Behaviour Management policy

Behaviour Management policy

 

Aim of policy

 

To clearly show how we manage behaviour of the children in our care. This policy aims to meet the requirements of OFSTED, Every Child Matters (2003) Early Years Foundation Stage (2012) and the Childcare Act 2006 with regard to behaviour management.  It will promote, encourage, reinforce and reward positive behaviour, enabling children to develop a sense of appropriate behaviour and a positive self-image.

 

Points to consider

 

Each child is different and will respond to different methods of behaviour management. The child’s key person can support other practitioners in managing behaviour by giving them information about the child.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool aims to achieve this by:

• Never physically punishing a child. 

• Having a consistent approach to behaviour management and develop effective strategies using positive methods appropriate to the individual child.
• Promoting good behaviour at all times through praise and positive reinforcement.
• Practitioner’s role modelling good behaviour and language.
• Ensuing that all staff, students and anyone else working with the children is aware of how good behaviour is promoted and negative behaviour is addressed.
• Helping the children to understand the consequences of negative behaviour.
• Helping children to challenge bullying, harassment and name calling.
• Encouraging the children to be responsible through activities such as tidying up and creating their own rules.
• Reassuring children that they are valued even if their behaviour is sometimes unacceptable.
• Providing interesting, stimulating and fun activities, children who are not engaged in activities can become bored and misbehave.
• Providing adequate care routines. Children who are hungry or tired can misbehave.

 

Inappropriate behaviour almost invariably occurs when a child’s fundamental needs are frustrated.  The staff should always consider what the child’s needs are and how they can best be met in the Nursery.

Nursery staff will act as appropriate role models and should encourage the development of a positive self-image in the child. 

In order to function acceptably, children need to feel valued and accepted in a group – to feel secure with the adults caring for them and with the routine of the nursery.

Our staff will work with the children to agree acceptable boundaries.  Young children are still very egocentric and much of what society deems desirable, e.g. politeness, honesty, consideration for others, will be recognised and understood through expert role modelling.

We need children to understand what is required of them and why.  Staff at our nurseries need to give consistent messages and guidelines for acceptable behaviour.

Positive methods are more effective than negative ones in shaping the behaviour of children.  Rewards and distractions are preferable to punishment.  Children need to know that despite their inappropriate behaviour we still ‘love’ them.  It is the behaviour we dislike, not the child.  Nursery staff should praise a child whenever they can.  They should give individual time and attention to the child.

 

Staff should encourage children to talk over a problem, anticipate and remove potential problems or re-direct them.  Staff should value the tangible contributions that the child offers, including drawings and pictures brought from home.  Each child should be given the opportunity to ‘shine’ at a particular activity or skill.

 

Children should know that staff like their family.  Staff should develop partnerships with parents and ensure that parents are fully informed about support and the policies and strategies used for managing unacceptable behaviour.

 

Nursery staff should be consistent in their treatment of children; there should be fairness in access to toys, etc.  The same treatment should apply for both the individual and the group.  The rewards given should be consistent – in praise for actions, favours and privileges.  Staff should remember to reward children when they are good.

 

The staff should be aware of making emotional moral judgements.  We believe if a child is labelled; there is a danger of negative expectation.

 

Account must be taken in each case of the age and stage of the child’s development and staff should modify their expectations in light of the child’s level of maturity and ability.  Goals should be specified precisely in language everyone, including the child, can understand.  They should be broken down into small steps, starting with what the child can be relied upon to achieve and building up slowly.

 

If sanctions are carried out, they should be appropriate – they should also be given at the time of the inappropriate behaviour, be relevant and fair.  Never issue a warning or condition that is unrealistic – be prepared to carry it through.

Methods of dealing with unacceptable behaviour

Distraction

To avoid potential unacceptable behaviour – divert the child’s attention.  Offer the child something more attractive and positive to do – if possible, let them ‘help’ you to do something.  This may be particularly useful with young children who do not understand verbal reasoning.

Individual attention

Physically removing the child from the situation can stop undesirable behaviour by giving the child time to stop and think away from the problem, object or situation.  If a child needs to be removed from a group activity, the time spent outside the group gives them a chance to see what they are missing.  Such time out should be brief but immediate.  The child should not be removed from the room unless this sanction has not worked. 

 

Reprimand initially should be a private affair between the member of staff and child.  In the nursery, staff members need to have established the meaning of talking to the child ‘in a stern voice’ – this is not shouting.

 

Staff should remember that there is a need to ‘build a warm bridge’ again as soon as possible – conflicts should never linger.

Removing the object

This can work in the same way as taking the child away but an alternative activity should be offered.

Physical restraint

This can help with tantrums where a child is in danger of hurting themselves.    If physical intervention is seen as appropriate, ensure that the intervention is achieved with minimum force and for minimum time.  (As per safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare as part of the statutory framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage). Any time physical restraint is used, an incident form must be completed.

 

Biting behaviour must be recorded in the Incident Book but staff should not disclose the name of the biter when talking to the parents of the bitten child. See the biting policy

 

In this setting the Behaviour Management officer is Caroline Laidlaw

Any child presenting difficult behaviour on a regular basis should become the subject for close observation.  Staff should identify:

 

·         The nature of the behaviour

·         Factors or circumstances which trigger it

·         Timing – when and for how long

·         People involved

·         How does it end

 

The observations need to be written and examined for identifiable patterns and then decisions made about future handling.  Such written observations can provide objective evidence in discussion with parents and other professionals.

 

An incident book should be kept in the nursery to record incidences of severe inappropriate behaviour, i.e. behaviour that causes injury to another child.

 

Staff should share their anxieties with others and remember that they are only human and may need time out too.  It is not a sign of personal failure to ask for help and advice; it is a sign of maturity, intelligence and understanding.

Staff should always take time to stand back from situations and observe.

 

Never physically punish a child.  A common sense guideline is that staff should only physically remove a child from a situation if they are at physical risk of endangering themselves or the safety of others.

 

SMACKING, BITING OR SHAKING OF CHILDREN IN THE NURSERY IS FORBIDDEN

 

Remember that corporal punishment (smacking, biting, and shaking) is illegal, as is depriving a child of food or drink or forcing a child to consume it. 

In addition, staff must not use practices that humiliate or frighten children such as poking fun, sarcasm, shouting, using derogatory language, verbal or physical threats or taunts.

Violence or abuse of a child by a staff member will result in instant suspension pending a full investigation which will lead to dismissal if proved to be valid.

Any programme of behaviour management needs to be continuously evaluated.

There are no hard and fast rules or answers to dealing with problem behaviour – what may be an answer for one child’s individual needs may not be suitable for another.