Behaviour

The BACME (Behaviour, Attendance and Children Missing Education) Service is the lead agency within the Local Authority in matters relating to behaviour.

Below you will find a mix of support including how to prevent or stop bad behaviour and how to manage exclusions or different types of behaviour issues. 

There is a range of additional paid support available through WF Traded Services

Pastoral Support Plan (PSP)

The aim of a Pastoral Support Plan (PSP) is to promote social inclusion and help to reduce the need for permanent exclusion.

The PSP procedure and process is designed to support those pupils for whom the normal school based strategies have not been effective. A PSP is a structured intervention for pupils at risk of permanent exclusion.

The aim of the PSP is to involve the pupil, parent and family in the shared challenge of improving behaviour and social skills and ensuring social and educational inclusion. Staff should consider whether a PSP, Early help assessment or TAC Meeting is the best way forward. A PSP is essentially a school based and owned process. Schools and Parents will for the most part, be providing the additional support, interventions, adaptations and communication that are agreed.

To make a referral for PSP support please email a referral form to BACME-referral@walthamforest.gov.uk

Part-Time Tables

DfE statutory guidance on the use of part-time timetables states that in very exceptional circumstances there may be a need for a temporary part-time timetable to meet a pupil's individual need.

This might include:

  • where a medical condition prevents a pupil from attending full-time education and a part time package is considered as part of a reintegration package  
  • where there are behavioural difficulties and the school is trying a part-time timetable as an 'alternative measure' prior to an exclusion in the context of a pastoral support plan (PSP)
  • as part of a planned re-integration package.

A part-time timetable must not be treated as a long-term solution. Any pastoral support programme or other agreement must have a time-limit by which point the pupil is expected to attend full-time or be provided with alternative provision. (p14, School Attendance, DfE)

All schools implementing a Part-Time Table must complete the Part-Time Table Consent Form (PT1) and return to the BACME-referral@walthamforest.gov.uk

All Part-Time Tables implemented will be monitored by the service.

The BACME Service promote effective assessment as key to preventing unnecessary use of specialist time and intensive resources with lower risk cases, and to support earlier interventions, where appropriate.

To make a referral for HSB support please email a referral form to BACME-referral@walthamforest.gov.uk

Developing a school behaviour policy

Schools must have a school behaviour policy, as set out in the Department for Education's (DfE) guidance for governing bodies and proprietors of schools. The Governing Board is free to determine how often this policy is reviewed.

Maintained schools should make sure they meet the requirements as laid out in the Education and Inspection Act 2006.

Academies, free schools and independent schools should make sure they meet the requirements as laid out in the Independent School Standards Regulations, in particular Schedule 1, part 3, paragraph 9.

The Department for Education (DfE) has drawn up advice for schools to help them develop their school behaviour policy. They have also drawn up separate advice for school leaders and school staff on preventing and responding to bullying as part of their overall behaviour policy.

Guidance to help teachers better identify underlying mental health problems which manifests itself in poor behaviour has also been developed. The intention is to ensure pupils with unmet mental health needs get the help they need at an earlier stage.

The guidance, created by the DfE in consultation with headteachers, mental health professors and the Department of Health, is designed to ensure teachers are confident in finding help for at-risk pupils.

Aligning behaviour and safeguarding in schools

Following a recent Serious Case Review, a task and finish group was created to ensure that safeguarding in schools is strengthened through a greater alignment with behaviour policy.

The group comprised a range of school staff, with roles including leadership, inclusion, family liaison and child protection, and from primary, secondary and special schools as well as the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU).

There was also participation from colleagues from Children's Social Care and Early Help, whilst Rita Ali, the Senior Child Protection and Safeguarding Advisor, was the chair and Julia Kent, Inclusion Development Teacher from the Social Inclusion Service, convened and minuted the meetings.

The key points from the Serious Case Review centred around how professionals were not able to see the whole picture of how the family functioned, and how the needs of the family members interrelated. This meant that various professionals made assessments without full information or without considering the impact of one family member's difficulties upon the others.

In terms of the schools involved, the concerns can be summarised as the failure of a primary and a secondary school to communicate with each other about their respective concerns with siblings' behaviour and a failure to refer to appropriate agencies.

The Task and Finish Group met five times between January and May 2016 and agreed on a set of documents that would be useful to schools for strengthening the relationship between behaviour and safeguarding.

If you would like to find out more about this piece of work or would like some advice about how to use the tools, please contact the Behaviour, Attendance and Children Missing Education (BACME) Service. 

Email: BACME-Referral@walthamforest.gov.uk

Behaviour Resources

Below you will find a range of resources to read of download for different behavioural problems within your school

Behaviour and Safeguarding Tools

Behaviour/Safeguarding Policy Addendum

An addendum to existing behaviour policy to remind staff of the relationship between behaviour and safeguarding.

Download

Flow Chart: Behaviour/Safeguarding

Illustrates the recommended route towards intervention when schools have a concern about a child or young person's behaviour.

Download

School Admission Form: sibling information template

A template for requesting sibling information upon a child or young person's admission to school.

Download

Schools Safeguarding/Behaviour Reflection Tool

Designed to support a detailed analysis of the child or young person and their behaviour. Includes prompts

Download

Schools Safeguarding Risk Assessment

Can be completed after the Schools Safeguarding/Behaviour Reflection Tool if the child or young person may be a risk to her/himself or others.

Download

Framework for understanding families

Can be used when working with families to develop a more holistic understanding of how they function.

Download
Last update: Wednesday 13th of April 2022 02:19:34 PM