The intention of this policy is to define a framework for acceptable behaviour for learners attending in person or online through Hunt Scholars Tuition or being assessed or visiting site through Hunt Scholars Advocacy.

If this policy is working effectively, learners will learn and practise a good standard of behaviour.  Communication with parents, carers and other professionals actively promotes healthy social and emotional development and positive attitudes to learning. Everyone working or learning in our setting will be aware of our values and methods and will know where to find this information or an appropriately framed version (to support understanding) if necessary.

This Acceptable Behaviour Policy covers every member of the school, learners and staff (alongside the staff Code of Conduct), and is based on the belief that:

• People thrive in an environment where a humanistic approach is followed, allowing everyone to be seen non judgementally and to be held in positive regard where respect and tolerance are practiced, and contributions valued.

·        Relationships that create a sense of safety are needed to allow for learning and that happy students learn effectively.

•     An environment is established where verbal, physical and emotional abuse is understood to be     unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This extends to any behaviours which may be perceived as bullying, character building or teasing in interactions between peers.  

Our expectations and responsibilities:

All learners are expected to:

• Be open to listening to others, trying new experiences, and taking steps to develop increased independence where possible.

• Thinking about where their boundaries lie, and where they are in conflict with the boundaries of others, being able to consider compromises with the correct support.

The Leadership Team of The Directors of Art and Education will work together to:

 • Promote and support delivery of all elements of this policy to staff, learners and supporting adults in the learners’ lives

·        Actively listen to concerns raised or information from students, staff or supporting professionals, and parents

•    Take action to identify and rectify patterns of negative behaviour in students.

·        Communicate effectively with commissioning education budget holders and parents around behaviours that are challenging the delivery of agreed educational curriculum or progress to goals

The whole team at the setting are expected to:

• Model to and encourage learners to treat each other equally, irrespective of gender, race, disability, cultural background or religion.

• Be alert to signs of discrimination or harassment based on any protected characteristics including ableism and respond firmly to such incidents and alert other staff to such problems.

• Promote a sense of shared values and community direction between learners and families and the setting

·        Be consistent in their communication, verbal and non-verbal, especially their reactions to behaviours

• Support the delivery of good classroom management to promote a safe learning environment.

• Celebrate success and support the idea that not all progress is linear

• Deal sensitively with learners in distress, providing comfort, re-regulation, sympathy and protection as appropriate and agreed by parents/carers.

Parents and Carers will:

·        Reinforce the communication from our team when they have shared information about positive or negative behaviours that have happened at our setting

·        Communicate effectively with our setting about any factors that might be influencing a learner’s capacity to regulate

·        Inform us if a child cannot attend a session, in line with the attendance reporting required by their commissioning educational budget holder.

Our responses to behaviour:

Promotable behaviours will be celebrated and praised, explicitly praising the behaviour not the child. These include but are not limited to showing perseverance, being kind, having a go and rising to a challenge. They will also include finding an appropriate way to identify or begin to move towards reregulation when feeling dysregulated.  Learning opportunities will be punctuated with activities which allow for success, whether through social communication or through a task where the child feels a sense of mastery or specific interest to provide opportunities to overlearn and develop security in appropriate and promotable behaviours. These successes will be shared with parents.

Responses to unacceptable behaviours will always be explicit about the behaviour being the problem and not the child. Appreciating that not all children can read and respond effectively to all cues from adults, each child will have responses to behaviour in their communication passport to make sure all staff can support them consistently.

In the moment, disruptive dysregulation behaviours will be considered using the ‘3R’ approach (regulate, relate and reason) will be drawn on as a model for supporting the student to regulate their emotions.

1. Regulate – support engagement in calming/soothing activities, such as repetitive movement and/or sensory based actions (see above ‘What’s working now?’ section in the communication passport for appropriate personalised strategies from a range of options). This stage lasts until the learner has found secure regulation.

2. Relate – once the learner starts to relax, seek to relate to/connect with them in a positive relationship affirming way.

3. Reason – finally, engage the learner in an activity that engages the thinking part of the brain, such as inviting them to notice 3 things in the room that are the same colour, 3 things in the room that start with the same letter and so on.

4. Once the learner has completed this process, they can be supported to discuss the triggering issue and verbalise their needs in a calm way, to become practiced in doing this. Model to the learner how to do this as required.

Where possible learners will be allowed to remain in their current environment to reach regulation and other learners with more capacity for change will be guided to move away.

Parents will be notified of periods of dysregulation or inability to engage with instruction. Where a child is attending whilst on roll at a setting, periods of dysregulation that disrupt overall learning goals or that require an escalated response under the setting’s behaviour policy will be reported and discussed with the linking member of staff. 

Where learners break guidance, for example use language or behaviours that may distress others or compromise their safety or the safety of others, whilst not in a dysregulated state, there are opportunities for bespoke intervention to support that behaviour and this will take precedence over any agreed academic learning goals. A meeting will be sought with the commissioning education budget holder, as identified in our service agreement to decide a joint path.

If at any time repeated behaviours or isolated extreme behaviours mean the setting cannot continue to safety support a learner or where their attendance is not compatible with the safe education of others, we will seek an emergency meeting with the commissioning education budget holder, as identified in our service agreement. If this has included behaviours that compromised the safety of the student or others at the setting this will be escalated according to our safeguarding policy.