which does it

3. What happens prior to the behaviour? Is there some kind of slow build up that you can see coming or is there an unexpected explosion or

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sudden activity?

4. What happens after the behaviour? That is, who responds, how does the response match the situation, and does it actually make the behaviour more likely to return?

5. What activities is the child good at? Are they popular, and get along with the other kids? Are they good at learning things? Are they good at explaining things, or communicating in general? What things are they not so good at?

6. What does the child think about his or her behaviour?

7. What does the child think and feel about him or herself? Is the behaviour likely to improve that view?

8. What do the other children in the class, the teacher, and other support staff think and feel about the child? Will they think and feel differently if the behaviour was to change?

Possible action you can take

Once you begin to understand the behaviour and the stimuli behind the behaviour, you will be in a far better position to take pre-emptive action, or to otherwise distract the child.

Pre-empting a situation may be as simple as you sitting down with the child as soon as you see the situation developing. Perhaps you choose to work with them through a few of the exercises that you believe they have difficulty with, or to support them in another way. Your presence will make a difference to their behaviour, and your support may mean that they are less likely to continue in the same pattern.

Avoiding the situation by distracting or diverting the child's attention away from the trigger may also be a simple operation. Something like giving them a particular job to do, or asking them to do something directly related to the activity that you know they can do; either of these types of thing will be really simple to carry out and will mean that the pupil gets the opportunity to do something positive rather than behave inappropriately, and can subsequently be praised for it.

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4.2

Use agreed strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour according to the policies and procedures of the setting Challenging behaviour is any behaviour that involves verbal or physical abuse, destructive behaviour (either to self or others, or to belongings), or illegal behaviour.

When difficult behaviour morphs into the more risky challenging behaviour, it can sometimes be because staff reacted to the difficult behaviour in a way that was not effective or helpful.

Reacting, rather than the more reflective, thought-out responding, tends to result in more emphatic and emotional decisions made by school staff. Responding, on the other hand, gives staff time to think about how they feel about the situation, and then about how they can solve the problem.

That's what strategies are for.

Strategies admit that there is a possibility of challenging behaviour from pupils in a school, and they provide guidelines and methods by which the behaviour can be reduced over time without escalation and without causing further disruption.

One of the reasons strategies are often stated in policies and procedures is because challenging behaviour can endanger the pupil, other children and young people, and staff. The provision of agreed methods to deal with this type of behaviour results in a more consistent approach across all staff. It also means that if you are unsure of how to utilise the stated strategies, you may be able to request training in that area.

If you are faced with challenging behaviour, but you are unsure or not very confident about dealing with it, you should always request assistance from another, preferably more experienced, member of staff. This is a safety measure for both you and the pupils involved.

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Techniques utilised.

Strategies for responding to challenging behaviour Because challenging behaviour is not usually a single isolated incident, but is a pattern of behaviour that, with a bit of thought, can be understood, strategies that deal with it are normally a combination of support and disciplinary measures.

When a pupil repeatedly displays challenging behaviour, it may be necessary to contain, or discipline them at the time, but this should be followed up quickly by a series of actions that enable the understanding of the behaviour and which provide support to reduce the incidence.

These actions might be:

• To assess the behaviour, any triggers or influences, and the purpose it serves for the pupil.

• To develop a behaviour support plan.

• To consider whether or not the environment is part of the cause, and to change that if possible. For example, replacing the lighting system in the classroom so that the bulbs are not flickery fluorescent lights.

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• To teach the child replacement behaviours; that is, new ways to behave in the circumstances.

Restraint, pupil containment and use of reasonable force

In very rare circumstances, it may be necessary to restrain a pupil who is aggressive and becoming violent towards other pupils, staff, or to themselves.

Many schools' behaviour policies currently used still state that they follow the guidelines set out in DFEE Circular 9/94, paragraph 115. However, for a more up-to-date standard, please visit the document 'Use of reasonable force' produced by the government in 2013 and listed at the end of this unit.

The DFEE Circular 9/94 Paragraph 115 states:

"On rare occasions there is no alternative to restraining pupils physically, in their and others’ interests and safety. In such instances no more than minimum force should be used, taking into account all of the circumstances. Such interventions should be made only when they are likely to succeed. Desirably, more than one adult should be present (although this is not always possible). Physical restraint is normally necessary only to prevent a pupil causing harm to him or herself or to others, seriously damaging property, or committing some criminal act which risks harm to people or property, when verbal commands will not control the behaviour. The purpose of intervention is to restore safety, and restraint should not continue for longer than is necessary. Physical contact and restraint should never be used in anger, and teachers should seek to avoid any injury to the child. They are not expected to restrain a child if by doing so they will put themselves at risk. Brief periods of withdrawal away from the point of conflict into a calmer environment may be more effective for an agitated child than holding or physical restraint."

The type of restraint that this and the newer version mean, is usually something along the lines of holding the child from behind and by their wrists, telling them that they will be restrained until they are calm.

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It may also mean taking the child by the arm, and guiding them to safety, or blocking their path in a more passive stance.

The reason we have listed this version in this unit, and referred you to read the more recent document, is because many school policies will not yet have been reviewed and amended to reflect any changes. The intent and advice is still effectively the same, although the Use of Reasonable Force document does have a lot more detail.

Reasonable force can also be used by the head teacher and authorised staff to search a child without consent if certain prohibited items are suspected to be on that child's person. These might include knives and weapons, cigarettes and tobacco, illegal drugs, stolen items, and pornography.

It is very important to note that force cannot ever be used as a form of punishment; this is corporal punishment, which is illegal.

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4.3

Assess and manage risks to own and others’ safety when dealing with challenging behaviour A child who displays challenging behaviour may not be aware of the risks that they present, to themselves or to other pupils. They may not care that they present a risk, and often someone who is emotionally fraught at the time will not be able to identify such risks.

You should point out the risks to the child in question at the time, so that they are more aware of the possible consequences of their actions. Challenging behaviour, even when it is aggression, is not necessarily designed to hurt or injure someone. It is often believed to be a version of communication, and can be a result of a child being unable to adequately communicate something. Children with communication disorders like ASD, or disabilities that make it harder for them to communicate, such as hearing impairment or speech and language issues, are often more likely to present challenging behaviours.

Assessing the risk presented is a two-part operation.

Where a child has repeatedly displayed challenging behaviour, the school should conduct a risk assessment around it, and should disseminate the assessment to teachers and staff who need that information. This should be part of the strategy of dealing with the behaviour and supporting the pupil.

However, it will also be necessary for you to personally identify the risks during the incident of challenging behaviour, so that you can deal with it in the safest way possible.

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Risk assessment for challenging behaviour.

Assessing risk during challenging behaviour You should always follow your school's behaviour policy or health and safety policy (whichever is the most relevant for the circumstances) where this type of information is available.

The kinds of actions you are expected to do internally, prior to dealing with challenging behaviour are as follows:

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1. Look around and identify hazards.

2. Identify who might be harmed and how that might happen (and do not forget to consider your own safety as well as others')

3. Assess the risks and decide if the current situation is safe enough, or if you need to take further measures, such as removing the pupil who displays challenging behaviour or evacuating the classroom.

Reflection in practice during an incident of challenging behaviour

You should also be able to assess yourself; your own state of mind, how in-control you feel you are, and whether or not you are the appropriate person to deal with the situation.

If you are the only person immediately available, you must deal with it; however, if you are unsure, afraid, or if you feel that the situation has gone beyond your control, you should call for assistance from another member of staff.

Following an incident of challenging behaviour where you have been the main staff member handling it, or where you provided support and back up to another member of staff, you should complete an entry in your reflective journal, or spend some time thinking about the incident in a reflective way. Think about what happened, how you felt about it, what you would have done differently, and how you plan to approach it next time.

You should also bring it up during your supervision with your line manager, and request training if you feel that is necessary.

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4.4

Support children, young people and colleagues to identify the situations and circumstances which trigger inappropriate behavioural responses and ways of avoiding these from happening Support of children, young people, and colleagues, in identifying the types of circumstances that trigger inappropriate behaviour, requires a strategic approach if it is to be applied for all situations.

Recording situations

Schools and nurseries tend to record situations in some kind of incident book. In doing this, they make notes of what happened, who it involved, if anyone was hurt, who dealt with it, whether or not the parents or carers were involved, and any resultant situations that occurred as a direct result.

Keeping your own brief record is also useful, and it would be a good idea to note down any specifics around each situation that may have contributed to the behaviour.

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Supporting children, young people and colleagues.

Supporting children who present inappropriate behaviour

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It is important to remember that children who present with inappropriate behaviour probably do not have adequate control over their emotions, reactions, and responses. They do not necessarily set out to 'misbehave', but their behaviour is most likely a communicative response to something that they find difficult to manage.

This may be a task set them that they find too hard or too easy; working in groups when they don't get along with the other pupils, or when their social skills are not very developed; taking a class with an adult with whom they associate negativity towards them; or even physical factors such as feeling too hot or too cold. The possibilities are really as varied as their personalities are unique, so that is why recording the incidents is very important, because it allows you to build a picture that is individual to the child.

Talking to the child themselves, after the incident, and when they are calm is really important, because in order for them to be able to take control of their own behaviour, they must be able to understand what happened, why it happened, and why it shouldn't continue to happen.

Moving them away from a 'blame' attitude and into something more constructive where you get to consider the causes of the behaviour and how it can be avoided in the future is something of a problem-solving exercise. However, teaching them simple problem-solving skills will equip them better for the future, both in and outside of school, and is a valuable use of time and resources.

Simple techniques can be shown to them, in terms of how to diffuse a situation before it happens. For example, if a child has difficulty in controlling his or her emotions, they can be trained to pause before reacting, by counting to 5 or 10.

Supporting others to manage inappropriate behaviour

When you have identified any specific triggers or flash points that lead to inappropriate behaviour, you should let other colleagues know your observations. This can be through the SENCO, the teacher you work with, or by talking to them

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informally.

This type of teamwork is helpful because it means that everyone understands the position and is empowered to handle the behaviour before it begins.

In some circumstances you may feel that you are not 'getting through' to the child, and if the behaviour continues without any attempt from the pupil to learn how to handle it, it may become necessary for you to speak to the SENCO for further advice, and you may be guided to seek external help. When this becomes necessary, a behaviour support plan may be put in place, so that the pupil receives the right level of support to work towards preventing inappropriate behaviour in the future.

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4.5

Recognise and take immediate action to deal with any bullying, harassment or oppressive behaviour according to the policies and procedures of the setting Bullying has frequently hit the News with reports of child suicides and violence in schools, and despite the media's inclination to exaggerate and amplify negative information, the seriousness of bullying should never be discounted. Not all children are resilient enough to stand up for themselves and to brush off bullying and harassment.

In some ways, modern technologies have exacerbated bullying strategies, by allowing bullies extra access to their victims that they might not have had before, through use of social media and other online forums. You may sometimes be alerted to bullying through social media by a child, and this should be taken as seriously as physical violence or name calling.

Name calling does not just manifest as random names shouted across a playground. It can take the form of insidious suggestions that someone is not good enough, that they smell, that they are unhealthy or are somehow of less value because of some personal aspect of themselves.

The development of self-esteem in victims can be severely damaged if bullying is allowed to take place, and particularly if it is allowed to continue relatively unchecked.

Teachers and support staff need to be very aware of the dynamics in the classes they work with, and must be careful not to brush off reported incidences as being 'personality clashes', 'larking around' or other unimportant situations. Even if the victim is considered to be a strong personality, every accusation of bullying should be adequately investigated.

You should always follow the guidelines in your school's behaviour policy or in its anti-bullying policy, because these are agreed ways to deal with bullying that all staff will be aware of.

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Types of bullying.

Video

Recognising bullying in school

Victims of bullying are often afraid that if they tell someone about it, the bullying will get worse. For this reason, it is important that you can identify it when you see it.

There are four main types of bullying.

Physical violence

Physical bullying may be when a pupil hits or kicks another child; they may pinch or bite; they may also trip up the victim, or push them over. Sometimes they may also spoil or damage equipment, belongings and work belonging to the victim.

Verbal bullying

Whether it is shouting at another pupil, calling them names, insinuating that they are something negative, teasing them (when they are clearly distressed by it),

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intimidating or insulting them, or making nasty comments that have a racist, homophobic, or sexual nature, all of these things count as verbal bullying.

Covert bullying

Hidden methods of bullying include spreading lies about someone, making threatening gestures or contemptuous faces at them, excluding someone from an activity or use of equipment, or social excluding them from a group, mimicking them in a nasty way, or playing horrid jokes on them.

Cyber bullying

Cyber bullying is where threatening or mean messages are sent to a child through social media, instant messaging, text messages and other types of website.

Did you know? Challenging behaviour is nothing new in schools, but knowing how to handle it is one of the hardest parts of working in a school. The more information you have around what it is, what forms it takes, different ways to approach it, and what works (and doesn't work), the better chance you have of being successful in this area. Read this article to gain a few more ideas around it.

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5.1

Demonstrate ways of supporting children and young people to review their behaviour and the impact of this on others, themselves and their environment

It is hugely important to remember that when you deal with inappropriate and challenging behaviour, you must communicate to the child the reasons why the behaviour is inappropriate, and what they are expected to do. Reprimanding them, in isolation of this other information, is unhelpful and does not contribute to improved long-term behaviours.

Although many of the rules that are set in school have a focus of promoting respect and courtesy amongst children, these types of boundaries do need going over and reiterating.

The 3-Rs of supporting children to review their own behaviour.

Some of the questions you can ask of the child following an incident or series of incidents involving inappropriate or challenging behaviours include:

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1. How did you feel while you were [behaving in this way]?

2. How do you think [the other person, the other students, the teacher] felt while you behaved like that?

3. What do you think was the result of what you did today?

4. What do you think other people think about you after you behave [like this]?

5. What do you think made you want to [behave like this]?

6. What do you think might make you less likely to want to [behave like this]?

7. What do you think the long-term consequences will be for you if you continue to [behave this way]?

8. What do you feel is the best way forward from this point?

You may be able to think up more things to talk to them about, either at the time, or specific to the individual.

When you discuss the situation with the child, you can also share with them information that you have observed for yourself around their behaviour and the things that trigger it. You can also share information that is helpful to them in terms of support.

Restorative approaches

A restorative approach to behaviour management is effectively a paradigm shift from assigning blame and disciplining children, to addressing unmet needs, and putting things right for them.

Restoration has the result of strengthening relationships and ensuring that the need for sanctions - and rewards - is generally less.

By asking the pupils involved to share what has happened, how that may have affected and impacted on other people around them, and what they feel is the solution to their issues, you empower the child and give them a framework to

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approach their own behaviour problems.

In order for you to be effective in this approach, you need to be able to set up some kind of rapport with the child, and you must listen to what they have to say, using active listening skills to ensure your correct understanding. If you remain calm and non-judgemental, you will be able to foster a feeling of trustworthiness, and this will enable the pupil to be honest with you.

This type of approach can be done between the child and a staff member, but it is also used to approach bullying, where all the children involved are brought together to talk about the situation and solve problems around it.

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5.2

Demonstrate ways of supporting children and young people with behavioural difficulties to identify and agree behaviour targets

Behaviour support plans tend to focus around targets that are totally individual to the child or young person involved. These targets will be concerned with improving the behaviour long term, but will often be short-term targets so that the child is able to achieve them.

Behaviour support plans are a way of supporting other work done to help the child bring his or her behaviour into line with school expectations, but they cannot do the work in place of the child or the staff. They are a plan that is used to guide the work done, and using SMART targets means that work becomes highly focused and more effective.

SMART stands for:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic

• Timely or time-bound.

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People involved with behaviour support plans.

Behaviour support plans cannot be just a written-up group of targets that have been devised by school staff for the pupil. If there is to be any measure of success in using a plan, the child must have a certain amount of ownership and empowerment around the targets. The best successes are achieved because the pupil wants to succeed at them, and this is true whether talking about behaviour, school achievement, or sports achievements.

They need to understand fully why the targets are needed, and what is to be achieved from working towards them. If they do not value the target and the type of behaviour that the target is aimed to elicit, they may be unable to achieve it, and may not want to either.

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Your school will most likely have a set way in which they approach planning behaviour support, where key individuals may be expected to join the discussion. For example, these may be the child, their parents, the SENCO and the teacher, as well as a member of support staff working with the child in some capacity.

Targets do not have to be restricted to activities that have always been done before. If you have new ideas, or if you have seen certain methods work in other environments or have experience of this type of thing from previous work in other schools, you should confidently share your suggestions. New ways of working can often bring in new revelations and paradigms of thinking that are valuable to these situations.

If you know that you are due to attend a behaviour support review, it may be useful for you to research intervention methods and possible types of targets that the pupil could work towards. The LEA's behaviour unit may also be very helpful, and may even visit the school for the review meeting if requested. You should always check with the member of staff who is leading the review before inviting other people to join the meeting.

While the pupil works towards his or her targets, there may be incidents that arise during this period. If you are fully aware of the situation and of the information that is contained within their behaviour support plan, you will be better able to support them to avoid inappropriate behaviour and to help them following further incidents.

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5.3

Use own knowledge of promoting positive behaviour to contribute to reviews of behaviour policies, including bullying, attendance and the effectiveness of rewards and sanctions When schools review behaviour policies, they are expected to look at how successful their policy has already been, in order to identify any gaps in the methodology and way in which the policy is implemented. They will do this by looking at bullying statistics, attendance and truancy rates, and should have a way of evaluating the effectiveness of rewards and sanctions. This is called a behaviour management review, and should normally involve all members of staff to a degree.

Behaviour management.

Most policies are created with an agreement procedure, so the draft will be drawn up by someone with special knowledge in that particular area and the draft policy will be disseminated amongst governors and perhaps staff, in order to identify any issues

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with it. Any amendments will be added to the document, and it will then be checked and ratified by the governing body. This type of procedure means that members of staff can make suggestions around behaviour management; these may then be at least considered, and could be included in the final document. If your school's procedure does not include disseminating draft policies to staff, or if the review of behaviour management does not include all staff, you should still be able to feed back to the policy-maker via the usual channels, such as staff meetings, and supervision.

If you have come from a non-educational background, and your previous work elsewhere has given you insight into certain behaviours and behaviour management, your views will be important, because they may provide an alternative way of thinking, or a more effective approach. You shouldn't imagine that just because you are new, or newly qualified in teaching and learning support, that your previous experiences are not of value.

How effective a school's strategy is around areas of bullying, attendance, and rewards and sanctions, will be quite difficult for one person to observe. However, if you learn that, for example, several parents do not agree with specific rewards, or pupils do not like some aspect of the anti-bullying policy because they feel it puts them at risk of greater danger, you may be in a position to share this information with policy-makers.

A great deal of inappropriate behaviour stems from social and emotional difficulties experienced by pupils, and policies that work to improve children's skills in the areas of self-awareness, communication, managing their emotions, motivational factors and social skills, are more likely to be workable and to be successful.

Although the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme in primary schools, started in 2003 in the UK, has been largely placed on a political backburner now, its aims to better equip children with skills in interaction, making and keeping friends, problem solving, handling and managing their feeling and emotions better, and working and playing cooperatively, are still very valid. After all, someone who is terribly upset about something is unlikely to be able to learn effectively about something completely unrelated.

If you are interested in learning more about the SEAL programme, there is plenty of literature available on the Internet for you to research.

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5.4

Provide clear and considered feedback on the effectiveness of behaviour management strategies to inform policy review and development As someone who works in direct contact with children, but who does not have the same level of preparatory work and marking to do as the teacher, you are in a good position to be able to consider the effectiveness of the school's behaviour management strategies, and to be able to feed back to policy-makers about this.

In most cases of individual behaviour management, you will either be present at a child's behaviour support review, or you will have access to, or be expected to read, their behaviour support plan, so that you have full knowledge of what that child's targets are, and how they are supposed to work towards them.

You will therefore be able to evaluate first-hand the effects of each child's behaviour support plan, and whether or not it has been or is being successful. The measures of success may be quite slim and subtle, and this is why your viewpoint, which is very 'up-close-and-personal', is important; not everyone will be able to see, or will have the opportunity to observe the improved behaviour, particularly if it is becoming so by tiny increments.

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Feedback about behaviour management.

Noticing improvements is essential if you are to praise the child for his or her better behaviour, so it should be part of the way in which you work, even when a policy review is not being undertaken by the school.

When you deliver feedback about the effectiveness of behaviour management strategies, it will be more effective and will have greater impact if it is well-structured, carefully thought-out, and easy to access. Rational and critical thinking is essential when it comes to reviewing strategies and inputting into policies, because delivering feedback that is not well-thought-out and which is unhelpful, is likely to result in your opinion on the matter being undervalued.

The best way to provide this kind of feedback if you are asked for your individual opinion is to initially construct a simple table or form headed with:

Strategy Effective or not?

Reasoning Examples

By considering your evaluation in this measured, template-based way, you make it easier to communicate the ideas you have had through both writing and discussion with staff, because you have thought about it in a structured way beforehand.

After you have completed the table, you should most likely reorganise the feedback into long-hand writing, or into a verbal report to your line manager or the person who has requested the feedback, rather than simply handing them the table of your thinking.

If you are asked to work on the behaviour strategy alongside your class teacher and other members of staff, they may have different ways of approaching their evaluation. They may also have access to information around outcomes across the

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whole school, which will help them and you appreciate the successes and failures of the current strategy.

Did you know? The SEAL programme was used for about ten years across primary - and later, secondary - schools, because it was identified that children who suffered from social and emotional problems were less likely to succeed at school. It was found to be most effective at primary level, and less effective at secondary schools. It was a whole-school approach to social and emotional development, where projects were begun in school assemblies and worked on by classes.

Case Study Becka is a teaching assistant at a primary school where two of her own children attend. She is friends with several parents and knows their children from out of school, as well as having two of them in the Year 2 class she works in. One of the children in her class, Samuel, is going through a family break up at the moment, and his behaviour is beginning to show this. He has started pushing other children physically, when he wants to do something they are already doing, and this has caused some minor injuries and some class disruption. The teacher is not aware of Sam's family issues and thinks it is just because Sam is bored. Becka knows about Sam's problems at home, and the first time this behaviour happens, she asks the teacher if Sam can accompany her on some errands around the school. She doesn't tell the teacher about Sam's family issues, because she doesn't think this is appropriate. The teacher allows the errands, and it becomes a habit, where Sam causes a problem and then soon after, Becka comes up with something that can be done to remove him from the class for a while. Sam's behaviour gets continually worse, until one day he bites another child who wouldn't let him take her book. The teacher calls Sam's parents in to discuss the problem, and discovers that his parents are no longer together and that there has been some domestic violence involved in their break-up. Following the meeting with the parents, the teacher asks Becka to meet with her. She asks Becka why, when she knew what was happening in Sam's family, she had not flagged up the issues sooner. Becka says that she didn't think it was appropriate, as the information she had was because she was a friend of Sam's mum, but the teacher says that she should have given some indication of the issue, even if it wasn't the details, because it would have enabled the school to deal more appropriately with Sam's behaviour. The teacher also tells her that she had made a mistake in allowing Becka to take Sam off

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on errands because it was an inconsistent way to apply the rules, but she also says that Becka was in error in offering that, especially because she knew what was happening in Sam's home life.

Assessor Notes

• The teacher should not have allowed Becka to deal with Sam's inappropriate behaviour in the way she did, even not knowing the reasons why he was behaving that way.

• Sam's uncharacteristic violence should have been risk assessed and understood more quickly before it escalated.

• When the parents did not respond quickly to information sent home, the teacher should have followed up on the problem sooner.

• Becka should have indicated to the teacher that she had some confidential personal information about Sam's family, even if she did not say what that was, so that the teacher could approach the situation more quickly and effectively.