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Positive Behaviour Policy

Ethos:

At Chingford House Nursery we believe that a positive and consistent approach to managing behaviour is crucial. We do not want to react negatively to situations, but rather be proactive in managing and supporting children to self-regulate their behaviour and manage their feelings.
Most importantly we want the children to have the space to grow, develop and learn about themselves and their place in society. In order to achieve our objectives, we place a strong emphasis on the Fundamental British Values of:

  • Democracy

  • Rule of Law

  • Individual Liberty

  • Mutual Respect & Tolerance

These values are often seen within Personal, Social & Emotional Development and Understanding the World (Early Years Foundation Stage).

 

The importance of our Positive Behaviour Policy:

Children are given clear boundaries so that they understand acceptable ways to behave. In turn, they are praised for their efforts, which promotes a positive sense of self; this then inspires a positive environment where children flourish. Developing a culture of mutual respect between staff and children, and between the children and their peers, empowers the children to negotiate and resolve many of their own issues.

 

Current Legislation:

Chingford House Nursery is dedicated to advocating and implementing guidelines in relation to managing, supporting and promoting positive behaviour. The nursery adheres to the:

Early Years Foundation Stage (2021)
SEND Code of Practice (2014)

 

Working together to create a positive environment:

In drawing up this Positive Behaviour policy the staff have agreed that the following are conducive to an effective and consistent approach in supporting and managing children’s behaviour:

  • Staff have undertaken a positive behaviour management course on Noodle Now, and have had training as part of staff meetings in which various strategies and approaches are discussed and shared as best practice

  • Any behaviour that is deemed inappropriate, hurtful, harmful or dangerous is recorded and documented, and parents are informed of the incident at the end of the day.

  • Working in partnership with the parents is key to consistency of a shared approach. We work together to support the children so that they understand and accept the expectation of boundaries both at home and at nursery; to this end, we share the ‘Golden Rules’ with the parents with the view that they may be able to incorporate some of them at their own home. Some parents have also recreated our 'behaviour rocket' at home.

  • When addressing a group of children as a whole, staff will say “1,2,3!” and the children will respond, “Look at me!” This means that the children will stop what they are doing and look and listen to the adult (this is used throughout the whole of the nursery, except for the Baby room).

 

Named Person:

Yolande Farrell (Manager) is the named person for the behaviour management. Yolande is responsible for devising and implementing strategies as well as advising and supporting staff. Yolande will attend relevant training where appropriate and will cascade information down to the rest of the team and will be responsible for ensuring that the staff are kept abreast of current issues. Yolande also liaises with staff and parents where there are recurring incidents of inappropriate behaviour; alongside this, where deemed necessary, Yolande will liaise with other professionals or signpost families to services which may also offer support.

 

Encouraging positive behaviour:

At Chingford House Nursery we want children to develop a ‘positive sense of self’. We therefore create an environment in which they are continually praised and rewarded for their successes.

 

We foster positive interactions throughout the nursery; every child is respected and their differences and individuality are embraced, as children learn from the respect that we show them.

 

We believe that children can contribute to a positive environment by being involved in creating the ‘rules’; being involved can have a significant impact on how they  behave. We reinforce positive behaviour by displaying photos of children depicting good practice; they are, therefore, a visual reminder for the children.

 

Staff support the children in taking responsibility for their own behaviour and actions. As the children mature, we feel that they should learn to understand what is deemed inappropriate behaviour and the consequences that occur. It is imperative that we stress that this is done in a way which will not demean the children but show them that positive behaviour reaps praise and rewards and negative behaviour can incur sanctions.

 

Partnerships with Parents/Carers and significant Adults:

At Chingford House Nursery we recognise that parents are the children’s primary carers and educators and that we gain a tremendous amount of knowledge about the children from them.

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It is important that the parents and staff work together to consider strategies in supporting children’s behaviour.  The Key Person and parents will discuss if there are any changes at home or in the nursery which may be worrying or distressing the child (e.g. a new sibling or transition to a new room); it is important to identify and ascertain reasons or triggers why a child may be behaving as they are. Working in partnership with the parents will ensure that agreed strategies are devised to support the child both at home and at nursery.

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Children learn from the adults around them so it is important that staff and parents model appropriate behaviour. Aggressive, abusive, racist, sexist or homophobic behaviour will not be tolerated at the nursery and, if encountered, the person will be asked to leave the premises. Offensive language or swearing in the presence of children is not acceptable. If a child’s language is offensive, the Key Person will discuss appropriate action with the parents/carers.

 

Procedure:

From time to time children may display inappropriate behaviour; this is a normal part of child development. However, if behaviour is a concern, it will be discussed with the staff in that room and the decision may be made for the child to become one of the ‘focus children’ so that the staff can monitor the child in more detail.

 

Where necessary, Yolande will advise the staff to carry out specific Antecedent, Behaviour & Consequence (ABC) observations: this may give us an indication of why the child may be behaving in a particular way (looking for triggers, rather than just the resultant behaviour). Inappropriate behaviour will be discussed with the child at the time of the incident using appropriate language that the children can understand; we do not use labelling words such as “silly,” “stupid,” “naughty,” or “bad “or any other words which may undermine a child’s self-esteem and confidence.

 

Depending on the age of the child (apart from the under twos), the general procedure is as follows:

  • If the child displays inappropriate behaviour the member of staff will highlight the reason why the behaviour is not acceptable and will ask the child to stop

  • If the child continues, the member of staff will remind them that is not the agreed behaviour of the golden rules and that their name may need to go down the behaviour chart

  • If the behaviour continues, the child will be moved to play somewhere else and their name will be moved down the chart

  • If the behaviour escalates, or the child is not listening to the adult, then they will be seated away from the play and given ‘thinking time’; this allows the child to reflect on their behaviour (with the support of the staff using questions and prompts)

  • If staff feel that the child will benefit from some time away, the child will go to the office to be with the Owner or Manager for 5-10 minutes or until they feel ready to go back to their room to behave appropriately.

  • Children always have the opportunity for their names to be moved back up the chart through a positive change in their behaviour, good listening or working well with others. Children will be praised for their efforts of improving their behaviour.

  • If there have been any changes at home which might be a reason for the change in the child’s behaviour the Key Person will plan how to support the child through 'Focused Next Steps' and will make arrangements to discuss progress or further concerns at the end of the month.

 

Restraining children:

In line with the Early Years Foundation Stage, staff understand that there is no place for corporal punishment, or mental or emotional abuse in managing children’s behaviour. If staff use corporal punishment or harm a child outside the bounds of restraining for the child’s safety, then this will lead to an investigation and disciplinary action.

 

Where appropriate and deemed necessary, staff may need to restrain a child; ‘restrain’ is termed as to ‘prevent’ or to ‘control’. Therefore, in terms of restraining children and for the purpose of this policy, we have considered the following:

‘ staff will physically intervene in an incident to prevent, control or resolve a situation if they feel that the child is a danger to themselves, others or the environment’.

The incident will be recorded and parents will be informed at the end of the day.

 

Bullying:

‘Bullying’ is not a word that we want associated with Chingford House Nursery, whether it is with children, staff or parents. The Anti-Bullying Alliance defines bullying as ‘the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power’. We strongly feel that bullying does not have a place at Chingford House Nursery and we will make every effort to ensure that is the case. Please see our Anti-bullying policy for further information.

 

EXTERNAL SUPPORT:

There may be instances where, after employing different strategies, there still may be concerns; the Key Person or Yolande will ask for consent from the parents to seek advice from the Early Help Team or to signpost parents to other services that may be able to help, i.e., Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). These services help the nursery and parents to devise further strategies or to help the family away from the nursery.

 

Sharing the Policy:

This policy, along with other policies, are included in the Induction Process and are introduced to new staff, volunteers and students. The policy is discussed at staff meetings to ensure that staff are fully conversant with the procedures and are implementation.

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We want to share some of the contents of this policy with the children too. Pre-school children work in partnership with the staff to devise the ‘golden rules’; as such staff use opportunities such as circle time or 1-1 to discuss, remind and reinforce the expectations that we have agreed as to how children should behave.

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Policy revised by: Yolande Farrell Manager

Signed off by: Zarkar Akhtar Owner

Revised: March 2023 Date of next review: March 2025

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