Behaviour Policy

The Behaviour Policy underpins the key aims of the school. We insist on:

• Equality of opportunity and access for all
• Academic and personal striving for excellence
• High quality teaching and learning
• Broad, balanced, creative learning opportunities
• A wealth of enrichment activities, both curricular and extra-curricular.

Our school mission statement is to inspire our students to be confident and open-minded through exceptional teaching and learning in a caring school community. 

Our vision is to be an exceptional school; inclusive and progressive, where everyone matters and everyone achieves. 

This is underpinned by the ethos and culture of Weobley High School of being “Ready to Learn”, showing “Respect” and having a positive “Attitude”. 

Our belief is that education is transformational. Our role is to support all of our students to succeed irrespective of their starting points. We understand that ‘equal’ treatment is not always sufficient to give ‘equitable’ outcomes – some students need more than others. We are committed to giving students whatever support they need to ensure they make the progress necessary to get the successful outcomes that they deserve. We work tirelessly to remove barriers to learning for all students. We believe that relationships are the most important thing in schools. The way that staff and students relate to each other is fundamental to the success of what we are trying to achieve.

The Behaviour Policy aims to:

• Foster a positive culture based on praise and reward, leading to consistently high standards of work and behaviour 
• Encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour
• Encourage students to take responsibility for developing a positive behaviour culture within the school
• Reward students who work hard and show an excellent attitude to the community and to learning
• Ensure that students act as appropriate ambassadors for the school on e.g. school trips, work placements, sports events and journeys to and from school
• Ensure that parents/carers are informed promptly of any concerns regarding their child and are given the opportunity to be involved in responding to their needs.

This policy is based on legislation and advice from the Department for Education (DfE) on:

• Behaviour in schools: advice for headteachers and school staff 2024
• Searching, screening and confiscation: advice for schools 2022
• The Equality Act 2010
• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023
• Suspension and permanent exclusion from maintained schools, academies and student referral units in England, including student movement 2023
• Use of reasonable force in schools
• Supporting students with medical conditions at school 
• Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice

In addition, this policy is based on:

• Section 175 of the Education Act 2002, which outlines a school’s duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of its students 
• Sections 88 to 94 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which requires schools to regulate students’ behaviour and publish a behaviour policy and written statement of behaviour principles, and gives schools the authority to confiscate students’ property

DfE guidance explaining that maintained schools must publish their behaviour policy online

Behaviour for Learning is communicated frequently to students in registration and in lessons. Individual aspects are also communicated by senior staff through key stage assemblies and by Learning Co-Ordinators in year group assemblies. Staff deliver consistency of positive behaviour around the school site throughout the school day including unsupervised times such as between lessons, before/after school and break/lunchtimes. Staff follow the Behaviours Level of Need to ensure that the appropriate action and intervention is put in place promptly and effectively. 

Staff training and meetings where ‘behaviour’ is a standard agenda item. Form Tutor activity and daily monitoring of students’ behaviour. Communication with home via emails and letters and school website. The behaviour code is displayed in every classroom.  Home-School Agreement to be signed by parent/carer and student. 

The Behaviour Policy sets out clearly a Behaviour Code for students to follow.  The rules for school and classroom conduct are based upon commonly accepted principles.  The code will be taught to all students so that they clearly understand what is required.  The aim is for students to recognise that they choose their behaviour and that a positive choice to support the school’s Behaviour Code will lead to reward.  Conversely, if they do not choose to follow the code, then they will be choosing a sanction. The school has developed measures to encourage students to take responsibility for their own behaviour and to help them to recognise the consequences of inappropriate behaviour.

We encourage parents to take an active interest in their sons’/daughters’ progress. We undertake to contact parents at the onset of any problems occurring. We run monthly parent surgeries to arrange meetings between staff and parents. The quality of relationships in the school and at home is of crucial importance in forming students’ attitudes to good social behaviour and self-discipline. 

Adults provide powerful role models for children and should, therefore, model the values such as courtesy and respect in all their dealings with other adults and students in the school.

Students with more challenging behaviour have the opportunity to benefit from a period of targeted support from the LInC and the school’s Pastoral and Support staff.  The school will look to use early identification procedures for those students at risk, in order to establish a support programme.

• They will praise good behaviour and achievement and use the school’s reward system consistently
• Key rules will be reinforced whenever possible by acknowledging students who are following them
• They will reinforce the required behaviour.  This will give students who break rules a chance to improve behaviour rather than receiving a sanction
• It will be made clear to students that they have a choice – they may choose not to have a punishment by complying with the rules; choice reinforces personal responsibility for actions
• Staff will set clear objectives and will give instructions through simple, direct language
• They will apply a consistent approach to behaviour management, p0or behaviour will be recorded on E-Praise
• To utilise fully student support systems within the school
• Regular liaison with parents and other agencies  

Students will be expected to follow `The Behaviour Code’ governing all aspects of behaviour. It was drawn up in consultation with students, parents/carers and school staff.

Behaviour Code

It is expected that students will:

Be ’Ready’ to learn:

• Arrive on time for registration and all lessons with correct equipment
• Wear correct uniform appropriately

Show ‘Respect’:

• Follow all instructions straight away
• Respect the school environment by: placing all litter in bins; eating only in designated areas; moving around the building quietly; handling all school property and equipment with care
• Be polite and helpful to everyone including staff, other students and visitors.

Have a ‘Positive’ Attitude

• Be Present in the classroom
• Be engaged in your studies and actively take part.

Staff have the statutory authority to discipline students whose behaviour is unacceptable, who break the Behaviour Code or who fail to follow a reasonable instruction. As a school we work to support students so that they can make better behavioural choices in the future. As such the available sanctions are to be used to promote and develop positive behaviour. All staff and students are expected to use the opportunities provided within the sanction system to look to resolve the issues that have led to the inappropriate behaviour.

The school defines acceptable behaviour as that which promotes being ‘ready’ to learn, showing ‘respect’ and being ‘positive’ from all students in terms of their relationships with other students within/outside the school, teachers, other school staff and with visitors or other persons within/outside the school premises.

The school has identified examples of unacceptable behaviour as that which include:

• name calling
• verbal abuse
• threatening language or behaviour
• intimidation 
• defiance
• fighting
• physical abuse 
• damage to or theft of property belonging to another
• breaking the law
• bullying (including cyber bullying and sexual bullying) 
• harassment and all forms of prejudice-related behaviours (including bullying on the grounds of body image/size/obesity, homophobic bullying, racist bullying, faith-based bullying, ageist bullying, disability bullying, and sexist bullying).

Philosophy

The school has a system of rewards which aims to motivate and encourage students. This is an important aspect of the ethos of the school in that the achievements and successes of students, at whatever level, are noted and given due worth. This helps to build upon individual self-confidence and self-esteem and leads to further personal development.

We believe that, if students are to benefit from their education then, punctuality, regular attendance, an excellent work ethos and good behaviour are crucial and we, as a school, will do all we can to reward such positive attitudes. We recognise that parents and other stakeholders have a vital role to play in promoting a positive attitude to school and together with the school can help celebrate achievement at all levels and in all areas of school life.o

The school undertakes to provide and encourage a safe and engaging learning environment that will enable individual success to be encouraged and rewarded, through an effective rewards and sanctions system that is applied fairly and consistently.

Praise begins with frequent use of encouraging language and gestures, both in lessons and around the school, so that positive behaviour is instantly recognised and positively rewarded. A system of rewards is used also to recognise and congratulate students when they set a good example or show improvement. Rewards:

• Verbal praise
• The awarding of merit points on our ‘E-Praise’ system
• E-Praise Milestone certificates
• The awarding of ……………. on E-Praise
• ‘Congratulations’ and ‘good news’ postcards home
• Personalised letters or emails to parents
• Certificates which recognise positive contributions to the school community and ethos.
• Learning Co-ordinator Awards for positive conduct
• End of term year group trips and visits 

Parents

Parents can support the school’s positive approach to rewarding success by: 

• Actively supporting all the school’s policies
• Ensuring regular and prompt attendance 
• Checking the Student E-Praise platform regularly
• Responding in a supportive way to all communications from the school
• Providing suitable conditions for homework to be completed
• Attending the annual consultation day.

Students

students are expected to adopt a positive approach to the achievement of success whilst supporting the rules of the school and behaving in a polite and responsible manner.

Also by:

• Attending school regularly and being on time
• Keeping an accurate and up-to-date student planner
• Completing all work to the best of their ability
• Meeting deadlines for the completion of all school-work.

Students who follow the Code of Conduct and work to the best of their ability will be recognised and rewarded. Students who are following the Code of Conduct will receive Merits, these will be recorded on our web-based system E-Praise. This System will allow students and parents to log on to their own accounts, so that they can clearly see merit points totals and why they were given.

Students can view their online E-Praise account. This will allow then to see:

• Merit Points received
• Milestones met

E-Praise points are awarded under the following categories:

• Sustained Effort
• Service to School/Community
• Spectacular Work
• Excellent Contributions
• Supporting other students
• Excellent Attitude,
• Excellent Manners
• Tutor Award

Individual Accolades

Students can receive individual accolades on E-Praise. These are awarded to students who take on extra roles (reading buddy or are part of the school council) or complete work at a very good level (reading certificates).

Accolades will show up on the individuals E-Praise account.

Milestone Certificates

Students who receive a set amount of E-Praise points within an academic year will receive a milestone certificate, both electronically on their E-Praise account and also a printed certificate.

Learning Coordinator Commendation

Learning Coordinators may give a Commendation Award to individuals who have contributed significantly to any aspect of our community or are excelling at School. students will be congratulated in person by the Learning Co-ordinator and will be given a certificate. 

Executive Headteacher’s Commendation

Students, who have produced particularly high standards of work for their ability, may be referred by a subject teacher to the Headteacher for a letter of commendation. Students will be congratulated in person by the Headteacher and be given a certificate

Sanctions are more likely to promote positive behaviour and regular attendance if students see them being applied fairly and consistently.

Members of staff are expected to:

• Make clear they are dealing with the behaviour, rather than stigmatising the person
• Avoid early escalation to severe sanctions, reserving them for the most serious or persistent misbehaviour
• Avoid sanctions becoming cumulative and automatic (sanctions should always take account of individual needs, age and understanding)
• Avoid whole group sanctions
• Use sanctions that are a logical sequence of the student’s inappropriate behaviour
• Use sanctions to help the student and others to learn from mistakes and recognise how they can improve their behaviour
• Never use a sanction that is humiliating or degrading
• Use sanctions in a calm and controlled manner
• Link the concept of sanctions to the concept of choice, so that students see the connection between their own behaviour and its impact on themselves and others, and so increasingly take responsibility for their behaviour
• Encourage students to reflect on the effects of misbehaviour on others in the community.

Sanction System (Behaviour level of Needs)

De-Merits

Demerits will be recorded on E-Praise under the following categories:

• Not Following Instructions
• Lack of Equipment
• Incorrect Uniform
• Rudeness
• Not Respecting School Property
• Lateness
• Homework
• Removal from lesson
• Mobile Phone
• Lateness to School
• Other

3 Demerits in any given week will result in a student receiving a pastoral detention on a Monday lunchtime.

Detentions are booked on E-Praise and will be visible to both students and parents/carers. Detentions can also be set on the same day and with immediacy, excluding after-school detentions where a minimum of 24 hours-notice will be given (these may also be set on the same day with parents’ permission). For after-school detentions, parents/carers are responsible for making transport provisions to get home. 

Students must attend all detention’s set. Any student who deliberately misses a detention, will have their detention increased or doubled. 

The times outside school hours when detention can be given include:

• Any school day where the student does not have permission to be absent
• Weekends – except the weekend preceding or following the half-term break
• Non-teaching days – such as INSET days.

When imposing detentions, the following should be considered:

• Parental consent is not required
• When giving an afterschool detention, the member of staff should work with the parents and give at least 24-hours notice. Detentions, including after-school detentions are mandatory if set. 
• When lunchtime detentions are set staff should allow reasonable time for the student to eat, drink and use the toilet. No student will be kept for more than 40 minutes on any lunchtime, unless in isolation where they will be supervised but given time and space to eat their lunch.

A central detention system is accessed after students have followed through sanctions at department level. Teachers are responsible for any initial sanctions within the classroom. Teachers can set break time or lunchtime detentions to be completed with them. Once behaviour is repeated or is more serious in nature, students are to be referred to the Head of Department. At this point, sanctions ranging from break time to after school detentions can be set.  Heads of Department will make the decision regarding the correct level of sanction.

After-school detentions will be held for more serious or consistent breaches of school rules. The subject teacher/Learning Co-ordinator will supervise the after-school detention and will be responsible for contacting parents to notify them. Any difficulties concerning supervision, transport or parental consent should be discussed with a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). Staff should ensure that there are at least two adults supervising students in after-school detention, or that a member of staff is working in that area. Whilst in detention students will be asked to reflect on why they have received a detention and how to prevent it next time.

Green report – This is used to monitor current performance across all subjects. (This is not a punishment).  Should the green report indicate that the problems are only occurring in one subject, the tutor may decide to remove the student from this form of report and liaise with the department head who may wish to organise a subject report. 

Red report – students who appear to be underperforming in several subjects or whose behaviour is a matter of concern will have targets identified and be placed on report by the form tutor for one or two weeks. 

Students who improve while on report should be removed from report. 

Should there be a continuing cause for concern; students will be referred to their Learning Co-ordinator.

Suspensions from school are a serious intervention and employed when a student has refused to comply or is acting as a danger to others. Permanent exclusion will normally be a last resort after strategies linked to the school’s behaviour policy have been exhausted or if allowing the student to remain in school would be seriously detrimental to the student, the needs of other students or staff.

Prior to suspension or permeant exclusion:

• • students whose behaviour is deteriorating and are in danger of facing permanent exclusion may be placed on a Pastoral Support Programme and/or behaviour contract. Parents and a representative from the Local Authority (LA Inclusion Officer) will be involved in drawing up an appropriate plan.
  • If events show that a support strategy has failed to help the student respond, then a decision may be made that a permanent exclusion is appropriate. 

Delivery of the curriculum to suspended students.

In the initial letter to parents advising of suspension, the Executive Headteacher will provide details of the arrangements for the setting and marking of work.   Parents/carers should arrange for the work to be collected and returned for marking.   This will continue until the student returns to school or is taken off roll.

Governors

Serious unacceptable behaviour may result in the establishment of a Governing Body Behaviour Panel to examine the future of an individual student at Weobley High School. One of the options considered by the panel will be the drawing up of a behaviour contract between the student, parent and school.

If a student is suspended from school, the Chair of Governors is automatically informed.  Parents have the right to appeal to the Governors against suspension.  The role of the governing body/committee is to review suspensions imposed by the Executive Headteacher. They can uphold a suspension, or direct the student’s reinstatement. Governing body meetings need only to take place for permanent suspensions or fixed term suspensions of over 5 days. A Local Authority Adviser will also be invited.

If requested by a parent the local authority will be required to arrange an independent review panel to consider the decision of the governing body. The panel will not have the power to force the school to reinstate an excluded student. The school will investigate all possible ways to avoid permanent suspension, including a managed move to another school.  However, for students who persistently misbehave, permanent exclusion remains a possibility.

The school will ensure it gives appropriate support to individual students, who may be at risk of disaffection or suspension, including: 

• learner support (Internal and external) 

• mentoring 

• individual education planning 

• curriculum and curriculum resources 

• teaching strategies 

• study support 

• behaviour and anger management 

• emotional and social support 

The school will monitor the use of rewards and sanctions to ensure that its arrangements operate with due regard to equal opportunities and anti-discrimination, and the school’s statutory duties in respect of additional needs, religion/belief, race, sexual orientation and gender equality. 

Staff must ensure that they eliminate discrimination or inequality. As a school we are keen to ensure that we do not discriminate, through application of this policy, against students whose inappropriate behaviour may be a function of their SEND, religion/belief, race, sex, LGTBQ+ and or gender reassignment. When dealing with inappropriate behaviour all staff must accept that there will be circumstances in which some students may be treated differently from others and are expected to take account of those individual student needs when applying sanctions. These students may require or be offered a safe space to talk and/or an appropriate adult to support them. 

At Weobley we wish to promote equality and eradicate all forms of bullying. Sanctions and restorative approaches will be applied as appropriate to the circumstances.  If a parent feels that the measures or sanctions in the behaviour policy are unfair or have been unfairly applied, they can lodge a complaint through the school’s complaints procedure.

There will be times when, despite the best endeavours of the school and implementation of the behaviour policy, the school will require outside intervention.

The school will work with a variety of external professionals (including student counselling, educational psychologists, voluntary sector, health authority/trust, social care/child protection and police).

The school will participate appropriately in implementing an early help assessment to ensure effective early identification and integration of services to meet the needs of children and families, including:

• Behaviour Support Service
• student Referral Unit
• Early Help Team
• Education Psychology Service
• Health Services, including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• Social Care/MASH Team
• Information, Advice and Guidance (including Connexions)
• Family Support Workers
• Youth Offending Team
• Drug Counselling Agencies
• Learning Mentors
• Police
• CLD Youth Counselling Trust
• Home-Start
• Channel Panel/Prevent

The following items are prohibited within the school: 

• Jewellery – students are permitted to wear a watch (Smart watches are not allowed) and one stud in each ear. No facial jewellery is allowed, including eye, nose, lip or tongue piercing.
• Mobile phones (please see further information below)
• Chewing Gum 
• Solvents 
• Aerosols 
• Stink bombs 
• Fireworks and explosive devices 
• Offensive weapons (including chains and replica weapons) 
• Imitation weapons including BB guns 
• Pornography
• Illegal drugs including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, other tobacco products and alcohol 
• Lighters and matches 
• Personal electronic devices such as phones, i-pods, MP3 players, smart watches and electronic games, portable speakers etc
• Skateboards and roller blades
• Student motor bikes and mopeds.

The school reserves the right to prohibit other items not mentioned which are deemed dangerous or inappropriate within the school environment.

• The Executive Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team and Learning Co-ordinators can search a student for any item banned under school rules, if the student agrees. If the student refuses, the school can apply an appropriate sanction.
• The Senior Leadership Team and Learning Co-ordinators have the power to search students or their possessions, without consent, where they suspect the student has certain prohibited items. The items include:
• knives or weapons
•  alcohol
•  illegal drugs
•  stolen items
•  tobacco and cigarette papers
•  fireworks
• pornographic images
•  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 the property of, any person (including the student)
• Senior Leaders and other authorised staff can also search for any item banned by the school rules which has been identified in the rules as an item which may be searched for.

Good Practice

Any search must be conducted by two members of staff. One member of staff must be the same gender as the student being searched, where reasonably practicable the second member of staff should also be of the same gender. A child must not be asked to remove any items of clothing, other than items of outdoor clothing such as their coat, jacket, hats, shoes, boots, gloves and scarfs. A search can also be taken of lockers and bags. A student’s possessions must be searched in the presence of the student.  On undertaking a search the Executive Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher must be informed and the conclusion recorded on e-praise and/or CPOMS if the search results in a safeguarding concern. 

The general power to discipline enables a member of staff to confiscate a student’s property. The purpose of confiscating property is to maintain an environment conducive to learning – one which safeguards the rights of other students to be educated with regard to health and safety, threats to good order, standards of uniform and the ethos of the school.

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 as long as it is reasonable in the circumstances. Where any article is thought to be a weapon it must be passed to the police. 

A person carrying out a ‘without consent’ search can seize anything they have reasonable grounds for suspecting is a prohibited item (that is a weapon/knife; alcohol; illegal drugs or stolen items) or is evidence in relation to an offence.

• Where a person conducting a search finds alcohol, they may dispose of it.
• Where they find controlled drugs, these must be delivered to the police as soon as possible unless there is a good reason not to do so – in which case the drugs must be disposed of.
• Where they find other substances which are not believed to be controlled drugs these can be confiscated where a teacher believes them to be harmful or detrimental to good order and discipline. This would include, for example, so called ‘legal highs’. Where staff suspect a substance may be controlled they should treat them as controlled drugs as outlined above.
• Where they find stolen items, these must be delivered to the police unless there is a good reason not to do so – in which case the stolen item should be returned to the owner. These stolen items may be retained or disposed of if returning them to their owner is not practicable.

The item should be labelled and taken to the School Office for storage and the Executive Headteacher/Deputy Headteacher/DSL informed. The return of other prohibited items as listed within this policy will be at the discretion of the school depending on the nature of the item.  The item would then be collected by the student at the end of the day/week or collected by the parent. Some confiscated items may need to be stored safely until the parent/carer can come to retrieve them. If a mobile phone is confiscated for a second time, it is the policy of the school that it should be collected by the parent/carer.

What the law allows:

• Schools can require students 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 students.
• Schools’ statutory power to make rules on student behaviour and their duty as an employer to manage the safety of staff, students and visitors enables them to impose a requirement that students undergo screening.
• Any member of school staff can screen students.

Also note:

• If a student refuses to be screened, the school may refuse to have the student on the premises. Health and safety legislation requires a school to be managed in a way which does not expose students or staff to risks to their health and safety and this would include making reasonable rules as a condition of admittance.
• If a student fails to comply, and the school does not let the student in, the school has not excluded the student and the student’s absence should be treated as unauthorised. The student 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.

Members of staff have the power to use reasonable force to prevent students committing an offence, injuring themselves or others, or damaging property, and to maintain good order and discipline in the classroom.  

A number of members of the Senior Leadership and Pastoral Team have received training in positive handling techniques. 

All unacceptable behaviour should be recorded on e-praise. More serious concerns such as child on child abuse to include bullying should be recorded on CPOMS. Information recorded should include the nature of the incident, the time date and location, students involved and the action taken.  

At Weobley High School we have high expectations of the behaviour and integrity of our students when off school premises. This includes behaviour on activities arranged by the school such as work experience, educational visits, alternative provision, behaviour on the way to and from school, behaviour when in a public place. 

To this end, the school will: 

• Work with transport providers to agree how behaviour on contract transport should be addressed 
• Make our expectations clear about the consequences of poor behaviour on transport, including temporary or permanent loss of access to transport 
• Work with work experience/alternative education providers to ensure the school/provider contract makes clear our expectations of behaviour and procedures to use in the case of poor conduct, including the removal from a course 
• If necessary liaise with West Mercia Police when incidents of poor out of school behaviour are reported  
• Work with the local community, parents/carers when incidents of poor out of school behaviour are reported 
• Ensure that all applications for educational visits include clear statements to students and parents/carers about behavioural expectations 
• Implement a range of sanctions to deal with inappropriate out of school behaviour by students. 

Students are not allowed to have mobile phones with them during the school day. If a mobile phone/electronic device is brought into school, it must be handed into the school office for collection at the end of the day. If a student is found to be using a phone, or if it rings during a lesson, it will be confiscated until the end of the day. From the second breach of this rule will require parents/carers to come into school to collect the mobile telephone. 

Technology can be exploited by students in order to bully or embarrass fellow students or members of staff. The use of defamatory or intimidating messages/images will not be tolerated and confiscation and disciplinary sanctions will be applied to perpetrators as appropriate.  Police involvement will also be considered. The school can examine or delete data on an electronic device if there is a good reason to do so. 

Reviewed on: March 2025

By: R Jones (Deputy Headteacher)  

Adopted by the Governing Body on: March 2025 

To be reviewed: March 2026