Context for joining Behaviour Hubs
St Peter’s Primary School is a small school in the coastal town of Scarborough. The school is rooted in the Catholic faith and is at the heart of the local community. We provide the very best education for children aged 4-11 and help to spread the good news of the Gospel. Most of the children who attend come from the town of Scarborough and the surrounding villages. Children come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic diversities. We have a growing number of pupils with SEN, including children with significant needs and EHCPs. The school is well supported by parents and the community with a strong PTA. The school was judged to be ‘GOOD’ in all areas during its most recent OFSTED inspection in March 2024.
School Characteristics:
- Number of pupils currently on roll – 209
- % of pupils FSM – 8% (well below average)
- % of pupils receiving SEND support – 15% (above average)
- % of pupils with EHC plan – 5% (above average)
- % of pupils EAL – 13% (above average)
Behaviour challenges and goals
The main goals from joining the Behaviour Hubs programme were to develop a clear vision for behaviour and school culture at St Peter’s that is understood by all stakeholders, where routines and aspects of behaviour are underpinned by high expectations, and rewards and consequence are communicated to all.
One of the biggest challenges was the inconsistency in the way staff dealt with behaviour in school. Behaviour was viewed by some staff members as an aspect of school life that the senior leadership team should deal with. This had a negative impact on the ability of the senior leaders to have strategic oversight of the school because they were often called to deal with behaviour. Another challenge that we had was developing the parent-school partnership. Some parents have a very strong view of how we should deal with behaviour, especially for those pupils with SEN, and these views at times contradict the school positive behaviour policy. Because of the change in demographic and the increase in SEN, the school were experiencing a large amount of high-level behaviour incidents. Ensuring staff had the relevant CPD to support our most vulnerable children with their behaviour was a challenge.
Solutions to behaviour challenges
The behaviour Hubs programme has been vital in supporting the school to overcome the challenges. Following the virtual module – creating systems and social norms – and by visiting our Lead School, we were able to address our concerns about consistency.
We revisited the school positive behaviour policy and amended it to include clear consequences for unacceptable behaviour and wrote a behaviour curriculum for the school, which clearly outlines the expectations and how staff can teach the children positive behaviours and help them to succeed and make progress. We included a consequence ladder, which was used at our Lead School, to inform staff, pupils and parents of what would happen if their child showed unacceptable behaviour. We also included examples what acceptable behaviour was throughout the school day, e.g. lunchtime, on the playground, in the dinner hall.
The updated positive behaviour policy and behaviour curriculum was shared with all staff and discussed during staff training because the document was very clear about expectations, consequences and roles and responsibilities staff felt empowered to be able to deal with the variety of behaviour across the school. The updated behaviour routines were shared with the pupils alongside the consequence ladder so pupils knew what was expected and what would happen if they did not follow the school routines. Posters were displayed in classrooms and shared areas for staff to refer to and consistent language is now being used with the pupils. This has had a significant impact on behaviour across the school.
Alongside all the work done with staff and pupils, we also communicated the changes to our parents and invited them into school to discuss these. On our school communication system, Seesaw, the behaviour routines and consequence ladder are shared so parents know what is expected of their child. Any time that a child had to be spoken to by a member of SLT, this was communicated with parents via a phone call home, so they were able to support the school and reinforce the school routines and expectations. The school expectations are shared every week on the newsletter home to parents which shows that behaviour is a consistent high priority at school. We are also planning to share the behaviour routines and consequences with new parents during the EYFS transition meetings so from the very beginning it is made clear to the parents the high expectations we have for all our pupils and that parents support is vital. This is an area we will continue to work on as communication with parents has been noted in our most recent OFSTED inspection. Some of our parents have struggled with the recent changes to behaviour expectations, especially those who have had children at the school for a number of years, and we will continue to work with these parents and support them to understand our school behaviour culture.
Following the virtual module on highly challenging behaviour, we had a clear focus on staff and pupil relationships, and for some of the most challenging behaviours we set up a behaviour plan and shared this with parents so they had a clear message about how we are going to support their child with their behaviour in school. Following the introduction of our updated behaviour policy and curriculum, staff have become empowered to manage classroom behaviours without necessarily having input from SLT. Following our challenging behaviour virtual module, we have engaged with outside agencies from North Yorkshire Council, who have provided high quality staff CPD on de-escalation strategies and supported staff awareness of behaviour as communication. This has given staff a better understanding of why children demonstrate these behaviours. Staff relationships with all children have improved, as they show empathy, use restorative practice and help the children to communicate effectively.
Impact on behaviour
The number of suspensions has reduced since we implemented our new behaviour curriculum, policy, routines and consequences. During the 18 months prior to this we had 18 incidents that resulted in internal or external suspension. Following implementation in January 2024, we have had 1 internal suspension. Likewise, the number of behaviour incidents being recorded on our CPOM system has halved in the last 6 months.
From the school OFSTED report, March 2024 –
- ‘Pupils are proud of their school. They reflect Catholic values in their behaviour making sure that everyone feels welcome.’
- ‘The new behaviour policy is understood and followed by pupils. They value the rewards that they receive such as earning house points. Pupils are effectively supported to improve their behaviour by nurturing staff.’
- ‘The school prioritises pupils’ personal development. The Catholic ethos in the school ensures that pupils understand equality and celebrate difference.’
From the school Catholic School Inspection, May 2024 –
- ‘The behaviour of pupils is exemplary in lessons and throughout the school. They show respect to their peers and to all adults in the school.’
- ‘Learning behaviour throughout school is outstanding. Pupils consistently make good progress and have a clear understanding of what they have done well, and what they need to do to improve.’
Next steps on your behaviour journey
Over the next academic year, we will:
- Continue to develop parent engagement, with a particular focus on attendance and punctuality
- Following our Hub Networking event, develop a St Peter’s school service award, empowering pupils to take responsibility and contribute to their school community
- To ensure shared areas and classrooms reflect the high expectations of behaviour by being well presented and tidy
- Ensuring correct uniform is worn consistently and that parents support this.