Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe.

Our vision for behaviour at Longlands

The staff at Longlands Primary School are committed to the notion that where challenging behaviour exists, it does so as a conscious choice made by children as a response to a range of different circumstances and factors. We take the view that a child should not be defined by their behaviour alone and that our role is to support children in making positive choices that positively affect themselves and those around them.

The school has developed policies and procedures with the support of leading experts in the field of behaviour within schools and we are committed to developing both our staff’s professional practice and children’s understanding of both action and consequence as part of the school community. We believe in taking a restorative approach towards behaviour and not simply a punitive system that promotes sanctions without encouraging self-reflection.  

The school has chosen to undertake this approach as part of an ongoing project focused on developing children's self-esteem and mental wellbeing. Recent world events and disruption to children’s school experiences due to the COVID-19 global pandemic have meant that the need for all children to feel safe and supported within a nurturing and well-structured community are more important than ever. Our goal in terms of behaviour at Longlands is to continue to move forward with an approach which nurtures positive relationships with our learners and strives to develop positive and empathetic members of our school and the wider community.

Our school rules

To ensure that all children at the school are able to have a clear understanding about the rules which we as a school community value, our rules have been reimagined to encompass three concise statements: Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Safe. These statements form the starting point for our conversations with children about their behaviour and examples of what each may look like at Longlands are as follows:

Addressing poor behaviour

Even though the school believes strongly in a restorative approach to tackling poor behaviour choices, we do acknowledge that, sometimes, suitable sanctions may need to be applied. To ensure that all members of our community have a clear understanding of what constitutes poor behaviour, we have produced a table of behaviours which is broken down into four stages.  A copy of this can be accessed following the links at the bottom of this page. Behaviours in each of the four stages may be addressed in the following ways:

• Stage 1: Behaviour incidences which can be addressed using a drive-by conversation or use of the school’s micro-script and require reminding of relevant school rule (Ready, Respectful and Safe).
• Stage 2: Behaviour incidences that would automatically trigger a restorative conversation to be held in the child’s own time (normally break or lunchtime) and may require a further conversation with a parent or carer at the end of the school day.
• Stage 3: Recurrent and persistent behaviour choices from Stages 1 or 2 that require the Class Teacher (possibly with Phase Leader) meeting with parents/carers. At this stage the school would consider the need for a Behaviour Support Plan and a Managed Timeout (of class) may also be necessary.
• Stage 4: Any serious incident which disrupts which endangers the physical safety or mental wellbeing of learners or staff and requires. Incidents at Stage 4 will automatically be dealt with by a member of the school’s Senior Leadership Team and parents/carers informed and asked to attend school to discuss the matter.