Context for joining Behaviour Hubs
The Gillford Centre is a pupil referral unit based in Carlisle. We cater for young people from 5-16 and have a second site which is used to offer KS4 alternative provision and provision for pupils with EHCPs for SEMH. Our capacity is for 50 pupils in the PRU, with 15 AP places at our second site and 25 places for children with SEMH as the primary need on their EHCP.
Our pupils come from a huge geographical area, over 655 square miles with 40% of pupils currently on FSM. We have a high percentage of pupils with EHCPs, close to 36% and nearly 15% of pupils are Children Looked After.
As a school we received a good OFSTED inspection in January 2023 and joined the Behaviour Hub programme as it aligned with our school improvement plan
Behaviour challenges and goals
- To create a new whole school approach to changing the culture of behaviour at The Gillford Centre and School 180
- To create a new shared vision of clear and concise expectations for young people attending our school which is understood by all stakeholders
- To create and implement a new positive behaviour management policy which is consistently applied by all staff and understood by our young people
- To create and implement a more reflective and restorative approach to supporting behaviour which promotes a culture in which students take responsibility for modifying their behaviour
- To create a clear concise rewards system which supports and promotes a more positive culture for behaviour
There was a repeated cycle of behaviours where students were consistently being ‘punished’ for displaying the same behaviours without understanding why and/or how they could change this behaviour for a more positive outcome. Students were coming from schools which were heavily reliant on punitive measures which they were unable to conform to and many of our systems replicated this. We needed to explore a new approach where our consequences had a meaning and purpose of supporting a change in behaviour, recognising that students need to learn behaviours before they can apply them to our setting.
We wanted to move away from staff seeing consequences as retribution and move towards an understanding of behaviour as a form of communication and a trauma-based approach which enable staff to explore these behaviours in order to better understand and support them. There was a lack of understanding of the behaviour policy and the systems in place. There was inconsistency with the implementation of systems, procedures, and protocols alongside a significant difference in what staff deemed as ‘good behaviour’. There was a reward system in place which was inconsistently applied, and which students did not see the value of. Therefore, the impact on improving behaviour was limited. There was a clear divide in staff’s opinion of how behaviour should be managed and what systems should be in place.
Solutions to behaviour challenges
We firstly conducted the whole staff survey to get a firm baseline on the challenges we were facing. The results of this survey were then used to create our action plan which was driven towards improving the culture for behaviour in the Gillford Centre and School 180.
We had a consultation period followed by a full day whole staff inset in the summer term to share our agreed expectations and deliver an introduction to a new reflective and restorative approach to managing behaviour. Staff were involved in each step of the process so there was shared ownership for the changes.
In September 2023 we revisited the outcomes and agreed actions of the July inset so it was ready to be fully implemented when students returned. We created and invested in new displays which incorporated our new agreed vision, mission, and values to be promoted across both sites. We agreed current and desired cultural norms to target throughout the first term. We also developed and introduced a new language for positive behaviour script for all staff to follow when supporting challenging behaviour. We adapted our behaviour flow chart to incorporate the proposed changes and introduced a reflective behaviour system in place of ‘consequences, sanctions, or detentions’. The current rewards system was modified and changed to the 3 or above VIP club. This incorporated some short term as well as half termly targets/goals. All the above was shared with students on the first day as part of their tutor period. The CPD calendar was also adjusted so regular training based around the action plan could take place to maintain the consistency in approach and continue to drive improvements.
The support from the Behaviour Hubs Programme started with an initial bespoke visit to our lead school with an opportunity to share good practice and give direction and support in how we can achieve the objectives set out in our action plan. We tailored our networking events and open days to recommended schools with a similar background and challenges to ourselves. We were able to take ideas and strategies from these visits and implement them into our own systems, protocols, and procedures.
There has been a constant professional dialogue with colleagues from behaviour hubs partner and lead schools which has provided ongoing support throughout the journey. Being able to approach other schools and for them to be forthcoming with offers of support.
Impact on behaviour
There has been a cultural change in how we now approach behaviour in our school. Agreed systems, protocols and procedures are now more clearly understood and applied consistently across both sites. Evidence from this has come from senior leader observations, feedback from staff and survey results.
Teacher comments
“Since the implementation of the Behaviour Hub systems, I have found myself feeling more confident in managing behaviour as the steps are clear and straightforward to follow”
“We have collaboratively created ways of rewarding good behaviour which has had a big positive impact on our students”
“Pupils are seeing that there is a consistent approach and they seem to be able to adhere to this well.”
“Much more supportive processes for students to understand their behaviours. Staff are more understanding and use much more appropriate language to speak with students”
“The pupils have responded well to the VIP club which is helping add incentive for the pupils to have “good” behaviour”
Follow-up survey results
- No staff rated pupil behaviour as below acceptable compared to 24% who said behaviour was poor on the baseline survey.
- 94% of staff feel there is a clear vision of what is expected and meant by good behaviour compared to only 42% on the baseline survey.
- 100% feel that staff apply the behaviour rules and procedures set out in the new policy.
- 100% of staff believe that these are applied fairly across the school environment compare to only 58% of staff who thought it was applied fairly some of the time on the baseline survey
- 100% off staff feel that pupils understand the behaviour rules compared to only 42% from the baseline survey.
- 100% of staff feel there is a culture for recognising and celebrating positive behaviour.
- 94% of staff feel that misbehaviour in and around school has changed for the better in the past 12 months.
- 100% of staff feel that the consistency in how and when behaviour rules and processes are applied have changed for the better in the past 12 months.
Next steps on your behaviour journey
- Develop and improve the school environment to further promote our expectations for a more positive culture of behaviour
- Further planned CPD on trauma-based approaches to supporting behaviour
- Improve parental engagement in further developing and improving the culture of behaviour in school