Introduction

FCAT Academies have at their heart a firm commitment to putting the needs of children first. Policies and practice promote an environment conducive to learning, ensuring high achievement for all young people, irrespective of their differing needs. The Academy Council believes that students should be encouraged to adopt behaviour that supports learning and promotes good relations. Poor behaviour and low level disruption threaten the rights of young people to an effective education and can lead to people feeling unsafe, bullied, intimidated, or threatened.

Students learn best in an ordered environment. This can be achieved when expectations of learning and behaviour are high and their consequences are made explicit and applied consistently. The self-esteem of all students is enhanced by praise, reward and celebration. This policy is based on recognition of the rights, rules and responsibilities of all members of the academy community, the importance of clear and consistent classroom routines which are always adhered to and a culture of rewards for success.

Purpose

To create a positive, purposeful teaching and learning environment through:

  • enabling all staff to feel confident in their responsibility for the effective management of student behaviour.
  • encouraging students to develop and maintain positive relationships with both their peers and adults characterised by mutual respect.
  • the provision of opportunities for students to fulfil their potential in both a social and
  • academic context whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment and background. helping students to understand that they have a choice in how they behave and that
  • there are consequences for their chosen behaviour.
  • a system of rewards and graduated sanctions for students related to both academic progress, success and behaviour

Expectations

All members of the Academy have the same rights, responsibilities and rules:

Rights

  • To feel safe at school
  • To learn to the best of their ability
  • To be treated with respect

Responsibilities

  • To ensure that you allow others to feel safe at school
  • To ensure that you allow everyone to learn to the best of their ability
  • To ensure that you treat everyone with respect
  • To have excellent attendance and punctuality

Rules

  • I will respect other people and their property
  • I will do as I am asked by all members of staff
  • I will be well-mannered and helpful at all times
  • I will attend lessons in full uniform, on time and ‘ready to learn’
  • I will not refuse any reasonable request from a member of staff

Behaviour Management system

These procedures support an ethos based on shared aims and mutual respect where boundaries are clearly defined and where the individuals feel valued. These procedures reflect the fact that there are aspects of behaviour, which can be taught, and that in general the use of praise and rewards and the opportunities in the curriculum have a great effect in motivating students.

A huge emphasis is placed at Aspire Academy on encouraging positive behaviour. Everyone, staff and students, is aware of the necessity and benefits of working together to ensure a calm, ordered, secure and happy environment. We recognise that the vast majority of students contribute positively to an environment in which effective learning can take place. However, there are pupils who, despite help, support and encouragement, do not respect this ethos and seek to disrupt the learning of others. In such cases it becomes necessary to take decisive action, to involve parents and impose sanctions.

Positive Reinforcement Strategies

Another way of tackling poor behaviour is to use language in positive terms so that you are not focussing on one individual’s behaviour when everyone else is behaving appropriately.

Class Teacher should:

  • Praise and encourage
  • Give achievement points
  • Recommend Awesomeness award
  • Positive marking
  • Communicate with parents – letters/postcards/phone calls
  • Have displays

Subject Leader/Faculty Director should:

  • Praise in front of whole class
  • Communicate with parents – letters/postcards/phone calls
  • Assemblies
  • Give verbal praise
  • Give achievement points
  • Recommend Awesomeness awards
  • Have corridor displays

Senior Leadership Team should:

  • Award Golden Culture points
  • Celebrate positive behaviour via badges
  • Issue Awesomeness awards
  • Facilitate Rewards trips
  • Celebrate and display successes in and out of school

Consequence system

‘Consequences’ is not a replacement for good classroom management techniques and will not compensate for poor teaching and/or unstructured lessons.

  Consequence
C1 - First Warning for negative behaviour Verbal warning Verbal warning
C2 - Final warning for continued negative behaviour Name recorded Name recorded
C3 – Continued negative behaviour On call requested and a lunch time detention with the Headteacher will be served On call requested and a lunch time detention with the Headteacher will be served
C4 – Continued negative behaviour Faculty removal/On Call requested once more and an after-school detention for 1 hour (3pm – 4pm) is issued with the Heads of Year Faculty removal/On Call requested once more and an after-school detention for 1 hour (3pm – 4pm) is issued with the Heads of Year
C5 – Serious incident or failure to comply with C4

Immediate placement in Impact. Each incident is dealt with separately and may include either continued time in Impact, a placement at a fellow Blackpool school or a Fixed Term Exclusion

All Fixed Term Exclusions are followed by a reintegration meeting with a member of the Senior Leadership team. Until this occurs, the student will remain in our Impact unit

 

Refusal to follow a reasonable request or school rules e.g. wearing the correct uniform or to follow a seating plan, will result in a consequence.

Reports

The use of reports at ±«Óãtv are intended to realign previous unacceptable behaviour. This too has an escalation system which incorporates the use of Form Tutors, Heads of Year, Directors of Key Stages and the wider SLT.

Reports allow students to focus their behaviour both in and out of lessons by also having a designated ‘key person’ to reflection on their actions with in school.

Students will be placed on report following an increase in negative behaviour points, on return from respite placements or sometimes at the request of parents/carers.

Managed Moves

Managed moves are used by all schools across the town as a means to enable a student to have a ‘fresh start’ in mainstream education. The process involves at 12-week placement at a ‘host school’ (Aspire remains as the ‘home’ school) with a 6 week review in between. It is anticipated that a change of surroundings and previous influences will make this move a success with the ability to remain in mainstream education.

Respite Placements

Respite placements are used to support those students who may be struggling with the expectations of life in a mainstream setting. These will often feature the use of smaller class sizes and the ability to work on behaviour management strategies prior to a return to ±«Óãtv. Placements are typically 6 weeks with week 5 and 6 set aside to work on the students reintegration back into school.

Current respite providers include The Chrysalis, EdDiversity and Lancashire Alternative Provision

Leave during lessons

Leave during lessons is strictly prohibited. This is to ensure that maximum learning time is achieved by all students and that no ‘nefarious’ activities are being undertaken. On occasions, leave may be granted for the following reasons.

  • Meeting with an outside agency or caseworker
  • A medical pass to allow leave to use toilets
  • Leave allowed slightly earlier to avoid crowds on lesson changeover (following an injury/medical procedure)
  • Parental meeting with staff.

Students are able to access toilets during break and lunch time (and where necessary, at the discretion of their lesson teacher, escorted by an on-call caseworker).

Detentions

A lunch time detention will be issued by a member of staff once a student reaches a C3 (on call). This will be supervised by the Headteacher. Students will be allowed to leave the detention to access cold food should they wish. Any C3s received after the academy’s lunch period will be allocated to the following day. Failure to attend this C3 lunch time detention will result in an after-school detention being issued which will take place between the house of 3pm and 4pm. This will be facilitated with the Head of Year.

If a student reaches a C4 they will immediately be issued with an after-school detention with the Heads of Year (3pm – 4pm). If the C4 is issued after period 5, the detention will take place the following day. The teacher who gave the C4 will also meet with the student during the detention to undertake a restorative conversation.

Students receiving multiple C1s-C3s in one day will be issued with a lunchtime detention.

IMPACT detentions take place during lunchtime and after school from 3-5pm.

Detention escalation

Failure to attend lunch time detention – 3pm – 4pm detention issued for the same day.

Failure to attend after school detention – 3pm – 5pm detention issued for the following day.

Failure to attend 3pm – 5pm detention, further escalation resulting in potential placements at fellow Blackpool school or time served in our Impact Unit.

Truancy from lesson – 3 – 5pm (students must to be in their next lesson within 5 minutes of the bell sounding for the end of the previous lesson – failure to do so will be reported as a truancy from lesson).

Internal Isolation (IMPACT)

Some students during their time at Aspire Academy will be in need of additional support. The varying needs include the following;

  • Withdrawal from identified (by teacher and/student) individual/few lessons that have been problematic for short term respite (for teacher and student) with eventual repair, rebuild and reintegration.
  • Withdrawal from individual/few lessons for longer term, usually following short term, but where repair, rebuild and re-integration have failed. Total long-term withdrawal may be a very occasional strategy.
  • Isolation from other students within the Academy as part of a consequence for misbehaviour. This will also include withdrawal of normal break and lunchtime privileges. This will include students who have been given a fixed term exclusion from school, containment for full day as either a consequence fo r truanting or positive prevention of further truanting.

The emphasis for all the above situations needs to be on ‘refocus and redirection’. The aim will be to create a busy purposeful unit where real learning and the acquiring of good working habits is taking place.

Other possible support needs may include the following:

  • withdrawal from all lessons in the short term for students experiencing temporary issues
  • integration into school from other schools (managed moves) positive placements to support learning or coursework
  • to support other academies’ behaviour management systems

Fixed Term Exclusion

Good discipline in schools is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. The Government supports headteachers in using exclusion as a sanction where it is warranted.’ (DfE ‘Exclusion from maintained schools, Academies and pupil referral units in England 2012)

All decisions to exclude are serious and only taken as a last resort or where the breach of the Academy rules is serious or persistent. The following are examples;

  • Failure to comply with a reasonable request from a senior member of staff. Failure to wear Academy uniform which has been provided (where possible) for a student who is in incorrect uniform is regarded as failure to comply with a reasonable request
  • Breaches of health and safety rules
  • Verbal abuse of staff, other adults or students
  • Possession of drugs and/or alcohol related offences
  • Failure to comply with the requirements of the ‘Consequence System’
  • Wilful damage to property
  • Homophobic or racist bullying
  • Bullying
  • Sexual misconduct
  • Theft
  • Making a false allegation against a member of staff
  • Behaviour which calls into question the good name of the Academy
  • Persistent defiance or disruption
  • Minor assaults or fighting that is not premeditated or planned
  • Other serious breaches of the Academy rules

All Fixed Term Exclusions are followed by a reintegration meeting with a member of the academy’s Senior Leadership Term. This will be organised at a time to suit the parent/carer. However, it must be noted that the student will remain in Impact until this reintegration meeting takes place.

Permanent exclusion

‘A decision to exclude a pupil permanently should only be taken:

  • in response to serious or persistent breaches of the school’s behaviour policy; and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupils or others in the school’. (DfE ‘Exclusion from maintained schools, Academies and pupil referral units in England 2012)
    The Principal will make the judgement, in exceptional circumstances, where it is appropriate to permanently exclude a child for a first or ‘one-off’ offence.

These offences might include:

  • serious actual or threatened physical assault against another student or a member of staff
  • sexual abuse or assault
  • supplying an illegal drug
  • possession of an illegal drug with intent to supply
  • carrying an offensive weapon
  • making a malicious serious false allegation against a member of staff
  • potentially placing members of the public in significant danger or at risk of significant harm
  • Harmful sexual behaviour, online sexual abuse, sexual violence (including sexualised language)

These instances are not exhaustive, but indicate the severity of such offences and the fact that such behaviour can affect the discipline and well-being of the Academy community.

In cases where a Principal has permanently excluded a student for:-

  • one of the above offences;

or

  • Persistent disruption and defiance including bullying (which would include racist or homophobic bullying) or repeated possession and/or use of an illegal drug or drug paraphernalia on school premises.

The Academy Council’s Guidance on Offensive Weapons - the Academy has determined that, in addition to legislative guidance, any knife, irrespective of length, constitutes an offensive weapon and should not be brought into the Academy. In addition to knives; axes, BB guns, air guns, GATT guns, catapults, slings, etc., will also be deemed to be offensive weapons. Other types of offensive weapons will include:

Lengths of pipe, bats, other blunt instruments, or items judged by the Principal or the Local Academy Council to be carried with the intention to inflict injury on another individual – this would include blades removed from pencil sharpeners, etc.

In addition, the Academy Council also considers the following to be serious incidents may result in the permanent exclusion of a student:

  • Deliberate activation of the fire alarm without good intent
  • Repeated or serious misuse of the Academy computers by hacking or other activities that compromise the integrity of the computer network
  • Repeated verbal abuse of staff
  • Persistent disruption and defiance that may or may not be directly linked to the Consequences system

E safety

Whenever a student infringes the e-Safety Policy such as cyberbullying, the final decision on the level of sanction will be at the discretion of the school management. This includes e - safety incidents which may take place outside of the academy, but is linked to membership of the Academy. All breaches of the e-Safety Policy will be recorded and referred to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Person.

Examples of sanctions are:

  • referred to Principal
  • contact with parents
  • possible exclusion
  • refer to PCSO
  • e-safety officer
  • Refer to the Police

Screening, searching and confiscation

Screening

Schools can require pupils to undergo screening by a walk-through or hand-held metal detector (arch or wand) even if they do not suspect them of having a weapon and without the consent of the pupils.

  • Schools’ statutory power to make rules on pupil behaviour and their duty as an employer to manage the safety of staff, pupils and visitors enables them to impose a requirement that pupils undergo screening
  • Any member of school staff can screen pupils
  • If a pupil refuses to be screened, the school may refuse to have the pupil on the premises. Health and safety legislation require a school to be managed in a way which does not expose pupils or staff to risks to their health and safety and this would include making reasonable rules as a condition of admittance
  • If a pupil fails to comply, and the school does not let the pupil in, the school has not excluded the pupil and the pupil’s absence should be treated as unauthorised. The pupil should comply with the rules and attend
  • This type of screening, without physical contact, is not subject to the same conditions as apply to the powers to search without consent.

Searching

Academy staff can search pupils with their consent for any item. Staff authorised by the Headteacher have the power to search pupils or their possessions, without consent, where they suspect the pupil has a “prohibited item”.

What the law says:

What can be searched for?

  • Knives or weapons, alcohol, illegal drugs and stolen items; and
  • Tobacco and cigarette papers, fireworks and pornographic images; and
  • Any article that the member of staff reasonably suspects has been, or is likely to be, used to commit an offence, or to cause personal injury to, or damage to property; and
  • Any item banned by the school rules which has been identified in the rules as an item which may be searched for

Teachers can only undertake a search without consent if they have reasonable grounds for suspecting that a pupil may have in his or her possession a prohibited item. The teacher must decide in each particular case what constitutes reasonable grounds for suspicion and must be recorded via the school EduKey reporting system. For example, they may have heard other pupils talking about the item or they might notice a pupil behaving in a way that causes them to be suspicious.

The powers allow school staff to search regardless of whether the pupil is found after the search to have that item. This includes circumstances where staff suspect a pupil of having items such as illegal drugs or stolen property which are later found not to be illegal or stolen. School staff can view CCTV footage in order to decide as to whether to conduct a search for an item.

The power to seize and confiscate items

What the law allows:

Schools’ general power to discipline, as set out in Section 91 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, enables a member of staff to confiscate, retain or dispose of a pupil’s property as a disciplinary penalty, where reasonable to do so.

Also note:

  • The member of staff can use their discretion to confiscate, retain and/or destroy any item found as a result of a ‘with consent’ search so long as it is reasonable in the circumstances.

Where any article is thought to be a weapon it must be passed to the police.

  • Staff have a defence to any complaint or other action brought against them. The law protects members of staff from liability in any proceedings brought against them for any loss of, or damage to, any item they have confiscated, provided they acted lawfully.

Telling parents and dealing with complaints

Schools are not required to inform parents before a search takes place or to seek their consent to search their child.

  • There is no legal requirement to make or keep a record of a search
  • Schools should inform the individual pupil’s parents or guardians where alcohol, illegal drugs or potentially harmful substances are found, though there is no legal requirement to do so
  • Complaints about screening or searching should be dealt with through the normal academy complaints procedure

Use of reasonable force

All academy staff have the power to use reasonable force to prevent pupils committing an offence, injuring themselves or others or damaging property, and to maintain good order and discipline in the classroom. The Principal and staff authorised by the Principal can use such force as is reasonable when searching a pupil without consent for prohibited items except where the search is for an item banned by the academy rules. Members of staff can use such force as is reasonable given the circumstances when conducting a search for knives or weapons, alcohol, illegal drugs, stolen items, tobacco and cigarette papers, fireworks, pornographic images or articles that have been or could be used to commit an offence or cause harm. Such force cannot be used to search for items banned under the academy rules.

Malicious allegations against students or staff

The Academy views these extremely seriously and will always be investigated by the Headteacher or their representative.

For further information: