| Policy Title | Behaviour for learning | Date of Last Review | August 2024 |
| Policy Reference | FTEC 2 | Date of Next Review | July 2025 |
| Authorised by: | Board of Directors | August 2024 |
MISSION STATEMENT
Friendlytutors & Education Consultancy (FTEC) is committed to providing outstanding tutoring
services to all our user, students, parents, and tutors. FTEC welcomes compliments and
complaints from our learning community, from our stakeholders and from the general public.
We use this process positively to improve services for our students, parents, tutors, and the
wider community.
We recognise that, occasionally, mistakes will be made, or the service offered will not meet
an individual’s requirements or expectation. As well as being managed as set out in this
procedure, complaints will be used as feedback to improve the service which we offer
EQUALITIES STATEMENT
All who work at the Friendlytutors & Educational Consultancy (FTEC) Limited are committed
to the celebration of diversity, and the challenging of disadvantage and discrimination, in all
its forms.
These values are explicit to the ethos of the Friendlytutors & Educational Consultancy
(FTEC) Limited and embedded into all our policies and practice.
These values are explicit to the ethos of the FTEC and implicit in all policies and practice
As a Rights Respecting company, we recognise Article 28 ‘The right of every
child to a good quality education’ and Article 19 ‘All children have the right to be
protected from danger’ from the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.
It is a primary aim of our company that every member of the community feels
valued and respected, and that each person is treated fairly and well. We are a
caring community, whose values are built on mutual trust and respect for all. FTEC
behaviour policy is therefore designed to outline the way in which all members of
staff can live and work together in a supportive manner. It aims to promote an
environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure, so that people can
work together with the common purpose of helping everyone to learn.
This policy should be read with reference to:
∙ The Safeguarding Policy
∙ The Online Safety Policy
∙ The SEND Policy
Designated Safeguarding
Officer/Behaviour Lead
J. Adat
Contact details
jadat@friendlytutors.co.uk.
Tel: 07985138926
Christabel Achunike (Mrs)
(Director/PSC) – Recruitment team
Tel: 07961732757-1
Gabrielle Adat (Mrs) (Attendance Lead) Tel: 07944844558
Gabrielle@friendlytutors.co.uk.
Policy Title
Behaviour for
Learning
Date of Last Review August 2024
Policy
Reference
FTEC 2 Date of Next Review July 2025
Authorised by: Board of Directors August 2024
Behaviour for Learning Policy
‘When we look beyond the behaviour and see the emotion, we respond with love and
connection instead of control and sanction’
Our aims and expectations:
Our mission is for all children to feel valued and have a sense of belonging. Each child is an
individual with their own identity, views, and perspective of the world, and it is our role to
celebrate their unique spirit, giving them opportunities to grow and shine. We are passionate
about making sure each child feels safe and listened to.
This policy is designed to promote FTEC’s approach and explicitly teach good behaviour,
rather than simply deterring challenging behaviour. We allow our children to be curious,
active, and engaged in their surroundings, while supporting them to understand and express
their feelings in appropriate ways, resulting in high levels of engagement and wellbeing.
In addition, we have the following steps in place to ensure that all staff understand the
settings approach to managing behaviour and relationships:
- Policies relating to relationships and behaviour are regularly reviewed/shared with
staff, and this process forms part of a six-week induction period for staff who are new
to the team. - We have a separate code of conduct policy outlining behaviour expectations for all
who use the setting. This is shared with parents and staff on enrolment. - Regular staff meetings with in-house training and discussions around behaviour
management. - Interview questions relating to behaviour are asked during screening to ensure
suitability. - Observations/ supervisions are carried out on staff routinely, to discuss best practise
and explore any possible areas for development such as tailored support/training. - Regular parent meetings/partnerships to discuss childrens learning and
development, including behaviour and attitudes. - We encourage staff to undertake training and have a behaviour management
coordinator responsible for supporting others at the setting.
Our behaviour management coordinator is (enter name)
Rationale:
Our setting has adopted a whole setting approach to behaviour, using trauma informed
practice. Behaviour is understood neuro-scientifically as a communication of unmet need or
as an adapted, defensive response. The understanding that children learn best within
positive, trusting relationships informs our approach to managing and changing behaviour.
We expect staff to work hard as ‘stress detectives’ to identify the need and provide
developmentally appropriate support, removing barriers to learning and promoting
engagement.
Setting Ethos:
Our setting ethos promotes ‘planting the seeds of kindness’, which has three main principals
that are interwoven through everyday practice and routines. - Being kind to ourselves
- Being kind to others
- Being kind to nature
Our setting prides itself on providing a homely welcoming environment to all. We work hard
to promote positive respectful relationships and wellbeing among staff, which is mirrored in
relationships among children and their families.
As part of promoting positive behaviour, we promote British values in our everyday
practice:
When thinking about and supporting behaviour and relationships, we take account of the
following British values: - Democracy – Learning about and taking an active role in making decisions
together
Fairness and equality. We encourage children to see their role in the bigger picture,
helping children to know their views count, showing consideration for other’s opinions
and values. We capitalise on opportunities for talking about feelings, e.g., when
children do and do not need help and to develop inquiring minds in an atmosphere
where questions are valued.
We demonstrate democracy in action whenever we can e.g., children sharing views
on what song to sing next with a show of hands, turn taking or toddler pointing. Staff
support the decisions that children make and provide a wide range of activities that
involve participation, sharing and collaboration as part of group, to enable them to
develop social skills. As part of positive behaviour management, we promote nonviolence and encourage children to deal with conflict peacefully, including
opportunities for children to contribute to decisions about accepted behaviour where
age/ stage appropriate. - Individual liberty – We have the right to believe, act and express ourselves
freely and the freedom to make our own choices. We encourage children to
develop a positive sense of themselves. Staff provide opportunities for children to
develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and increase their confidence in their own
abilities. Staff encourage a range of experiences that allow children to explore the
language of feelings and responsibility, reflect on their differences and understand
we are free to have different opinions. - Mutual respect and tolerance – We should treat others how we want to be
treated, we should respect each other, and different opinions: We recognise that
codes for interacting with people vary between cultures and require all children and
practitioners to respect themselves, other people in the community including those of
different faiths and backgrounds, and the setting environment. Practitioners and
children’s relationships are built on mutual respect and trust, strengthened through
staff acting as positive role models who offer guidance and support when children
struggle with conflict and emotional situations. - Rule of law – We are all expected to follow the law, and other rules: We aim to
promote the development of a sense of right and wrong. As children develop, they
learn about boundaries, the difference between right and wrong, and consider the
views and feelings, needs and rights of others. Sometimes it is necessary to help
children understand their own boundaries in certain situations, explaining why we do
not accept certain behaviour. Boundaries are set in a way which helps the child to
develop a sense of the significance of their own behaviour which encourages selfdiscipline. We keep rules to a minimum and ensure that these are age and stage
appropriate.
Trauma Perceptive Practice (TPP)
An understanding of trauma and childhood adversity underpins our approach to all
relationships within our setting community. We are committed to ensuring that our setting
develops a trauma and mental health informed approach, and that all children and
practitioners develop positive mental health and resilience which enables them to fully
engage in life and learning.
The (TPP) values are: - Compassion and Kindness (instead of blame and shame),
- Hope (instead of hopelessness),
- Connection and belonging (instead of disconnection).
Our setting uses these pillars of practice to outline our approach for positively supporting
behaviour:
- Consistent calm adult behaviour
- Consistency in routines and boundaries
- Restorative practice
- Supporting challenging behaviour with dignity
- Working together with Parents and partners
- ‘Stress’ detecting
At our setting, we believe in the power of positive and frequent praise for good and caring
behaviour as a more effective way of improving standards and relationships between
individuals than constant criticism.
Key person approach
Relationships are an extremely important part of behaviour management. Non-verbal and
extremely young children require the support of an adult who they trust, and who knows and
understands them well to interpret behaviour. Our focus on strong Key person relationships,
enables practitioners at our setting to understand each child’s behaviour and emotional
needs in a much deeper way.
We believe in equality. Our differentiated response to behaviour recognises that our children
are unique and individual and that some will require additional support to achieve the high
expectation we have for behaviour for all children. We aim to actively promote high selfesteem, and high aspirations for all children, through a culture and ethos that values every
child (connection and belonging).
Parents as partners
We are committed to working in partnership with parents and carers in supporting childrens
development in all areas, including behaviour. We recognise that there may be different
expectations for childrens behaviour at home and at the setting. With a good level of
communication, we can provide consistency for the children, and this will help alleviate
frustrations and misunderstandings that can lead to behaviours that are unacceptable or
unknown. Where behavioural difficulties continue, parent/carers will be further invited into
the setting to talk with relevant practitioners. By working together, parent/carer and the
setting will explore possible underlying causes and share positive strategies to ensure a
consistent approach between setting and home, and an action plan will be agreed, shared
and reviewed to monitor outcomes.
Our setting shares our behaviour and relationships policy, and other related policies with
parents on enrolment at the setting, and parents are given information about the settings
approach to behaviour on the registration documentation. Key adults have daily discussions
with parents about childrens wellbeing, relationships, and activities, sharing any behaviour
concerns at the earliest opportunity. In addition to this, parents are invited to meet with the
key person at least twice annually at parent consultations, where the child’s progress and
any concerns can be discussed / reviewed in greater detail. We invite parents to come and
speak to us with any concerns they have and will arrange additional discussions as required.
Preserving dignity: (add your own approaches to the list)
Positive language is used when supporting children who are struggling to cope with a
situation, and a differentiated, personalised response will always be required to support the
individual emotional needs of children. Behaviour management begins with a positive and
proactive approach (hope). Our practitioners will use the following strategies when they
identify that a child is feeling unregulated:
- Redirection- (reminder – what should the child be doing?)
- Distraction- (what else can we find to do instead?)
- Non-verbal strategies- (hand out palm facing up-stop, finger to lips-shhhh)
- Rule reminder- (what’s our rule about-kind hands etc, indoor walking)
- Gentle encouragement- (calm voice, I prefer it when you, I know you can…)
- ‘Time in’ with the key person or a practitioner- (cuddle, story, opportunity to be
listened to) - encouragement to a ‘safe space’ within the room/environment- (tent, den, library,
under table, favourite place etc) - Peer led approaches (encouraging positive pairings with other friends).
Our practitioners help children to learn through ensuring a consistent, calm and fair
approach to supporting children through stressful moments.
Age-appropriate strategies (stepped approach) used by practitioners (ages are a
rough guide and responses must be differentiated for the individual child):
- Be a stress detective! Observe childrens’ behaviours against the (TPP) Window of
Tolerance. Support them to feel regulated. Are they in their comfort zone? Consider
upstairs/ downstairs thinking (All Age). - Always praise positive behaviour – (TPP) hope instead of hopelessness (All Age).
- Direct encouragement:
o 0-2 years – Directly encouraging and modelling good/kind behaviour. ‘I know
you can..’
o 2-3 years – Directly encouraging and modelling good behaviour. ‘Kind hands/
feet/ words’ prompt. ‘I prefer it when you..’
o 3-5 years – Directly encouraging and modelling good behaviour. Use ‘look’
and other non-verbal symbols. ‘Kind hands/ feet/ words’ prompt etc. explain
what you want to see. - Rule Reminder:
o 0-2 years – Rule reminder – simple, positive language. Use ‘look’ and other
non-verbal symbols. Stop sign – clear hand signal, along with verbal ‘stop’.
o 2-3 years – Rule reminder – simple positive language. Use ‘look’ and other
non-verbal symbols. Stop sign – clear hand signal, along with verbal ‘stop’.
Explain what you want to see.
o 3-5 years – Rule reminder – ask children if they ‘remember the rule about’, and
can they explain why we have this rule. Always use positive language. Stop
sign – clear hand signal, along with verbal ‘stop’. - Redirection:
o 0-2 years – redirection, distraction, and inclusion – (TPP belonging)
o 2-5 years – redirection, distraction, and inclusion. Directional choices, when/
then. – (TPP belonging) - Approach situation calmly, stopping any hurtful actions (co- regulate using regulate,
relate, reason) (All Age):
o REGULATE: Adult is calm and regulated. Rhythmical breathing pattern.
Hurdle help: Aid the child getting over the first hurdle. There is always a way
back, keep the problem small. Use Movement – Patterned, repetitive,
rhythmic, hand on arm with gentle pressure, mindful breathing. Singing,
dancing music, walking, running, swinging.
o RELATE: Help the child to the shore. Connect – empathy: let the child know
that we understand how they feel, and it matters to us. Use words the adult
would like the child to use at some point in the future during these occasions.
Self-talk, self- direction.
Scripts: ‘I notice this seems to be a problem’, ‘this is kind of scary’, ‘I am
wondering whether this might be hard for you’. ‘I imagine you are
angry/disappointed/frustrated and now you don’t know what to do with
yourself’, ‘its scary/hard/big deal because…’, ‘we can…that should help’.
o REASON: Invite the child to problem solve with you. It lets the child know that
solving the problem is something to being worked out with them rather than to
them. Only when the child has returned to their window of tolerance can any
consequences be discussed. Having a think about potential solutions to the
problem. Remind children that the goal is for a solution that works for both,
and it will help them get to what they want. - Restorative 5 (All Age).
Summary of Regulate, Relate, Reason:
- Noticing and acknowledging by name, affirm and validate
- Sitting alongside, not opposite
- Communicating and open body language, not crossing arms or legs
- Keeping a calm tone
- Initiating contact rather than waiting for a child to approach
- Actively listen with whole body, not just your ears
- Smiling and laughing whenever possible
- Seeing distractions as attempts to self sooth (self-regulate) because a child is feeling
stressed - Commentating rather than interrogating/translating as much as possible
Restorative five
We use the restorative five (TPP) to support children experiencing difficulties through
restorative conversations. Five key reflections are used to ensure that the conversation is
reflective yet is not detrimental to a child’s view of themselves. - What happened?
- How were you feeling/ what did you need?
- Who else was affected, how could they be feeling?
- What could you do next time?
- What might make things better?
Acting as a ‘stress detectives’, adults can consider these questions when identifying how to
best support and meet the child’s needs.
Our Practice (add your own examples to these lists)
Staff training: - In order to manage childrens behaviour in an appropriate way, we will attend relevant
training to help understand and guide appropriate models of behaviour - Implement the setting’s behaviour procedures, including the stepped approach
- Have the necessary skills to support other staff with behaviour issues and to access
expert advice if necessary, such as linking with our SEN, speech and language
partners, and TPP networking group. - Check that all staff have relevant in-service training (TPP) on positive behaviour. We
keep a record of staff attendance at this training. - We regularly assess the environment to ensure that it is not having s negative impact
on behaviour, and that all children’s needs are being met.
We help children to look after themselves by: - Praising them – focusing on the positive things they do
- Helping them to recognise their feelings and express themselves in an acceptable
way - Encouraging those to ask for help from peers as well as adults
- Encouraging their attempts and identifying with a view to planning for their interests
- Building their independence through self-help skills
- Encouraging them to see the good in others
- Encouraging them to learn from each other
We help children to look out for others by: - Using conflict resolution and keeping calm
- Modelling appropriate behaviour
- Working on and reinforcing the understanding of feelings, eg in circle time
- Naming and making feelings clear, including the consequences of their actions:
reflecting to children. - Being aware of the power of language, ie not being confrontational or negative
- Boosting self esteem
- Giving time to listen and help acknowledging their responses sensitively.
We help children to be polite by: - Saying good morning and where appropriate, please and thank-you (We model
behaviours we want them to copy). - Encouraging children to wait their turn
- Talking one at a time – listening to each other without interrupting when someone is
already speaking. - Giving children clear messages and setting an example.
We ask children to look after equipment by; - Encouraging children to use equipment appropriately
- Teaching them about health and safety
- Encouraging them to help mend broken toys and equipment
- Playing games e.g., in circle time and considering – ‘how do we look after this?’
- Washing the bikes and toys etc
- Reminding children to tell us about breakages
- Looking after the equipment ourselves and therefore modelling it.
We help children to care about the environment by: - Making it as attractive as possible
- Cleaning tables
- Tidying up together
- Displaying children’s work
- Picking up rubbish
- Providing labelled storage
- Looking after indoor and outdoor plants
- Explaining proper care and use of areas (painting area, home corner, sand pit etc)
- Noticing, acknowledging, and praising ‘careful handling’ and modelling it
- Sharing responsibility
Children with SEN
We understand that a minority of children may need additional or different support, beyond
that of other children of the same age. Support for these children in collaboration with
parents/carers may involve implementation of a ‘one plan’ and ‘one page profile’ with specific
targets related to behaviour (please refer to our specific educational needs policy). Where
appropriate, this stage may include referral to external agencies for additional support/
assessments with parents/ carers consent. For these children, it is important that teams
(parents, carers, key practitioners, and SENCO) meet regularly (TAC meetings) to ensure
good communication and continued consistency.