School Values
Our school has six values, chosen as a staff in October 2021, that thread through all approaches to life at Tetney. Staff look out for pupils demonstrating these values and reward them accordingly.
At Tetney Primary School, we have one rule - that our values are upheld by our entire school community. These values are regularly celebrated and taught as part of our everyday lives. It is the responsibility of all staff to uphold these values and promote good behaviour.
Courage
If poor behaviour occurs, we know we need to make changes to allow the children to improve their actions. Children are spoken to about our values by the class teacher; they are encouraged to have the courage to explain what is happening to cause the behaviour. Children are given a “time in” to talk about what we can to do help improve their behaviour. Teachers monitor pupils closely and discussions are held as a staff team around how we can best support them to improve their behaviour. The headteacher and parents may be involved to ensure we are all working together to understand and support. Outside agencies may also be contacted to support, through our school SENDCo, Becki Ashley- Irving. In these cases, a PSP (Pastoral Support Plan) may be sought, to talk about what is going well in school and what our worries are. These meetings take place every 8 weeks to ensure support is in place from school, home and any external agencies. A risk assessment may also be created to ensure the pupil does not harm themselves or others.
Courage is having the bravery and resilience in order to do something - for example, completing a set of questions during a lesson, climbing some equipment on the playground that looked a bit scary or putting up a hand to suggest an answer.
Inclusion
We are aware that all pupils have experienced a trauma through the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years. This has made it more difficult for children to regulate their behaviour. This is also the case for children who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We are aware that all behaviour is a type of communication; through use of our Wellbeing Framework and Restorative Practice, we are able to teach our pupils the skills to develop their ability to regulate their behaviour and improve their wellbeing.
Inclusion is how our pupils include others in their daily lives, regardless of difference - for example, ensuring everyone gets a turn during group work, listening to the opinion of their partner during Maths or playing games with their friends during break.
Integrity
If an incident has involved another child, they may be included in restorative conversations to repair the peer relationship. All staff wear lanyards to remind them of the prompts for these conversations. Pupils involved may be asked to support in what needs to happen next to ensure their relationship is restored. All pupils are aware of our values and these are praised regularly via Class Dojo. We expect parents to also uphold these values at home, talk to us if they are concerned and support children to achieve through good attendance and use of restorative practice at home. Ensure your child is calm before speaking to them about their behaviour. Talk through what happened. Talk about how this may have had consequences for others. Talk about what needs to happen next. Ensure they know they are unconditionally loved - it is the behaviour which is bad, not them.
Integrity is knowing to do the right thing when needed and without being asked - for example, helping a peer with some work, picking up litter or holding a door open for a visitor.
Kindness
To develop positive wellbeing, staff ensure pupils receive the following support:
- Greeting each morning;
- Feelings check in – using the Inside Out characters, each class has progressively more feelings to pick from and share with their teachers;
- 5 Ways to Wellbeing – including daily golden mile, Action for Happiness calendar, giving Dojos to peers they have seen upholding our values and positive reflection at the end of each day;
- Following our Jigsaw PSHE scheme, which has a wellbeing theme; and
- Some pupils require additional support - this may be through restorative breaks in our nest room or through nurture groups with our ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant).
Kindness is doing something generous to someone without getting anything in return - for example, tidying away someone else's work at the end of a lesson, helping someone from another class if they fell over at break or letting a peer go ahead in a queue.
Respect
“Discipline really means to teach, not to punish” D. Siegal.
So through use of the Three R’s from Beacon House; REGULATE, RELATE, REASON. We allow the children to be able to understand the consequences of their behaviour, we ensure they know the behaviour was bad not them as a person and we allow them to understand what needs to happen next.
Respect is how our pupils consider the feelings, wishes or rights of others, and celebrating the fact that we are all different - for example, accepting the perspective of another during a discussion, listening to a staff member when they are talking or turn taking.
Unity
Restorative practice repairs the harm done to relationships, over and above the need for assigning blame and giving punishments. It fosters an awareness of how others have been affected by actively engaging everyone and separating the deed from the doer. This is done WITH the children and not TO them.
Unity is how our pupils work as a team - for example, with their partner during a lesson, as a group during sports events or as a class during whole-school work.