Behaviour for Learning

All students come to school to learn and therefore all students and parents/carers sign a home/school agreement before becoming part of the academy community. In becoming a member of our community, students, parents/carers and staff are expected to contribute effectively towards making this a place where all staff and students have a right to believe in themselves and succeed every day.

Dover Christ Church Academy is committed to promoting a positive culture and climate that fully supports safety, wellbeing and progress for all.

We expect high levels of behaviour from students both inside and outside of the classroom. We expect all DCCA students to:

• Show respect for each other in the way that they talk to each other and behave towards each other.

• Show respect for adults in the school community.

• Show respect for the physical environment. This includes not dropping litter or knowingly damaging school property/the damage of others.

• Behave calmly and safely so that no other student is placed at physical risk.

• Refrain from any activity that could be regarded as bullying or harassment of others.

• Show equality and fairness to all members of the school community and not to act in a way that could be regarded as prejudiced or discriminatory.

To ensure that all students at DCCA strive to be STAR Learners, who aspire to and achieve their best in all aspects of academy life and are prepared to make a positive contribution to their community we provide a consistent and systematic framework for managing behaviour.

Right Place, Right Pace, Right Thing:

The cornerstones of our approach to behaviour management and developing positive learning behaviours in students is our 3R strategy (Right Place, Right Pace, Right Thing). We expect all our students to be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

DCCA Behaviour for Learning Principles:

To ensure our students are in the right place, at the right time and doing the right thing, students are expected to adhere to the DCCA Behaviour for Learning Principles:

A. Always on-time and follow instructions

B. Be polite and respectful at all times.

C. Complete all work to the best of your ability.

D. Do bring the correct equipment/books/materials to all lessons.

E. Ensure your uniform is correct and worn with pride.

As parents/carers it is essential you play your part in maintaining the high expectations for behaviour. This not only helps to promote British Values but also prepares students for the world of work.

To help students to understand and adhere to The DCCA Behaviour for Learning Principles we have issued Behaviour for Learning Guidance for Students. (Appendix A) Behaviour for Learning Guidance for Students, is set out in a table that is split into different sections of the school day (lessons/tutor, lesson change over and break and lunch time) and then divided into two parts; getting it right and getting it wrong.

• “Getting it Right” and “Getting it Wrong”.

• Students will receive praise and rewards when they “Get it Right”.

• There will be consequences and intervention support for those students who “Get it Wrong”.

The Home/Academy Agreement:

Outlines the key responsibilities and expectations of each party and aims to insure a collaborative approach between parents/careers, students, and our academy. This document represents a contract between home and the academy. (Appendix B)

Sexual harassment:

As an educational institution and an employer, Dover Christ Church Academy will take all reasonable steps to eliminate sexual harassment of or by staff, students, or other members of the school community.

We want to create a working and learning environment that is free from sexual harassment and where all members of the DCCA community are treated with courtesy, dignity, respect and to promote appropriate standards of conduct at all times.

DCCA has implemented strategies to ensure that all members of the school community know their rights and responsibilities in this area.

DCCA will treat all disclosures in a serious, sensitive, fair and timely manner.

The academy actively encourages the reporting of prohibited behaviour, we have made two new additions to the Incident Type on the Behaviour reporting section SIMs, “Sexualised Comment” and “Sexual Harassment”. This will allow for staff to report student comments/actions that are sexually inappropriate, sexually suggestive or demeaning. There is also the option to report Gender-based violence/violence against women and girls (VAWG) incidents on our new SAFEGUARDING reporting system.

Peer-on Peer Abuse:

Peer-on-peer abuse is any form of physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, and coercive control exercised between children, and within children’s relationships (both intimate and non-intimate), friendships, and wider peer associations. Peer-on-peer abuse can take various forms, including (but not limited to): serious bullying (including cyberbullying), relationship abuse, domestic violence and abuse, child sexual exploitation, youth and serious youth violence, harmful sexual behaviour and/or prejudice-based violence including, but not limited to, gender-based violence. Online peer-on-peer abuse is any form of peer-on-peer abuse with a digital element, for example, sexting, online abuse, coercion and exploitation, peer-on-peer grooming, threatening language delivered via online means, the distribution of sexualised content, and harassment.

Students and their parents/carers should report and concerns about peer-on-peer abuse to an adult at Dover Christ Church Academy and be confident that the matter will be dealt with in the correct manner. Staff are trained to report all forms of abuse as soon as possible to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Mr D Hunt, via the online Safeguarding reporting system. The DSL will direct the next steps for Safeguarding Team and Pastoral Leaders. Dover Christ Church Academy has zero-tolerance of any kind of peer-on-peer abuse, inside or outside of the academy and will put appropriate sanctions and remedial actions in place according to the needs of each case.

Rewards & Sanctions

All actions, whether good or bad, will have consequences.

Positive Consequences: STAR Rewards

The aim of the Rewards System is to recognise effort and achievement in all areas, to raise self-esteem and to encourage progress and good behaviour.

The Academy operates a ‘STAR Reward’ system to formally acknowledge the effort and achievement of all students.

If students are getting it right, they will be praised. They may get: a comment written in your planner, a reward sticker, your teacher congratulating you in front of the class, an achievement logged on SIMs, a phonecall home, a postcard home, a Principal’s certificate at the end of term, a trophy and certificate at prize giving, a place on a reward trip. We routinely inform parents and carers of student successes via positive phone calls home and postcards home. We have a positive relationship with the local press and routinely seek to “celebrate” student successes through positive press coverage.

Negative Consequences: Sanctions

If students are not getting it right, various sanctions can be put in place. Behaviour logs will be recorded on SIMs and these are discussed with parents/carers, detentions are given and Monitoring Report Cards may be issued to support you to get back on track.

Green, Amber, Red, Red+ System:

It is essential that all students and parents/carers understand this system and its consequences. At all times the intention of the policy is to bring a halt to unacceptable behaviour. It is all about the student understanding the consequences of misbehaviour and therefore making an informed choice.

All staff are expected to ensure that a copy of the Academy STAR Learner Behaviour for Learning Principles and a poster of the Green, Amber, Red, Red+ System is displayed in their classroom and that these are referred to when necessary.

The table below outlines examples of behaviours that fall into the GREEN, AMBER, RED and RED+ categories. This is not a definitive list of all the behaviours and incidences that can occur.

Detentions

Recent Education Acts have given school staff the authority to discipline students for breaking school rules, failure to follow instructions or other unacceptable behaviour. Teachers are now permitted to regulate the conduct of students when they are off school premises and not under the control of the school staff. The concept of “it happened outside of the school gate and is nothing to do with the school” is no longer valid in many circumstances.

It is important to understand that any action taken by a student of this academy which could bring the academy into disrepute will be dealt with under the school sanction system. Although the school can now issue same night detentions, we will not use this power and will continue to give parents/carers 24 hours’ notice for any detention lasting longer than 10 minutes.

Below is the detention system flow chart. Currently we are operating a centralised detention system, this means subject teachers will record and call home to explain the behaviours that have led to the sanction, but the detention will be supervised by the Heads of Year and Pastoral Team. Reasonable adjustments for students with complex needs: Some students may find it difficult to comply with the expectations of a formal detention setting. These students will complete their faculty, pastoral or senior leadership detention in The Learning Support Centre. The detention will focus on ensuring that the student is given the appropriate to support to revisit the incident which led to the detention being issued and to discuss ‘coping strategies’ for any future similar incidents. Staff who have issued the detention are strongly encouraged to be a part of this process and should liaise with Mr Hunt (Assistant Vice Principal: Inclusion) and Mr Michael (SENCo) accordingly.

Toilet visits:

During each lesson period, students may request permission to visit the toilet. This should be a rare and exceptional occurrence as students should be encouraged to use the toilets before tutor period, at break, lunchtime and after school. Frequent time out of the classroom can cause significant gaps in learning.

Students with evidenced medical problems will be provided with a toilet pass. This pass should be carried by the student at all times.

Time missed should be made up at the end of the lesson – if appropriate.