Behaviour and Relationships Curriculum

Developing Future Citizens’

‘At Shefford Lower we aim to develop the whole child by teaching them to hold themselves to high standards of behaviour and individual values, meaning they are always respectful, responsible and ready to learn.’

Statement of Intent 

We recognise that achieving good behaviour takes constant and consistent effort and know that ensuring good behaviour in a classroom is an act of maintenance that only exists as long as you put effort into it.  Therefore, to ensure high levels of consistency across the school, we ensure that we constantly review our curriculum with the children so that our good habits don’t slip.  Our philosophy is to teach behaviour and values.

Introduction

Behaviour can be defined as any action performed by pupils or staff.  It includes conduct in class and all public areas, how members work, communicate, relax and interact, how they study, how they greet others, how they arrive in school, transition from one activity to another and all other areas of conduct.  This curriculum has been designed to show the beliefs and values we want from all members of our school community.

We develop children’s character through our behaviour curriculum ‘Developing Future Citizens’.  In order to build character and develop the whole child, we define the behaviours and habits that we expect students to demonstrate. We want to support our pupils to grow into adults who are polite, respectful and who put others before themselves. We believe that, as our children practise these behaviours over time, they become habits and social norms that positively shape how they feel about themselves and how other people perceive them.

Teaching the behaviour and relationships curriculum

The curriculum is taught explicitly alongside the traditional National Curriculum subjects. Children should learn the content of the curriculum so that they can recall the information and act upon it. At the start of each term, the behaviour curriculum is revisited with pupils and will continue to be reinforced throughout the year.  As with other curriculum content, this should be taught using explicit teaching. Teachers, teaching assistants and all adults based within our school community will also demonstrate these behaviours and ensure pupils have many opportunities to practise these (particularly in the first few days of each term). For example, a lining up order should be taught in the classroom but must be reinforced in different locations and times throughout the school day e.g. at lunchtime or playtime. It is expected that all pupils will know this content and it will be used by all adults across the school.

As Tom Bennett describes in ‘Running The Room’, the process for teaching behaviour explicitly is as follows -

1. Identify the routines you want to see
2. Communicate in detail your expectations
3. Practise the routines until everyone can do them
4. Reinforce, maintain and patrol the routines constantly

It is important that all staff know the details of this curriculum, teach it explicitly to pupils and continuously maintain these high standards. By doing so we support each other to create a culture where pupils feel safe and can learn in an optimised and supported environment, where teachers are free to teach and all children can be ready to learn.

As a ‘Walkthrus’ school we use techniques for Behaviour and Relationships that underpin positive routines for behaviour.

All members of our organisation understand that deciding on and enforcing our expectations for the classroom does not just apply at the start of the year. Sometimes, pupils need reminding of those expectations and through positive framing, we can reinforce our expectations and by rehearsing routines we ensure that they are known, understood and enacted consistently. 

 Adaptations 

While this curriculum is intended for all pupils to teach consistent expectations, it will be applied in different year groups or areas of the school depending on pupils ages and may be applied differently depending on pupils' SEND needs. For example, pupils who have autistic spectrum conditions may find it very uncomfortable to maintain eye contact with adults. Sensitivity must be applied at all times when teaching the behaviour curriculum and adaptations will be made if and when needed to support all learners to achieve. 

Behaviour Curriculum Content 

This curriculum content is to be covered in depth at the beginning of each year and term and then revisited regularly throughout the year. 

 Learning Behaviours 

• Children put their values into everything they do, along with strong learning behaviours to aim to be a 'Lion Learner' 
• Children know that pride should be taken in all that they do. 
• Children know that to achieve goals and make progress in their learning and that they must show determination and resilience. 
• Children know that active learners are engaged in their learning and show independence, collaboration, curiosity and enjoy being challenged. 

Behaviour Skills 

As with all aspects of learning, we recognise that some children may need extra opportunities, support and encouragement to be confident, to follow rules, boundaries and our behaviour expectations. At shefford Lower School we focus on the development of the whole child and employ many strategies to encourage these key skills. In terms of behaviour we recognise that Self - Regulation, Resilience, Collaboration and Applications of Values are fundamental in achieving this. We aim to work collaboratively within school and with partners to create a consistent approach between home and school and support the development of these skills. 

Our School Routines & Social Norms 

As a school we believe in consistency to support effective behaviour management and follow the below structures to ensure practice is consistent for all staff and children to foster the best learning environment and behaviour for learning.