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Promoting Good Behaviour, Discipline and Sanctions PolicyIssued to: Parents and Prospective Parents via Parents’ and Pupils’ Handbook and website This Policy is intended to cover Discipline (including the promotion of good behaviour) as well as Rewards and Sanctions (from informal sanctions to exclusions). In accordance with statutory regulation which requires a statement to this effect, the School confirms that corporal punishment (which would be illegal anyway) is not used. a. Aim The aim of all discipline is self-discipline. Specific desired outcomes for the School of developing and sustaining self-discipline within the community include:
b. Roles and Means 1. The Pupil In the Parents’ and Pupils’ Handbook, under ‘School Rules’, the opening paragraph (quoted below), addressed to pupils, delineates the behavioural expectations the School has of its students: “Rishworth is your school; respect it and take active interest in all your work and in the School generally. Your happiness and success, and its reputation, depend upon your efforts. Do all you can to make the School even happier and more successful. Do NOTHING to lower its reputation.” Pupils are expected at all times , whether in or outside school and whether during a school activity or otherwise, to respect the School’s central rule, which is the “Five C’s”, as set out in the Parents’ and Pupils’ Handbook: “Behave with courtesy, care, consideration, co-operation and common sense”. Given that the core purpose of a student is to study, serious and/or persistent deficiencies in such areas as effort and application in academic work may also be considered as disciplinary matters. 2. The Parents One of the reasons that many parents will have chosen Rishworth for their children is because they want them to grow up in an atmosphere conducive to learning where high standards of behaviour are expected and prevail. Should measures to apply disciplinary sanctions have to be taken in respect of a pupil, it is vital that the parents of that child support the School in its actions so that the message received by the pupil is consistent between school and home. Where there is no such, or inadequate, support from parents, not only can this give unsettling and confusing mixed messages to the child and reduce the chances of improvement, but also this could jeopardize the validity of the contract parents have signed with the School, which states: ‘I/we and my/our child undertake to comply with all the rules, regulations, guidance, expectations and/or reasonable requests in force and understand that these may be varied from time to time … I/we accept that, if, in the opinion of the Headmaster, my/our child is unable to benefit from what the School has to offer and/or if he/she and/or I/we fail significantly and/or repeatedly to comply with the School's rules, regulations, guidance, expectations and/or reasonable requests, I/we may be asked or required to remove my/our child from the School and that my/our contract with the School may be terminated’. Understanding and respecting what is set out in the section entitled “What about discipline?” in the Parents’ and Pupils’ Handbook is an essential part of the parents’ and guardians’ role. The section in question contains the following sub-sections: Orderliness prevails! 3. The School Discipline should:
Discipline Procedures The purpose of both rewards and sanctions is to promote good behaviour. A graduated structure of formal rewards and sanctions to complement less formal measures is necessary. The purpose of a reward is to recognise worthy achievement or effort, to motivate and encourage. The purpose of a sanction is to correct, to deter or, on occasion, to protect. The imposition of a sanction should never be an act of retribution.
It is important, in order that discipline is fair and meaningful, for there to be systematic and consistent use of rewards and sanctions throughout the School. It is equally important, however, for the same reasons that there is sufficient flexibility in the application of disciplinary procedures to allow differing circumstances to be taken into account in individual cases. A balance needs to be struck between the need for consistency on the one hand and for flexibility on the other. For this reason, few are the cases where a direct equation can automatically be made between a given offence and a particular punishment, although there needs to be a generally accepted view of the kind of misbehaviour that is likely to result in a certain type of punishment: it is important that pupils as well as staff understand, for instance, that throwing a snowball is (depending upon circumstances) likely to fall within the sanction range of verbal reprimand to detention, whereas stealing from another pupil’s wallet would (depending upon circumstances) be more likely to warrant expulsion. The School’s enforcement of its no chewing-gum rule is robust: a pupil can expect to be sent home if found to be in breach of this rule; an equivalent, appropriate sanction can be expected for boarders whose homes are a long way away It should be understood that, as one of the main purposes of any sanction is to correct behaviour, pupils are expected to learn from their mistakes (and from any sanctions imposed), and not to repeat them. Persistent misbehaviour, even of a kind that may, initially, and as a one-off, be relatively low level, can quickly become serious, if only as a mark of disobedience, and a pupil can in consequence quickly escalate through the graduated sanctions. This is an example of how a given misdemeanour in one instance can lead to a particular sanction, and ostensibly the same misdemeanour in another instance can lead to a more severe sanction. That a misdemeanour in one set of circumstances might fairly lead to one course of action while ostensibly the same misdemeanour in another set of circumstances might fairly lead to a different course of action can be a point which both pupils and parents at times struggle to see as equitable. This difficulty can be made worse by the fact that the School, bound by confidentiality, is unlikely to be able to explain to a pupil or parent querying the justice of measures taken in their regard either what, or even that, action has been taken in respect of another pupil who they believe also might have offended and who they therefore believe should be treated in a given way. The latter difficulty notwithstanding, the best way to ensure both consistency and flexibility is for staff to liaise, as necessary, with relevant parties and for parents to contact the appropriate member of staff at the appropriate stage/level. (See ‘Chains of Communication’ below)
These are frequently used as a natural and integrated part of a teacher’s interaction with pupils: words of encouragement, smiles of approval and other approbatory demonstrations go hand in hand with the authoritative stance, the stern look, the cautionary gesture, the ‘quiet word’ and the firm rebuke. A particularly effective way of recognising a pupil’s good performance or conduct is not only for the teacher concerned to congratulate the pupil personally but also to mention this to a relevant member of staff (Form Tutor, Head of Department, etc.) who can then also congratulate the pupil. This creates a positive climate in which pupils feel their efforts are known and appreciated. Verbal praise and written praise are given for good work and examples of pupils’ work is displayed in classrooms and around the School.
a) Rewards Credits Commended Work Prizes Letters of Commendation
The member of staff should try to deal with any minor misdemeanours in the first instance. If appropriate, a note for parents and tutor may be entered in the pupil’s Planner, which parents of pupils in Years 7 – 11 are asked to check regularly and to sign, as checked, each week (with or without comment in the space provided), the Planner being a key point of contact between school, home and pupil When warranted, a complaint slip should be completed and passed on to the relevant tutor who should then take the appropriate action in accordance with established procedure. A complaint slip should be placed in the pupil’s file. More serious or recurring misdemeanours should be referred to the pupil’s Tutor and/or Head of School Section/Senior Member of Staff, and suitable action will be considered, again in accordance with established procedure, including whether or not parents should be contacted at a given stage and whether or not the pupil should be placed in any of the detentions listed below. Any apparently-significant disciplinary matter will have been investigated as thoroughly as is appropriate before any sanction is imposed.
Teachers may give a Complaint Slip for any appropriate misdemeanour, including:
Some offences have their own particular sanction e.g. a pupil caught chewing gum in school will be sent home. The sanctions below are in increasing order of severity. Level 1 Detention Level 2 Detention Level 3 Detention Level 4 - Headmaster’s Detention Suspension Requirement to Leave and Expulsion The difference between ‘expulsion’ and ‘requirement to leave’ is very significant indeed, even if both share the same central outcome: that the pupil has to leave the School permanently. Expulsion implies an enforced departure in disgrace, with a permanent stain left on that pupil’s disciplinary record; ‘requirement to leave’ enables the School to provide a supportive (truthful) reference for the pupil. (Parental ‘agreement to withdraw’ in such a situation, in addition to allowing the School to provide a supportive (truthful) reference, implies a level of co-operation on the part of the parents, which tends to be a particularly well-received sign on the part of schools that may be considering an application from a pupil in such circumstances. Parental ‘agreement to withdraw’ is therefore a way not only of avoiding the stigma of expulsion or the unpleasantness of a pupil’s being required to leave but also of improving a pupil’s prospects of joining a school of his or her choice). Examples of behaviour that could warrant Requirement to Leave or Expulsion include the following. It should be noted that this is not an exhaustive list:
As with any apparently-significant disciplinary matter, the case will have been properly investigated before any disciplinary action is taken. This will normally include the offender and other relevant parties being interviewed. Parents will also normally be contacted by the Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster or other senior colleague and invited into school for consultation. A formal letter confirming the School’s action will be sent. The parents will have a right to appeal against the decision. The procedure for appeal is as set out in the Concerns and Complaints Procedure (available on the School’s website and included in the Parents’ and Pupils’ Handbook) Pupils who persistently fall below the standards expected of a pupil at Rishworth School can expect to be moved up through these sanctions. For example, not doing homework is likely to result in a Level 1 detention. A pupil receiving three Level 1 detentions in any one half-term period will, in addition, receive a Level 2 detention. The pupil’s Tutor keeps a record of all of complaint slips and all detentions at all levels for all pupils in his or her Form and so can monitor easily how pupils in that Form move through the different sanctions. Some offences will result in a higher level sanction being applied straight away, therefore bypassing the lower level sanction. At Rishworth School a record is kept by the Deputy Headmaster of serious offences, which are entered onto the pupil’s record. Examples of serious offences include those listed above (under ‘Requirement to Leave and Expulsion’):
Chains of Communication When disciplinary action relates to academic matters, the typical chain of communication is: When disciplinary action relates to non-academic matters, the typical chain of communication is: Teacher – Tutor – Head of School Section – (Senior Staff -) Deputy Headmaster Where a pupil is a boarder, his or her housemaster or housemistress is kept informed of disciplinary issues and, when appropriate, the disciplinary issue and any subsequent allocation of a sanction may be dealt with by the housemaster or housemistress. Most (though not necessarily all) problems should follow this ‘chain’. There will be times when this does not happen and a disciplinary matter is ‘fed’ in at the middle of a chain, at the far end of it or beyond it altogether: typically, this occurs when a parent, perhaps unwittingly, effectively ‘short-cuts’ proper process – for example, by seeking to speak to the Deputy Headmaster or Headmaster about a matter which should be dealt with (or is indeed being dealt with) by another member of staff. The important principles here are:
Prefects
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