Behaviour gathers more traction than any other big ticket item within education. It makes a huge difference to school cultures, workload and recruitment and retention of staff and pupils alike. It also has a significant impact on a school’s reputation and inspection outcomes.
Sadly, it is also polemical. Some who offer advice are informed by frontline experience. Others aren’t.
In this context, the Behaviour Hubs programme has been a boon for the sector, driving and sharing best practice nationally. Through it, I have been privileged to support a large number of schools; some challenging, some, deprived, and some good establishments in need of a little TLC.
Here are some of the key lessons I’ve learned about how to support leaders to create and sustain a positive school environments.
A team effort
It is no accident that the headteachers’ standards place behaviour firmly in the laps of headteachers. The culture of a school is a direct reflection of the head’s emphasis, drive and support to get it right. It is heads who daily set the expectations, the tone and the values that stakeholders operate within.
However, the schools with the strongest cultures and the best behaviour are those where leaders at all levels are on the same page. Leaving one leader to be the sole focal point is an unsustainable approach, reliant on the individual’s charisma, presence and drive.
Key question: How routinely do you discuss and prioritise behaviour within leadership meetings?
Crystal-clear systems
Schools need simple and crystal-clear processes, routines and systems in place. Where there are multiple layers, matters become confused and staff suffer cognitive overload.
Given all the plates they have to spin day-to-day, they need a school-wide set of approaches they can easily put into action. If an approach detracts from staff being able to perform their core job then you need to rethink your approach.
Key question: Do your systems predominantly allow staff to work in a disruption-free environment?
Safety in simplicity
Some automatically think of rules as controlling or overbearing. In truth, they are essential to the safe, harmonious and operational functioning of a school. Children and staff want clear direction and need a set of concise and precise rules to work to.
For these reasons, rules should not be devised by pupils. Co-creating rules with children is often futile. On the other hand, rules should be simple ideally kept to three or five that are consistently applied.
Rules are most effective when they are entwined within the school’s values and positively exemplify the behaviours you do want to see as opposed to those you don’t.
Key question: Do all key stakeholders know the rules that underpin your school?
Justice and fairness
Children, especially children with SEND, thrive in environments with clear routines that are consistently applied and adhered to by all staff. They have a strong sense of social justice, and they become disillusioned where they perceive it to be lacking, but they also respect necessary reasonable adjustments.
For these reasons, the length and scale of your sanctions and rewards is not nearly as relevant to their feeling of fairness as certainty and the consistency with which they are applied.
Key question: Do all your staff apply your approaches and policies as intended?
Training and support
Staff and pupils alike need clear, targeted and timely training to understand explicitly what leaders expect of them. This training needs to be repeated until habits and norms become habitual.
Staff need to know that they will be backed up and not be blamed when things go wrong, which they invariably will. Equally, pupils who repeatedly fall foul of the rules may well need additional support to help them meet the school’s expectations. However, this does not mean we should dumb things down or barter.
Key question: How deliberately planned is your program of professional development to support staff with behaviour?
In meeting the ever-growing, changing and uncertain challenges schools face, we must balance sector-wide solutions and contextual intelligence. The Behaviour Hubs programme’s approach struck that balance perfectly.
It lifted the lid on a huge issue with massive impact on school life and, in my view, its continuation is necessary and vital.
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