Following our staff training day today we have made some modifications to our Behaviour Policy. We have put more detail in the section about the management of behaviour in the playground and tightened up some of our procedures.
Over the Christmas break Ofsted changed their guidance on behaviour and we have altered our policy to take account of these changes. Ofsted have made clear exactly what they define as disruptive behaviour and we have used these definitions to help clarify our expectations.
In line with Ofsted’s revised guidance ten minutes detention will be given to children for the following reasons:
- Breaking the school rules
- Not bringing in their P.E. kit
- Not completing their work to the teachers satisfaction during a lesson
- Not returning their homework on time
- Being late to school (KS2 only) – 2 x number of minutes late ( in line with Attendance Policy)
- Not having their Reading Diary signed by their parent/carer weekly
We do hope that you take the time to read our revised policy so that we can continue to work together to ensure that your children achieve to the highest level.
Dear Ms Papas,
I understand these rules are in place for very good reason.
You may feel a ‘but’ coming on…
BUT,
I do hope that these ‘rules’ will be applied at the careful judgement of the teachers.
Being a parent that pays a great deal of time (and rightly so) to my childrens education and support at home… If I were to (for example) forget to sign one of my children’s reading diary, I would not expect my children to be punished. Especially as their teachers know how much we read at home and of course it is not their fault if I forget.
Or if (for example) the child minder forget to take in homework, after my daughter and I spend good quality time together completing it, I’d hope that seen as the teacher knows very well that we always complete homework, I would hope my daughter would not be punished.
The policy says the children are to take responsibility for their ‘own’ actions. At a young age; homework, reading diaries being signed etc are not their own actions.
Do the parents you are trying to reach with these rules, care about a 10minute detention? I’d be horrified, but I’d guess I’m not the parent you need to reach.
I was late to school once, by no fault of my daughters, and my daughter (at the age of 4)Cried and cried through fear of being punished at school! I explained to My daughter that whilst it is not okay to be late, sometimes things happen (like the traffic you can see) that we cannot help. And the school will be understanding as they know that you are usually on time. Needless to say, this did not sooth her much. (It’s a good job the detentions don’t start for lateness until KS2) I’m not sure I’m happy with that much stress.
(Saying that, it made sure I walked to the school in the future instead of driving! Serves me right really for driving, but you get my point?)
I understand these rules are in place for good reason. And reading the policy, i do approve. But on some occasions I’d like reassurance that common sense is applied.
I also wonder why notification to parents on detentions is not in advance? There is likely a practical reason behind that. But I just wonder what that is?
Hoping this goes to you instead of an immediate post.
Do let me know your thoughts.
Happy New Year.
Bianca
Strongly Agree, having a daughter in year 1 myself i have qiuet ofton questioned myself about the rules regulated at heavers farm as regards to the late detention that does not commence until KS2, having communicated my situaution with my daughters teacher and the school, and as Bianca did state that some things do happen which the children can not encounter for for example the bridge on tennison road being closed for up to a year has caused great disruption for myself as this is the easiest route that i find suitable to use
to get my daughter to school today having being the first day the brigde has closed i never even attempted to take that route as the letter handed out to the school had mention nothing about a pedsetrian pass, even though my the late detention does not yet affect my daughter i often worry about this as Bianca stated things like this should be taken into consideration,i would like to think that heavers farm would work with parents who are travelling from far or who experience consistent punctation problems instead of implementing unecessary stress on not just the parents but the children aswell. With regards to the homework again my daughter is not of an age to sit down and do her homework un-assisted so i think children of an older age this should be more aimed at, as children of a younger age are aware of this responsibilty if i do not have the capacity i have not managed to get my childs homework in on time then i think it should be me thats punished not the child i dont think that its fair that younger children are punished in this way as a lot of their responsibilty falls onto their parents. I think its a good idea to implement such rules but your not looking at the bigger picture or being amicable if i must say in doing so. Also i must state that you stress at the fact of the PE kits, that are not even being looked after on the school premises and teachers are not checking to see if the children have there correct clothing my daughter was sent home with no PE jumper and sometimes even her school jumper a common mistake yes but happening far too many times.
Are you working with parents really or just dictating to them?????
Hello Bianca,
Thank you for taking the time to read our revised policy and for your considered comments. Of course these ‘rules’ will applied with a liberal amount of common sense, I hope! I take on board your comment about the reading diary and whose responsibility it is to sign it. I will take this to our next staff meeting and discuss it further with the staff. I appreciate that in our younger classes that it might not be the child’s responsibility that their homework is not completed on time or that they are late to school. The teachers know when these things are a ‘one off’ and would deal with this accordingly.
However, we tread a fine line between trying to instil good life skills in our pupils and being overly firm with our boundaries. I would not like to think that we cause anxiety in our pupils by having rules in place and trying to enforce them. I think that parents have a role to play here in ensuring that their children are clear about the rules, understand that there might be consequences if they break them but to reassure their child that there are circumstances in which rules might need to be broken. I know for instance that we are about to be faced with the closure of the Tennison Bridge, a situation beyond all of our control. We will find ways to support our families in getting to school as best they can and will understand that for this period that lateness may be unavoidable. This is the case every time there is a local incident which prevents the buses running on time or if there is a traffic incident which slows people down. In this circumstance we do not issue any late marks and do not penalise anyone for being late.
We do not currently notify parents about detentions in advance as in our experience it is best to give the detention as closely as possible to the time at which a school rule was broken. This is because as many of our pupils are quite young, they make a clearer link between the sanction and the incident/broken rule.
I hope that this goes some way towards answering your questions.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
Best wishes
Susan
Hello Chanel,
I do like to think that we work with parents!
We do understand about the closure of Tennison Bridge. As soon as we heard about the intended closure of the bridge Cleo contacted the contractors (in Ireland) and set up a meeting with them to discuss how best to support our staff and families travelling into school. They have yet to confirm a date for this meeting. To date, we have not had very clear information from the contractors about when and what will be closed and for how long. We appreciate that this is going to cause significant difficulties for many of our families. Of course, we will not penalise children for being late due to this.
I know that it might seem that we are punishing the children for their parent’s behaviour especially when it comes to homework and reading, however, in our experience many parents find this sanction helpful as it motivates their child to complete their homework without having to ‘nag’! It is important for children to get into good habits from an early age and by making this clear and explicit right from the start, enables our children to develop excellent life skills. We find that if parents are worried about their child getting a detention that they make sure that their child is on time, has done their homework and is well prepared for school. We do understand that there are exceptional circumstances and common sense is used in this situation. However, if this is a ongoing issue, with either a child or a parent, it is our responsibility to try and address it the best way that we can.
I know it is frustrating when the uniform and P.E. kit that you sent in to school does not get returned. This is a problem that we have yet to find a satisfactory answer to. We ask that all uniform is named and staff encourage the children to return their kit to the correct P.E. bag. However, over the duration of a busy school day articles of uniform can go amiss.
I would hope that we are fully aware of the big picture, in all its dimensions!
Best wishes
Susan
Thank you for your speedy response Susan.
I do understand, and my message was not intended to criticize. I was hoping for exactly what you explained and that was reassurance that you take each childs circumstances into account.
You have confirmed you do.
Thank you, I will do my best to guide the children with your rules in mind.
Happy New Year.
Bianca
Hi Chanel,
Thank you for supporting some of my comments. I often feel like the only one who is willing to speak up.
As long as we continue to communicate with the school, we can better avoid our children being punished for our actions!
Better still, we had better have a good read of the rules! (There are lots! My daughter told me off for ‘running’ in the house last week! Haha)
It’s a learning curve. When they are teens, it’ll be a whole lot more difficult 🙂
As for the missing school jumpers or kit, yes it is frustrating. I try to encourage mine to be responsible for putting their jumpers in their book bag as soon as they take it off.
(It has started to work, I’ve seen my daughter scrambling under desks at the end of a day looking for her jumper, i have also witnessed my son freely flinging it over his shoulder before delving amongst the dinosaurs)
Thanks again 🙂
Happy New Year to you.
Bianca
Thank you Bianca,
I didn’t take your comments as criticism at all! I thought it was really good of you to bring these issues up so that some of the questions that some parents might be thinking about, are answered. I hope that your comments encourage other parents to add their thoughts.
All the best,
Susan
as far as im concerned its not rock it science organise your time and you wont be late what’s the big deal
Yes I agree, it is important to organise your time. It isn’t rocket science.
The issue I was discussing was not time management. It was; when ‘unforeseen circumstances’ occur, whether these will be considered.
Bianca
Yeah i stronglagree and i hope that due to my comment you dont think that i am parent whos child receives regular detention for homework or being late as too date i sont think she has receive one, but there may be a time where it does occur and yes its not rocket science to organise yourself @misstinagoldsmith however its not always possiblle thanks.
And yes bianca you are right it wasnt until i saw your own i’d thought i’d comment encouragemnt goes along way and i agree with everything your saying, hopefully we can work together for the benefit of our chilldren.
Chanel
Apologies for the amount of spelling mistakes there seems to be a problem when typing into the box unsure whether its the website or its just me experiencing this
Soorryy