The children's needs are at the heart of our provision. Our whole school community is committed to enabling children to become successful lifelong learners and happy, fulfilled adults who can make positive choices about their future.

To achieve this vision we must work as a community and that specifically involves ensuring that partnerships with parents and carers are strong. It is our shared belief that behaviour management is everyone’s concern and responsibility. Our aim is to ensure that strategies employed in school do not simply reward children for good behaviour and punish them for bad, but help them to learn from their mistakes and teach them how to make better choices should they find themselves in similar circumstances again.

Good behaviour management strategies teach children that they are in control and that the power to make a good or bad choice is within them and not something that they should look to someone else for. Every individual has the right to feel safe in school; this will happen when every individual takes responsibility for making the right choices.

Following careful research and in-depth dialogue with staff, we have adopted Restorative Approaches to behaviour management in school. Specialist training provided by Surrey Behaviour Support Services and our Educational Psychologist was completed this year by the whole staff team. Alongside this, Saxon Primary School’s Inclusion Manager supported the implementation of a complementary classroom strategy; her expertise was gained whilst working for Hackney Learning Trust as a Restorative Behaviour Management Specialist.

Restorative Approaches

Restorative approaches help to develop a happier school where the focus is on learning not conflict. Your child should enjoy coming to school because they feel safe and respected and they know that when things go wrong adults will be there to help them put it right. Restorative approaches encourage children to think about how their behaviour has affected others. It helps children to develop respect, responsibility and truth telling.

If your child has been involved in conflict they will be asked to take part in a restorative conversation which will be led by an adult. This is a conversation with everyone involved to discuss what is happening, look at who has been affected or upset, decide how it can be put right and find a way forward.

They will be asked:

a)    What happened?

b)    What were you thinking when it happened?

c)     What do you think now?

d)    Who has been affected or upset by this and how?

e)    What needs to happen to put this right?

We might also ask:

a)    What would you think if this happened to you?

b)    What could you do differently next time?

c)     What other choice could you have made?

d)    How can you make sure this does not happen again?

Restorative language

Language is key to restorative approaches and you will have noticed that the questions above are framed in a respectful way. It is our expectation that everyone in school will use this language whether children are speaking to other children, children are speaking to adults or adults are speaking to other adults. 

It has been widely proven that Restorative approaches develop truth telling, responsibility, accountability, empathy, emotional literacy, conflict resolution skills and a positive learning environment. If you are interested in learning more please visit www.restorativejustice4schools.co.uk

To support children in making the right choices in the classroom Stay on Green has been introduced and your child should be able to talk to you about it confidently. This is not a separate strategy to restorative approaches but a complementary one. It is underpinned by the same principle, that children should learn to moderate their own behaviour, but takes a closer look at individual choices that result in conflict with expectations for learning rather than conflict with another person. 

Stay on Green – A Restorative Consequence Hierarchy

Each class has a colour chart in their classroom: red, yellow, blue, green, bronze, silver and gold. Everyday each child’s name begins on green. The aim is to stay on green all day. If children make good choices about their behaviour they will stay on green and have the opportunity to move their name to bronze, silver or gold. By staying on green they earn a green point for their class.

Staying on green means that a child has made good choices all day. It is a significant achievement to maintain green behaviour and children should not expect to receive a bronze, silver or gold sticker other than in exceptional circumstances.

Achieving bronze, silver or gold results in a special sticker. If your child receives a gold sticker, they will be asked to see a member of the Senior Leadership Team to talk about how they achieved their award. Their name will be written in the gold book and they will be presented with a gold leaf to put on to the tree on display in the main hall.

If children make poor choices about their behaviour their name will be moved to the blue or yellow warning. This is a reminder that they need to change their behaviour and when they start making better choices their name will be moved back to green.

If children continue to make poor choices their name may be moved to red. If this happens there will be a consequence and they will be asked to move to the classroom’s designated quiet area to complete a reflection sheet. Should a child’s name be placed on red for a second time in one day, they will complete the reflection sheet and their learning in a buddy classroom. Once back in their own classroom they can begin to work their way back to green. Reflection sheets will always be talked through with the class teacher, this is a restorative discussion.

Should a child’s name be moved to red three times in one day they will be asked to speak to a phase leader or member of the Senior Leadership Team.

If your child’s name is moved to blue or yellow the class teacher may not raise this with you as it could mean that choices being made are not overly concerning. Only when behaviour causes significant concern, will a teacher approach you to discuss issues. You will be informed if your child has their name moved to red three times in one day.

All staff members are aware of Stay on Green and will be able to award green points to children throughout the day. When children are spoken to they will be told that they are making good green choices or reminded that they need to think how they could start to make green choices.

Opportunities to celebrate good learning and behaviour

Every day there is an assembly. In addition to the usual content, children who have earned gold leaves will also be celebrated and invited to display their leaf on the tree in the main hall.  Their names will appear in our school newsletter and gold leaves will be taken from the display and sent home at the end of each half term. There is also a celebration assembly which is an opportunity to celebrate learning that children have achieved particularly well in. Their names also appear in the newsletter.

Headteacher Awards are presented in end of term assemblies. This is another opportunity to celebrate the exceptional achievements of children in school with one child per class per term being nominated by their teacher.