
Mrs Louis White and I have been thinking a lot about behaviour in school over the last few weeks. Generally, behaviour is very good. However, pockets of pupils are not following the golden rules and behaving as respectfully as they can. Our Golden rules are simple and embedded across the school.
1. We care about and look after each other.
2. We are honest and trustworthy.
3. We respect and care for our environment.
4. We try our best and are proud of everything we do and learn.
We also have our school values which are very strong and we frequently reward the children for displaying the school values.

Our current Postive Ethos and Behaviour Policy is on our school website and we are going to be making some changes to this policy. We are currently seeking the views of pupils- via the school council- and would like to seek the views of Parents/ Carers as well.
We currently have a system of rewards and sanctions. Golden time is the reward at the end of every week and the children earn this time for displaying positive behaviour.
Many schools have moved away from this model and I would like to do the same. In my view, many children are not motivated by Golden Time and every week numerous children sit in lost golden time for 5,10, 15, 20+ minutes to reflect on their behaviour throughout the week. For the children who behave well, they have 30 minutes of free fun time - that really should be focused on learning. As a school we have lots of fun activities entwined in our curriculum- do we need Goldent time as well? Is Golden time intrinsically motivating for pupils? I feel this is an outdated system and would like to seek more views and opinions before we rewrite the policy. If you have any thoughts, please send them to jfellowes@abbeysprimary.org
Sadly, my time in school is still being taken up dealing with pupils' behaviour online that is escalating in school. Teasing one another because they have lost a game the night before is not acceptable. Kicking one another off of games, swearing and not being inclusive online could all be classed as cyberbullying and Parents/ Carers need to strictly monitor their children's online activity.
In school, we use this chart to ascertain which steps to take to deal with such situations.

It is important to limit the amount of time your child spends online. We are experiencing more and more social difficulties because pupils cannot communicate well with one another. I firmly believe that this is because they play more online than they do in person. This means the social interaction skills that should be embedded in Primary school are not.
Let's keep an eye on what they are up to! Consciously, at least once a week, get them to show you their games, their friends and their conversations- it will make a difference.

BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS SCHOOL STAFF
Over the last couple of weeks there have been a few instances where parents/ carers haven't spoken respectfully towards school staff. Whether this be teachers, leaders or the office team, it is unacceptable to behave in a threatening way towards anyone. We are all human beings, and sometimes we may get things wrong or your child may feel they have been treated unfairly. It is important that you tell us this in the most appropriate way so that it can be dealt with.
We have a Code of Conduct for visitors on the school site - this includes parents/ carers. This is on our school website for you to read. This policy outlines actions the school is able to take should staff feel threatened by the behaviour of visitors. It is important that you read and understand this policy.