Context for joining Behaviour Hubs
New Leaf Inclusion Centre is a Pupil Referral Unit based in Walsall for pupils who have been excluded from mainstream school. We have over 70% pupils with SEN and many pupils have, or are in the process of, applying for an EHCP. Currently New Leaf Inclusion Centre is an “Inadequate” school based on an Ofsted inspection in September 2023. Historically, pupils have been allowed to set the culture here. They often chose to wander between lessons, disrupting the learning of others.
Behaviour challenges and goals
New Leaf has experienced many changes over the last few years, most notable has been the lack of leadership capacity with a new Headteacher (May 23) and a small leadership team. This has meant that areas for improvement were affected due to not being able to appropriately embed expectations to staff and pupils.
Previous leadership had invested time and training into developing a restorative approach towards behaviour management. Unfortunately, this had a detrimental effect on behaviour due to inconsistencies in boundaries being set and adjustments being made by staff to enable students to succeed. This reduced effective classroom-based behaviour management and created a system that failed to address the recurrent and escalating behaviours, leading to whole school disruption.
Solutions to behaviour challenges
In the Autumn term of 2023, we began adding capacity within the senior leadership team. Historically the SLT had been split across the school with an overall responsibility for behaviour, rewards etc. A deputy headteacher leading on behaviour and attitudes was appointed working with the Headteacher to identify improvements to behaviour across school. A more robust system of keyworkers, tutors, wellbeing and SEMH teams has allowed our pastoral leads a clear pathway for following up of issues within the year groups.
Training for has been thorough since September 2023 with weekly targeted training for staff which has had impact – sessions include ‘Team Teach’, emotion coaching and de-escalation. Work has also begun with an education psychologist who has supported staff with behaviour strategies. ‘Team Teach’ level 2 training has been provided for all staff in September 24 which will help with behaviour management and physical intervention.
Impact on behaviour
Pupils behaviour is improving at New Leaf but there is still a lot of work to be done. There are clear expectations for staff and pupils to follow and procedures in place ensuring this. Pupils often show low-level disruptive behaviour but are met with a consistent approach from all staff, this has led to a reduction of incidents with a particular focus on P3 + 4 which were identified as a “hotspot”. Staff training has had a focus on behaviour management with training sessions on de-escalation, emotion coaching and the anger cycle.
Behavioural incidents in the Autumn term were high with 195 incidents reported on SIMS in Autumn term, this significantly dropped by 27% to 152 in Spring term. Currently in summer there are 101 behavioural incidents, however, it is important to note that there are approximately 8 – 10 pupils more onsite than in the previous terms, which shows real progress.
Next steps on your behaviour journey
- Embed and implement consistently the new behaviour policy across school
- Train all staff to a level where they are confident in de-escalation and also spotting warning signs / triggers for behaviour allowing for preventative support rather than reactive
- Continue with the newly formed “Targeted Support” team who identify behaviours from the day before and create a culture in school of “making tomorrow a better day for the pupils”