Policies & Procedures

Behaviour Management Policy

In order to achieve this:

1. Rules governing the conduct of the group and the behaviour of the children will be discussed and agreed with the Pre School and explained to all newcomers, both children and adults.
2. All adults in the Pre School will ensure that the rules are applied consistently, so that children have the security of knowing what to expect and can build up useful habits of behaviour.
3. All adults will try to provide a positive model for the children with regard to friendliness, care and courtesy.
4. Adults in the Pre School will praise and endorse desirable behaviour such as kindness and willingness to share.
5. We will take positive steps to avoid a situation in which children receive adult attention only in return for undesirable behaviour.
6. Negative behaviour - Most children at certain stages of development demonstrate behaviour that is negative. Children may demonstrate negative behaviour verbally or physically eg. biting/swearing. We recognise that children may display negative behaviour due to the fact that they are still exploring their emotions and understanding of what is socially accepted.

When children behave in unacceptable/ negative ways:

1. Physical punishment, such as smacking or shaking, will be neither used nor threatened.
2. Children will never be sent out of the room by themselves.
3. Techniques intended to single out and humiliate individual children such as the “naughty chair” will not be used.
4. Children who misbehave will be given one-to-one adult support in seeing what was wrong and working towards a better pattern.
5. Where appropriate this might be achieved by a period of “time out” with an adult.
6. In cases of serious misbehaviour, such as racial or other abuse, the unacceptability of the behaviour and attitudes will be made clear immediately, but by means of explanations rather than personal blame.
7. In any case of misbehaviour, it will always be made clear to the child or children in question that it is the behaviour and not the child that is unwelcome.
8. Adults will not shout, or raise their voices in a threatening way.
9. Adults in the Pre School will make themselves aware of, and respect, a range of cultural expectations regarding interactions between people.
10. If behaviour results in an injury to another child/adult eg. a bite or damage to property the incident should be recorded in the accident / incident book.
11. Any behaviour problems will be handled in a developmentally appropriate fashion, respecting individual children’s level of understanding and maturity.
12. Recurring problems will be addressed by the Pre School, in partnership with the child’s parents, using objective observation records to establish an understanding of the cause.
13. The Pre School will work together with Parents and outside agencies where necessary to obtain constructive, confidential advice.
14. Parents will be invited to a meeting and an appropriate action plan will be decided together.


15. Adults will be aware that some kinds of behaviour may arise from a child’s special needs.
16. Bullying - staff recognise that on occasion children may be the victim or perpetrator of bullying. Staff should ensure that comfort is provided to the victim of bullying. The child’s parents should be informed and offered support, ensuring anonymity of children involved. Staff should sensitively manage a child who is bullying and acknowledge the child’s stage of development/ understanding whilst ensuring the inappropriateness of the behaviour/actions are made clear. Staff should inform parents, maintaining confidentiality and offering support.