Promoting positive behaviour

Positive behaviour is supported within the context of children’s personal, social and emotional development and well-being. A key person who understands children’s needs, levels of development, personal characteristics and circumstances can best support this development and ensure individual needs are understood.

Settling into a new environment is an emotional transition. As children learn to communicate, negotiate and socialise, skills such as turn-taking and sharing often lead to minor conflicts while children work through powerful emotions. During minor disputes, key persons help children reflect and regulate their actions, and in most cases children learn to resolve these themselves. Some incidents, however, are influenced by wider factors and may require a more strategic approach, particularly where behaviour causes harm or distress. These situations are managed by the SENCo or key person using a stepped approach, aiming to resolve the issue and avoid escalation.

Educators remain alert to the emotional well-being of children and consider the many factors that may affect behaviour, working in partnership with parents and carers.

Role of the setting manager and SENCo

• Ensure that all new staff attend training on behaviour management such as that available on EYA Central.
• Support staff in implementing the Promoting positive behaviour procedure in everyday practice.
• Advise staff on addressing behaviour issues and accessing expert advice where needed.

Rewards and sanctions

• Children need consistent messages, clear boundaries and guidance that supports them to manage their behaviour through self-reflection and control.
• Excessive praise and external rewards such as stickers may bring short-term compliance but do not in themselves teach long-term self-regulation.
• Children are never labelled, criticised, humiliated, shouted at, punished or isolated using time-out or a naughty chair.
• If a child is distressed or causing harm, it may be helpful to remove them from the immediate situation and take them to a quiet area with their key person for a few minutes to calm and reflect.
• Physical punishment of any kind is never used or threatened. Concerns about others using corporal punishment are dealt with under safeguarding procedures.

Step 1 – Initial response

• The setting manager, SENCo and relevant staff are familiar with and apply the Promoting positive behaviour procedure.
• Unwanted behaviours are addressed with an agreed, consistently applied approach to de-escalate situations.
• Behaviours that cause concern are discussed by the key person, SENCo and setting manager. All-round knowledge of the child and family is used to place behaviour in context, considering any influencing factors.
• Appropriate adjustments to practice are agreed. A risk assessment may be carried out where necessary.
• If adjustments are successful and behaviour no longer gives cause for concern, normal monitoring resumes.

Step 2 – Focused interventions

• If behaviour remains a concern, the key person and SENCo liaise with parents to explore possible reasons and agree next steps.
• Where appropriate, the child’s views are sought and considered.
• If no clear cause is identified, or behaviour appears only in the setting, a focused intervention approach is suggested, such as the ABC model – Antecedent (what happened before), Behaviour (what was observed), Consequence (what happened after).
• If a trigger is identified, the SENCo and key person meet with parents to plan support using a graduated approach via SEN support.
• Aggressive behaviour towards others results in immediate staff intervention to stop the behaviour and prevent escalation.
• Parents of both the child who was harmed and the child whose behaviour caused harm are informed appropriately. Where physical intervention has been used, safeguarding procedures are followed.
• Risk assessments related to specific behaviour are shared with and signed by parents.
• Actions for supporting behaviour at home may be agreed and included in an action plan. All relevant staff are informed and help implement agreed strategies.
• Incidents and interventions are logged clearly, for example on SEN Support action plans.

Step 3 – External support

• If, despite initial and focused interventions, behaviour continues to cause significant concern, the SENCo and key person invite parents to discuss external referral and next steps.
• The setting may request support from Early Help teams or other specialists such as an Area SENCo.
• Where behaviour is part of wider welfare concerns, including possible significant harm, safeguarding procedures are followed immediately.
• Advice from external agencies is incorporated into SEN Support action plans and regular multi-agency meetings are held to review progress.
• If a statutory assessment may be needed, relevant documentation is gathered in preparation for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

Use of physical intervention

• Staff use many forms of everyday physical contact, such as comforting or giving first aid. Physical intervention to keep a child or others safe is different and should only be used in exceptional circumstances.
• Physical intervention may be used to avert immediate danger of personal injury or, if absolutely necessary, to manage behaviour that poses serious risk.
• Staff do all they can to avoid using physical intervention, using graded approaches first, such as verbal de-escalation and environmental controls.
• Where physical intervention is necessary, only reasonable and minimal force is used, for the shortest possible time, with the child’s safety and dignity kept paramount.
• Staff avoid restricting breathing, avoid head-to-head positioning and hold only by long bones rather than joints. Lifting is avoided unless necessary to prevent harm.
• After intervention, the child is reassured and supported to understand what happened, appropriate to their age and stage.

Recording and review

• Any instance of physical intervention is recorded immediately and reported to the designated person.
• Records clearly state when and how parents were informed and are signed by parents.
• An individual risk assessment is completed after any physical intervention, considering future risks and how these will be managed. The assessment is agreed and signed by parents.

Temporary suspension and expulsion

• Any decision to temporarily suspend a child is carefully considered, lawful, reasonable and fair, and used only on health and safety grounds.
• Parents are invited to a meeting to discuss next steps and seek a positive solution before suspension is considered.
• Suspension is time-limited and used only where necessary while further support or adjustments are explored.
• Suspension of a disabled child is only considered after reasonable adjustments have been tried; without this, suspension may amount to discrimination.
• In very rare cases, a child may be expelled, for example where, despite a range of interventions and reasonable adjustments, the setting cannot safely meet their needs.

Challenging unwanted behaviour from adults

• Discriminatory, prejudiced or xenophobic behaviour or remarks from any adult are not tolerated.
• Adults are asked to stop such behaviour and may be asked to leave the premises if they persist.
• Incidents are recorded and reported to the setting manager. An escalatory approach is taken for repeated incidents, which may ultimately result in a child’s place being reviewed.