Behaviour Management Policy
We believe that children and adults flourish best in an ordered environment in which everyone
knows what is expected of them and children are free to develop their play and learning without
fear of being hurt or hindered by anyone else. We aim to work towards a situation in which
children can develop self-discipline and self-esteem in an atmosphere of mutual respect and
encouragement.
Agreed practice:
A named member of staff will be responsible for behaviour management issues
Rules governing the conduct of the group and the behaviour of the children will be discussed and agreed within the playgroup and explained to all newcomers, both children and adults.
All adults in the playgroup will ensure that the rules are applied consistently, so that the children have the security of knowing what to expect and can build up useful patterns of behaviour.
All adults to provide a positive model for the children with regard to friendliness, care and courtesy.
Adults praising and endorsing desirable behaviour such as kindness and a willingness to share etc.
Physical intervention will only be used to manage a child’s behaviour if it is necessary to prevent personal injury to the child, other children or an adult, to prevent serious damage to property or in what would be regarded as exceptional circumstances. Any occasion where physical intervention is used to manage a child’s behaviour will be recorded on a “Significant Accident/Incident Record” form and reported to the parents on the same day.(See Accident and Incident Policy)
Adults will be aware that some kinds of behaviour may arise from a child's special needs.
When children behave in unacceptable ways:
Discipline is achieved by verbal reprimand and, failing that, “time out” and/or the withdrawal of privileges (such as bikes), but the threat is usually sufficient.
No child is humiliated and no child is "naughty", only the action she/he has undertaken is unacceptable.
Physical punishment, such as smacking or shaking, will be neither used nor threatened.
Children who misbehave will be given one-to-one adult support in seeing what was wrong and working towards a better pattern.
Any behaviour problems will be handled in a developmentally appropriate fashion, respecting individual children's level of understanding, maturity and special needs.
In the case of a biting incident refer to the Biting Policy.
Parents will be informed and consulted about challenging behaviour involving their child at the end of the session, either directly or, if someone other than the parent collects the child, by telephone. Parents/carers of children significantly affected by another child’s behaviour will either be spoken to on the phone or at the end of the session. An accident/incident reporting form will be filled in for each child to be signed by parent/carer. See Accident/Incident Procedure.
Recurring problems will be tackled by the whole playgroup, in partnership with the child's parents, using objective observation records to establish an understanding of the cause.
The policy was adopted by Laleham Church Playgroup at a meeting on......17th April 2018
Signed on behalf of Laleham Church Playgroup...........................................
Louise Hawthorn is responsible for behaviour management issues